The List: Mexican on my mind

  This week’s review of D’Corazon marks something of a return to reality — to a restaurant where I can dependably guess what my food is going to look and taste like when I order it, a place where I don’t have to worry about anyone trying to sneak pomegranate…

Two more local Starbucks bite the dust

Two more area Starbucks shops will close as a result of the company’s latest round of cutbacks: one at 7777 East Hampden Avenue at Tamarac Square and another at 5350 South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton. The frappucino magnate announced this week that it will be closing nearly 200 U.S…

Morton’s unleashes a double dose of power hours

Okay, so when super-expensive meat palaces like Morton’s jump on the happy-hour bandwagon, you know times are tough. I mean, Morton’s isn’t exactly renowned for its bargain-basement steals, but starting tonight, at promptly 5 p.m., both Morton’s Downtown Denver and Morton’s Tech Center, located at 1710 Wynkoop Street and 8480…

Candy Girls: Big Fat Cupcake

Starting a cupcake shop in Denver raises some obvious concerns: Will an already cupcake-crazed city welcome yet another baker of tiny cakes?  And if so, how do you distinguish yourself from the others?  Kathleen Nevin, owner of Big Fat Cupcake, had a clear vision of creating big cupcakes with superior ingredients,…

Our Weekly Bread: Safeway

The sandwich: Smoke stack Where to get it: Safeway What’s on it: Turkey, ham, fontina, tomato, lettuce and mustard on ciabatta bread How much: $5.49 I didn’t really want to review the sandwiches at Safeway; I’d rather check out a small, or at least medium-sized, business, rather than a giant…

Denver ChopHouse takes off at DIA

For months, the sign on the boarded-up space in Concourse A taunted us: The Denver ChopHouse & Brewery would be opening a branch at the airport. But when?Turns out, sometime last weekend — in the middle of a Westword writer’s trip back East. Sometimedturing his travels, this outpost of the…

Old Town Littleton gets a little sweeter

Rush down to Old Town Littleton this morning for the opening of Lola’s Sugar Rush, a store that stocks old-time and nostalgic candy. Owner Lola Salazar will smash a giant lollipop to open her place at 10 a.m.; it’s located at 2490 West Main Street, where the party will continue…

The Flagstaff House lei-ing it on the line

The folks behind the Flagstaff House are heading west…far west. The Monette brothers, sons of Flagstaff House founder Don Monette and now owners of that restaurant, have established a second beachhead in the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii. They designed two separate concepts for the hotel…

Veggie Girl: Tamales by La Casita

When I was growing up, my dad would make dozens and dozens of pork tamales and big vats of rich, beefy red chile and pork posole for Christmas. We’d feast on these New Mexican staples at our family Christmas party and then continue eating everything while it lasted, sometimes through…

Mayor Hick drives the bung at Stranahan’s

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey celebrated the corking of its 1,000th barrel on Wednesday, April 8 — which means that the five-year-old micro-distillery has produced 52,800 gallons of whiskey at its facility in the Ballpark neighborhood. And who was on hand to drive home the cork, or “bung,” as it is apparently…

Santiagos XII making a move to Federal Boulevard

While the Chubby’s on Morrison Road is closed, the Original Chubby’s on West 38th Avenue will soon have less competition. I was just at Santiago’s XII at 2925 West 38th Avenue — my favorite place to get the most awesome $2 breakfast burritos on the way to work — and…

Chubby’s closing a sign of the times

First, the bad news: The Chubby’s at 4460 Morrison Road is the latest victim of a tanking economy.And now the good news: Everything inside is for sale — cheap — including a meat grinder that I’m coveting. And the better news: The original Chubby’s is still going strong. For a…

Sample the town’s liquid assets tonight

The “Soup for the Soul” fundraiser for Porter Hospice and St. Anthony Hospice that was snowed out two weeks ago has been rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. tonight at the Sheraton Downtown Hotel. Tickets issued for March 26 are still good, and they’re also for sale at $90 each at 303-715-7612…

Biker Jim is on a roll

I love hot dogs. In particular, hot dogs from a cart. In particularly particular, the weird, freak-ass dogs served by Biker Jim Pittenger at Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs in Skyline Park. And now comes word that Biker Jim has got himself a new cart (all custom, with its own exhaust…

D’Corazon will steal a little piece of your heart

To see more of D’Corazon, go to westword.com/slideshow. Since coming west almost a decade ago, I have developed a deep and meaningful relationship with Mexican food — a love affair with few disappointments, one of the most stable of my otherwise rather unstable life. I’m not saying I love tacos…

VeeV martini at Houston’s

Although I’m not normally a fan of national chains, I’d been waiting with bated breath for Houston’s to open in Cherry Creek, because I have fond memories of long, delicious lunches at its siblings in Arizona and California. But those lunches were a long time ago, and either I’ve changed…

Drown your sorrows in a Rio Grande margarita

At the Rio Grande last week, I watched a lawyer getting fired. There was no screaming, no tears, and it was all handled with reasonable decorum, a fairly civil proceeding between two bosses and the woman being canned, with another onlooker there as backup. But all I could keep thinking…

Primebar snaps up prime chef Max Mackissock

Yesterday, I reported that Primebar is taking up residence in early May in the former Palomino space at 1515 Arapahoe Street. I told you, too, that a Denver chef was having dinner last night with the top brass from Primebar about a possible exec chef position. And I promised I’d…

So long to the old 3 Sons

3 Sons has closed its original location at 2915 West 44th Avenue, in anticipation of a May move to 14805 West 64th Avenue in Arvada. Susan and Michael Scarafiotti bought the venerable old Italian joint in March 2004 — which means they weren’t responsible for the place back when Jason…

Bacaro making it green and lean

Expect to see some changes at Bacaro Venetian Taverna. Bacaro just marked its tenth birthday, and is overhauling both its menu — adding vegetarian and gluten-free meals — and its patio.After ten years, it was time to refresh Bacaro’s look, says general manager Corrado Fasano, who adds that the addition…

Hit the Sandlot on Opening Day

Baseball season is on tap, and so is the seasonal reappearance of Denver’s oddest brewpub, Blue Moon Brewing Co. @ the Sandlot, inside Coors Field. Why is it odd? Although the brewery itself – owned by a division of Coors — cranks out Blue Moon and some of the other…