Bonfire Burritos Raymond Pierandozzi, Ian Lanier, Matt King, and Travis Toms 17025 S. Golden Road, Golden 720-556-6269 bonfireburritos.com For most high-school students, lunch is a chance to catch up with friends. But for four Golden kids, lunchtime burritos at the nearby Bonfire Burritos trailer were more than just a way…
Casa Bonita is a local landmark that celebrated its fortieth birthday this year. It’s a quasi-Mexican village inside a suburban strip mall, and if you grew up in Denver, you definitely celebrated one (or more) of your own birthdays here. To mark the start of the restaurant’s fifth decade, we…
Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery 4990 East Colfax Avenue 720-550-7665 Meats are sizzling, tofu’s frying, pots are clanging: It’s game time, and the reality of a roomful of diners has hit Chop Shop hard. The chef has a word with someone on the line; she moves stations and the tempo…
If there’s one thing people love about brunch, it’s cocktails before noon. And with more than 50 spots in Denver offering bottomless mimosas (yes, we counted), how do you decide where to drink away the day? You evaluate the flavor profiles, uniqueness, champagne quality, and cost. Here are our recommendations…
Pie season is upon us, along with a seasonal reminder that the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas means thinking of those in need — as well as filling our own pie needs. Project Angel Heart, the organization that delivers meals to people coping with life-threatening illnesses, can help you out…
On a very cold day last week, Mark Antonation used his noodle and served up a story on five different kinds of ramen — and where to find them in Denver. The response was heated: Denverites love their ramen, and dished out plenty of opinions on where to find it…
At two o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, the place was hopping, the staff was clearly in the weeds and people were starting to pile up at the door, scanning for available seats in the dining room or at the bar. Luckily, there was just enough turnover that a line didn’t…
We previously announced that international coffee chain Espresso Americano would open its first U.S. location in the Landmark development in the DTC. Now it looks like two of the cafes were in a race — and another location opened first. Espresso Americano opened its first spot today in the nearby…
Wonderbowl Vietnamese Restaurant opened last week on South Federal Boulevard after an extensive remodel of what used to be a KFC. Wonderbowl is a sister restaurant to Pho Duy in the same shopping center and features a few house specials not common to Federal’s Vietnamese scene along with a typical…
Last week Mark Antonation served up Ten Things Visitors Should Know About the Denver Dining Scene, including the crucial fact that this city’s culinary contributions go far beyond the Denver omelette. Not only does Denver have great craft beer and bison, he points out, but it also has good very…
The first Illegal Pete’s restaurant is now open in Fort Collins; it’s the largest of the seven Front Range locations. Among the guests at yesterday’s grand opening was a reporter from the New York Times — attracted to Colorado by the controversy over the Illegal Pete’s name, which some local…
This week in Cafe Society, Gretchen Kurtz declared Cart-Driver a winner in the fast-casual race, while Mark Antonation continued his pad Thai quest at Edgewater’s quaint Thailicious. See also: Paper Bird and Esme Patterson Had to Split Up Before Both Could Take Off…
The T-Wa Inn, Denver’s first Vietnamese restaurant, closed earlier this year on Federal Boulevard, leaving a building with good bones for a new owner to take over. Given the demographic of the area, another Vietnamese eatery would not have been a surprise, but instead Mariscos El Licenciado — which started…
Fermaentra Brewing, Alpine Dog and Locavore Beer Works are all opening this weekend, all part of the continuing boom in the craft-beer business. By the end of the year, there could be fifty breweries operating within Denver city limits, with many more in the surrounding suburbs. But could this be…
Each year since 2005, Denver’s Department of Community Planning and Development has worked with the mayor’s office to select winners of the Mayor’s Design Awards, which go to homeowners, businesses, nonprofits, artists and other groups and individuals who add to Denver’s visual cityscape through excellent design. Among this year’s honorees…
Happy hour takes the edge off, helping us unwind after a long day. But for people in the restaurant biz, happy hour isn’t so happy: It marks the beginning of a long shift to come. That’s why Cart-Driver, which I review this week, stays open late, with food and drink…
Pete Turner will open his seventh Illegal Pete’s store for breakfast at 7 a.m. today; this one is in Fort Collins. The homegrown chain got its start in Boulder almost twenty years ago, around the time that Qdoba launched and a few years after Chipotle made its debut on East…
Cozy Cottage epitomizes the friendly neighborhood café — the place you can walk right in, grab a complimentary cup of coffee and see the same grandmotherly servers on every visit. It’s charming — the kind of place you hope opens next door. With the Tennyson dining scene blowing up, Cozy…
Pete Turner delivered the word last Wednesday — with a very lengthy explanation on his illegalpetes.com website. When his seventh store opens in Fort Collins tomorrow, it will be named Illegal Pete’s — just as his original store was when he opened it on the Hill in Boulder almost twenty…
What does a visitor to Denver need to know about the dining scene? That we have a history that stretches far beyond Denver omelettes, that there are many ethnic options, that the seafood in this landlocked city is plenty fresh, that’s it’s important to get out to the neighborhoods, and…
Jeff Grimm just landed the job as executive chef at Punch Bowl Social — restaurateur Robert Thompson’s dining and entertainment warehouse on Broadway — a month ago, but he’s already thrilled about what he calls a “community stable” environment, where teamwork and pitching in are part of the kitchen’s culture…
Cart-Driver 2500 Larimer Street 303-292-3553 The midterm elections may be a blip in the rearview mirror, but Denver remains a battleground. Only instead of politicians vying for voters, restaurateurs are fighting for guests. This is especially true in the pizza business, where the campaign remains as heated as the thousand-degree…
