Reader: Wish we had great, spooky stories like this in Iowa!

Boo who? Anna Jonas saw her first apparition during a fifth-grade basement seance, and she was immediately hooked on the paranormal. Today she has her own all-female ghost-hunting team, the Spirit Realm Investigative Project, which will be on an upcoming episode of the Bio Channel’s My Ghost Story. She also…

Lola offers shelter from the storm — and a taste of home

Last night Belola, the lower lounge space at Lola with the bar and big TV, became an impromptu haven for displaced travelers, stuck in Denver and hungry for news of home — and maybe some food and drink, too. The camaraderie proved so comforting that Lola is now officially offering…

Trader Joe’s gets its retail liquor license in Denver

We can almost taste the Two Buck Chuck. The Trader Joe’s store that will be located at 790 Colorado Boulevard had a date with the city last Friday for a hearing on its liquor-license application — and the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses just approved its retail liquor store…

Reader: True Food menu may look good — but those chairs do not

True Food Kitchen opened yesterday in Cherry Creek. It’s the most successful concept out of Fox Restaurant Concepts, the company that also owns the nearby NoRTH, with locations in Arizona and California, and plans for several other cities after this Denver spot. The original True Food Kitchen opened in Scottsdale…

Reader: Rockbar will be remembered — vaguely

Rockbar will close this weekend, after more than six years as a hipster hangout on East Colfax. While owner Jesse Morreale and the city continue to trade barbs, a few customers are spilling their memories of nights at Rockbar: See also: – Rockbar will close this weekend after a goodbye…

Hot Times

In the late ’70s, Molly Ivins became the Rocky Mountain Bureau chief for The New York Times, but the writer was Texas through and through, and she returned to that state in 1982 to become a columnist. And she remained a columnist — an incredibly wry, insightful, hilarious columnist —…

Looking good! Mayor’s Design Awards honor six eating/drinking spots

Restaurants aren’t just changing the way Denver eats; they’re changing the way this city looks. Last night Mayor Michael Hancock announced the winners of the annual Mayor’s Design Awards — twelve projects cited for excellence in architecture, design and place-creating. “Every great city has exciting, pioneering places like these that…

Reader: The Denver cops have gay bars in their sights

Last Friday night, the Denver Police Department did an undercover operation, sending underage police cadets to liquor establishments across Denver where they tried to buy booze. And succeeded in the case of four bars (and numerous liquor stores), all of which were cited for selling to a minor. The bars…