What: Reckless Noodles
Where: 800 Sherman Street
When: Open 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday
For more info: Visit recklessnoodlesdenver.com
What we saw: There were already several parties settled in at the bar just after Reckless Noodle opened for its second day of business on December 13. This new restaurant in Capitol Hill is the second location of the concept, which found success in Seattle after debuting there five years ago.
"We've been looking at Denver for quite a few years," says co-owner Bryce Sweeney. He and his business partner, Mario Eckert, were in final negotiations on a lease for another Capitol Hill location just before the pandemic. Instead, they "pumped the brakes" on that project, Sweeney recalls, and ended up opening a dive bar in the space next door instead. "That kept us busy, which was nice," he adds.
But after finding another space at 800 Sherman Street, in an area with a similar vibe and demographic to the Seattle location of Reckless Noodles, planning to add an outpost in Denver resumed.
Sweeney is a longtime hospitality pro, but Reckless Noodles was his first venture as an owner; it was inspired by the time he and Eckert spent rock climbing in Southeast Asia. "We just loved the food," he recalls. "We've always been bar guys, running cocktail bars, so we wanted to combine those — getting good cocktails and good food in a place with an ambience that you actually want to hang out in."
With those cocktails and a menu created by chef Kenny Lee, whose résumé includes notable Asian eateries Lionhead and Din Thai Fung, the combination was a hit. Now, Sweeney has moved to Denver and is hoping that Reckless Noodles can replicate that success in the Mile High.
The space, which includes a main dining area and a back room with additional seating, a shuffleboard table and a tree right in the middle, is decked out with fun design details, like a neon "Reckless" sign, bronze mermaids hovering over the bar and a collage of rock-climbing images covering the bathroom walls.
Still, it's the food that will steal your attention. The dishes are meant to be shared, and "everything's got some sort of spice to it," Sweeney notes. The menu is primarily Vietnamese, though Lee is Cambodian, spent a lot of time in Thailand before moving to the United States, and is also Chinese by descent, and those influences can also be seen throughout the lineup.
The Ma La Braised Beef Cheek Noodle ($19), for example, is inspired by the kind of Chinese food Lee's mother made for him. A tangle of thick, chewy udon noodles is topped with a hefty portion of tender beef cheeks braised with spices like anise, cinnamon and cloves, swimming in a Szechuan pepper-spiked oil. Mix it all together thoroughly before digging in — there's heat, thanks mainly to the pickled Fresno chiles on top, but also a mouth-numbing, tingly punch from the Szechuan peppers.
Mixing is also key when eating the bò lá lốt, or grilled, hand-chopped ribeye wrapped in betel leaves ($14). The small, meat-filled packets are served on skewers. Remove the sticks, then toss the bundles with the banh hoi (woven pieces of rice vermicelli noodles), fresh herbs, pineapple, cucumber, peanuts, scallion oil, and toasted chili lime fish sauce. The result is a mess of textures and flavors that's a bit chaotic in the very best way.
One must-order is the caramelized prawns ($18), which have a crisp, almost-candied coating that's heavy on fish-sauce flavor; squeeze fresh lime over the top before digging in. Fair warning: These will disappear quickly.
Another highlight of Reckless Noodles: the happy hour, which is available every day — including weekends — from 4 to 5 p.m. Deals include bottles of hot sake and draft beers for $6; wine and a lineup of cocktails like the Reckless Mule made with the eatery's housemade ginger beer for $7; and several food items. Two of the offerings, the bao buns filled with mushrooms and chicken, as well as the crab, rock shrimp and pork wontons, are only available during happy hour because the process to make them is time-consuming, so quantities are limited.
What surprised us: The extensive cocktail menu. While the food is attention-grabbing, the libations at Reckless Noodles are no afterthought — and there are a lot of them to choose from.
The drink menu is split into two parts, with both classics and a lineup of original creations ($9-$14). Since offerings range from martinis and a barrel-aged negroni to such tiki standards as the Painkiller and the Singapore Sling, everyone is sure to find a familiar favorite. But those who venture away from the expected will be rewarded.
Vegetal flavors star in options like the tequila-based Body by Reckless, made with beet-spiked shrub, and the Rebel Without a Cause, in which red pepper shrub adds a brightness that plays well with smoky mezcal. The Reckless Endangerment, made with Old Forester bourbon, Cherry Heering, Benedictine and lemon is topped with IPA for a spritz-like effect, while the Old Man and the Sea combines Stiggins Plantation Pineapple rum, Cynar, fernet, Angostura bitters and lime.
And if you, like Sweeney, have an affinity for fernet and its bitter, herbal bite, keep an eye on the dessert menu: Fernet soft-serve is coming soon.