Reader: Baker needs a few more adult places and a few less Punch Bowls

As a follow-up to her review of Gozo this week, Gretchen Kurtz explained how the Mediterranean-inflected restaurant almost opened in California's Sonoma County instead of Denver. Restaurateur Frank Jolley IV must have discerned a level of maturity in the collective palate of Front Range diners, since the eatery landed smack in the heart of the burgeoning but still funky South Broadway scene, where dive bars shoulder up against foodie favorites like Beatrice & Woodsley.

See also: How Gozo wound up in Colorado rather than California

Apparently Denver is craving dining spots for grown-ups. Says Theglobalguy:

Love having these guys in the 'hood. Baker needs a few more adult places and a few less Punch Bowls. Robert Thompson didn't do us any favors when he changed his mind about where to re-locate Argyll.

What are your favorites in the Baker neighborhood? Do the current joints lean toward the young and terminally hip or is there a good selection for those who prefer good food in a more reserved atmosphere? And how do you think the resurrected Argyll, a decidedly adult place, would have worked in Baker?

Read last week's review of Gozo here, and see if it's the kind of spot you've been yearning for.

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