Reader: The 16th Street Mall needs non-chain fried chicken, and a real Italian deli, and...

The 16th Street Mall is full of great places to sit and watch the passing parade, but does it have many great places to eat? You can grab a sandwich -- and even do good in the process, if you stop at the new Cafe 180 kiosk. But when a...

By Patricia Calhoun

November 13, 2013

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The 16th Street Mall is full of great places to sit and watch the passing parade, but does it have many great places to eat? You can grab a sandwich -- and even do good in the process, if you stop at the new Cafe 180 kiosk. But when a big restaurant space becomes vacant -- as it did when Johnny Rockets burned out in both Golden and downtown -- that prime mall opening becomes...a 7-Eleven.

Says meanstreetsofsouthdenver:

Because we're way below quota on 7-Elevens on the mall, you'd have to walk, what, two fucking blocks from Johnny Rockets to the closest one. At least it isn't going to be, like, the eighteenth Subway on the mall...

This mall needs some non-chain fried chicken, but if it had to be a chain Popeye's would be okay, or even a Korean-style fried chicken chain like Bon Chon. And some better BBQ than that inconsistent-but-never-great place that Westword seems to like. Also a real Italian deli, like Carbone's on 32nd used to be, would blow all these mediocre sandwich shops, these Heidi's and Jason's and Jimmy John's and Salvaggio's, plus the aforementioned seventeen Subways, right out of the water...

What does the 16th Street Mall need to become a true dining destination? What would you like to see come to the mall? Post your suggestions below.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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