Driving down Broadway to Bistro One (right), where chef Olav Peterson is whipping his kitchen into shape, I got to thinking about all the other good places that have popped up on this storied strip. Some of the best:
1) GB Fish and Chips, 1311 South Broadway. Bikers and bums and Brits, oh my. Screw the crowds, forget about the occasionally unusual smells that emanate from the kitchen, and sit yourself down here for some of the best fish and chips in Denver.
2) Deluxe, 30 South Broadway. Go to this lovely, intimate restaurant for a proper sit-down dinner, and then go to...
3) Delite, 32 South Broadway. For everything else: a killer happy hour, drinks before and maybe a drink or two after.
4) Senor Burrito, 12 East First Avenue. A few steps off Broadway is one of the best greasy-spoon Mexican joints in the city, with a coin-op machine by the door where you can buy wicked Chinese dragon temporary tattoos for, like, fifty cents. After you've been drinking all day, it's kinda hard to resist that machine.
5) Beatrice & Woodsley, 38 South Broadway. If you've already made the trip to B&W, I don't need to sell you on its charms. And if you haven't? Well, then, I just feel a little bad for you.
6) The Fainting Goat, 846 Broadway. Currently my neighborhood bar of choice because I can walk there from the office, but it also has a lot of good things going for it: decent food, a good happy hour and some of the cheapest whiskey ever in the well. It's all about the Wall Street, baby.
7) Dougherty's Pub, 5 East Ellsworth Avenue. Again, close enough to the main drag to count -- at least for me. Great pints, good food and a nice, fucked-up, neighborhood vibe make this an excellent fallback position for those nights when the host tells you it's a two-hour wait for a bar stool at Beatrice & Woodsley around the corner. Bonus points for the guys behind the bar who know that when I come in looking hangdog and asking for a bit of Irish chicken soup to soothe my spirits, what I'm really after is a long pour of Jameson whiskey, neat and in a hurry.