The big game is about to begin, you’ve rounded up the usual posse to cheer for the home team, you’re ready for beers and bar food: So what’s it going to be? If you’re bound by tradition (or superstition, because eating the same dish just before the national anthem has…

When Four Friends Kitchen opened in Stapleton two years ago, the ownership group wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the neighborhood. But nearby residents responded quickly and enthusiastically to the restaurant’s Southern-inspired breakfast and lunch menu, turning the place into a perpetually busy destination. Using that success as a…

San Diego-style Mexican food isn’t common in Denver, outside of the Tacos Rapidos family and a couple of other independent eateries in the suburbs. And late-night Mexican grub is even rarer — and I don’t mean what most Denverites consider late-night, where you’re home before midnight with TV remote in…

This week’s Westword Watch List lets you know where to eat your veggies, which bar is smokin’ it up in RiNo, and now you can get your claws on some great lobster deals. After digesting the hottest places to eat and drink from April 14 through April 20, keep reading…

Earlier this month, Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge announced that it will be moving from its longtime home at 930 Lincoln Street to big new digs in the former home of Baur’s Restaurant & Listening Lounge, which recently closed downtown after two years in the historic O.P. Baur Confectionery building. With…

Part of the mission of Avanti Food & Beverage is to act as an incubator for chefs and restaurateurs to test new food ideas without the financial commitment of going full brick-and-mortar. Bamboo Sushi, a small Portland, Oregon outfit founded by Kristofor Lofgren, came to Avanti last summer with a menu…

Slow Food Nations is coming to Denver this summer, with a street food festival, a worldwide summit of culinary leaders, and a wide variety of classes, lectures, demonstrations and exhibits intended to draw attention to “good, clean and fair food” produced in the U.S. The festival will take place from…

The Way Back’s chefs, Marcus Eng and Samuel Charles, hold monthly test-lab dinners so that guests can weigh in on potential new dishes for the West Highland eatery’s seasonal menu. A recent kitchen creation with an unusual ingredient was a surprise hit with diners, but fit in perfectly with the Way…

The U Baron Group (better known to most Coloradans as the founder of Udi’s) has decided to consolidate its restaurant brands by closing the last of the Silvi’s Kitchen locations.The Arvada address, at 7600 Grandview Avenue, closed at the end of March, while the Glendale CitySet outpost, at 686 South…

Where Mona’s moved out at 2364 15th Street, Just Be Kitchen is getting ready to open a different style of breakfast and lunch eatery. Founder Jennifer Peters and chef/partner Carrie Baird hope to have the nutrition-oriented restaurant open by the end of April. Baird’s menu focuses on paleo foundations: gluten-free,…

For years, fast casual chain Chipotle, founded in Denver in 1993, has been trying to eliminate artificial preservatives and additives that aren’t part of recipes any home cook could replicate from a trip to the grocery store. The final obstacle to success has been the corn and flour tortillas that…

Since opening at 955 Lincoln Street five years ago, DiFranco’s has earned a reputation for its handmade pastas. The daily board of penne, spaghetti and other Italian noodles keeps Golden Triangle neighbors and other regulars coming through the door for lunch and dinner, to eat in the tiny storefront or…

Dedicated vegan kitchens are a rarity in Denver, so many diners were delighted when Nandini and Carlos Rossi took over the cafe at the Radha Krishna Temple at 1400 Cherry Street several years ago and turned it into a buffet called Govinda’s Garden Vegan Cafe. The temple had operated a…

Sports analysts are fond of the phrase “To be the best, you have to beat the best.” But in the restaurant world, if you want to eat the best, well, you just have to eat everything. Because until you’ve sampled your way through the menus of eateries ranging from hole-in-the-wall…

Chef Joseph Strelnik and general manager John “JD” Daniel opened the doors to Morning Collective, their new breakfast eatery at 2160 South Broadway, this morning.The latest addition to what’s now being pushed as the Rosedale neighborhood, Morning Collective specializes in molten-centered pancakes and French toast, along with traditional a.m. dishes,…

Chef Derek Ray was raised to detest food waste, which has resulted in some creative and unusual experiments at Brazen and Telegraph, the two restaurants owned by Christopher Sargent where Ray took over as executive chef earlier this year. “I grew up on a small farm in the middle of…

No. 1: Ricotta Gnudi at 12@Madison Five simple spheres in a pool of brown butter; a dish that captures the spare beauty of 12@Madison. There’s no room for error, no flash or style to hide behind. Two ingredients, cheese and butter, convey everything important about chef/owner Jeff Osaka’s Congress Park…

No. 2: Porchetta at SK Provisions inside Denver Central MarketAt Denver Central Market, you’ll find a dizzying selection of lunch and dinner plates, but when we’re craving meat-and-potatoes simplicity, we head to chef Sean Kelly’s SK Provisions for a few slabs of herb-crusted, crackly porchetta. The theme of SK Provisions…

Tourism, dining, business: They’re all tied together as Denver continues to boom. The Dairy Block, bounded by 18th, Wazee, 19th and Blake streets downtown, is a prime example. Slated to host to a number of new restaurants, shops, offices and other amenities, the block welcomed some its first tenants this…

No. 3: Falafel Flatbread at Mercantile Dining & Provision By night, Mercantile feels grand and sophisticated; the high ceilings, light colors and well-appointed dining room feel almost like a stage set. But by day, the market, cafe and eatery draws on the bustling energy of Union Station, making lunch seem…