Big Red F re-tools at Zolo

Word just came down that Dave Query — right in the middle getting his new noodle house project, Happy Noodle House, up and running in Boulder — has brought some new blood into the kitchen at Zolo Grill, his least press-pimped address, at 2525 Arapahoe Avenue in The Republic. Actually,…

A burrito bonanza!

It’s been a busy week in the world of burritos. Jason Sheehan reviewed the shaky Beaucoup Burrito, and spoke a little more about it here. In desperate need of an uplifting burrito story to erase the bad taste left by Sheehan’s description of the Beaucoup seafood burrito, I went out…

Our Weekly Bread: the Emerson at Earl’s

The Sandwich: The Emerson What’s on it: Ham and Swiss on focaccia bread, with choice of veggies. Where to get it: Earl’s Sandwich Parlor (1431 Ogden Street, 303-832-7411) How much: $6.85 This is the kind of place you’re thankful for if you live in the neighborhood, and never visit if…

Southern Sun recycling ablaze!

The Southern Sun, a brewpub located at 627 South Broadway in Boulder, was on fire last week — and I don’t mean that in the “my-God-they’re-on-a-roll” way, or the “five-alarm-epic-battle-with-nature” way, either. Apparently, something (possibly a cigarette butt) caught fire in the recycling bins outside the restaurant — and since…

Veggie Girl: Taqueria Patzcuaro

Fresh, salty chips, burning hot salsa and maybe the best vegetarian red chile in Denver — these are just a few of the reasons that I frequent Taqueria Patzcuaro at 2616 West 32nd Avenue. An even bigger draw, though, is the chile relleno burrito, an absolute genius invention that starts…

Bon Appétit Culinary and Wine Focus begins

Today is the first full day of the gold-laced foodie function that is the Bon Appétit Culinary and Wine Focus. Hosted again by Beaver Creek, the event draws throngs of celebrities, chefs and celebrity chefs. Although you missed last night’s ‘Wine Dinner benefiting The Bright Future Foundation,” there are still loads…

February a stout time at Mountain Sun and Vine Street Pub

Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, at 1535 Pearl Street in Boulder, and its newer Denver sibling, Vine Street Pub, 1700 Vine Street, are celebrating Stout Month starting on February 1. “Ten of Mountain Sun’s taps will fade to black with local, regional and national versions of the rich, thick and…

How Steve Ells wrapped up the fast-casual niche

Good food starts with good ingredients, followed by good ideas, finished by good execution. And greatness follows only in the laborious improvement of all three. This, as I discuss in my review of Beaucoup Burrito, is about as close as you’re going to come to the core of kitchen wisdom…

Fast-casual comes unwrapped at Beaucoup Burrito

I have missed many things in favor of a meal. I’ve cut classes for sushi or cheeseburgers or just a shitty cup of diner coffee, skipped work for ­tacos, flown halfway across the country for a fish dinner, and abandoned like dead weight friends who weren’t interested in dim sum…

Say yes to the Y Knot Lounge

Roscoe likes me. I can tell by the way he stands dutifully next to my bar stool and follows me into the men’s room, where he attempts to lap up my piss before it splashes against the back of the urinal (despite my best attempts to balance on one leg…

Sometimes a sandwich is just a sandwich

I don’t know what it is with me. I can love a restaurant — seriously, get all twelve-year-old girl about it, just luuurve it to death — and write about it endlessly for a week, two weeks, whatever, and then not go back for two years. But when I hate…

Brio Tuscan Grille on its way to Cherry Creek

Brio Tuscan Grille will be taking the spot vacated by Macaroni Grill at 2500 East First Avenue in Cherry Creek. The national chain, which already has an outpost at 8441 Park Meadows Center Drive, is completely renovating the location; it’s slated to open this fall in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center.As…

Good news for GoodBelly, if you can stomach it

GoodBelly is growing like the beneficial bacteria — or probiotic — that makes your belly feel good. The pet of NextFoods, a Boulder-based health-food company, GoodBelly was recently included in the Los Angeles Examiner’s “Top Ten Best Food Product Introductions for 2008.” The product was created by Steve Demos, the…

Macaroni Grill closing in Cherry Creek

The Macaroni Grill located at 2500 East First Avenue will be closing after tonight’s service. Leasing problems seem to be the issue here — although it could also be some demented breath of fresh air leading to the right places closing due to the bad economy. An employee I talked…

Fox restaurants offering crafty deals for winter meals

Fox Restaurant Concepts, the people behind Bloom, NoRTH and Sauce Pizza & Wine, are featuring various deals through the end of March. NoRTH (190 Clayton Lane in Cherry Creek) and Bloom (1 West FlatIron Crossing Drive in FlatIron) are offering 50 percent off all bottles of wine — NoRTH on…

Mozart Bar gets ready for Mozart — or some piano player

Yesterday, a few friends marked what would have been Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 253rd birthday at the Mozart Lounge, 1417 Krameria Street. The bar was quiet — not unlike Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545, for example.But behind the scenes at the Mozart, there’s plenty going on…

Snarf’s sub shop opening on Capitol Hill

Oh, hell yes. It appears that Snarf’s, a veritable sandwich institution in Boulder, is opening a location at 11th and Ogden in Capitol Hill. It already has the ovens and counters installed inside, so hopefully it won’t be too long before we can get a hot dog, American cheese and…

Bad week for burritos

As I ducked inside Beaucoup Burrito, my fantasies briefly sustained me, filling in for the abject lack of anything approaching decor.  The spot looked like a poverty-stricken imitation Chipotle: bare white-on-white-on-electric-lemon-lime-on-white walls, a soda machine, a counter and sneeze guard with handwritten grease-pencil notes demarcating what was what, a menu…

Spice Boys of the Rockies ready to pack it in

Earlier this month, the Spice Boys of the Rockies announced they’d be closing their five-year-old spice shop at 301 West 11th Avenue and moving their business all online, at www.spiceboysrock.com, by February 1.But sales — of both the spicy inventory and the store’s furnishings — have been going so fast…

A hot-pot start to the Chinese New Year

The Denver Buddhist Cultural Society, located at 2530 West Alameda Avenue, marked the beginning of the Year of the Ox last night with a free meal and celebration of the new year.”We did hot pot,” reports the temple’s Happy Hsu,  “which is similar to Japanese shabu-shabu. It was all vegetarian. We…