Sheehan: A Few of My Favorite Things

I had to have some half-unexpected dental work done a couple of days ago. It was nothing terribly serious but it was serious enough, if you know what I mean. Lot of blood, stitches. An annoyance. And as I was getting finished off in the chair, my dentist (a miracle…

It’s Karma!

The restaurants keep coming to that block of Broadway just south of Center — three in the last two months alone. First Beatrice & Woodsley and Delite, and now Karma, at 22 South Broadway. A sign on the door announces that it’s “Opening Soon for Dine-In” — and judging from…

Make Some History: My Brother’s Bar

My Brother’s Bar is the oldest bar in Denver — city directories show that this spot at the corner of 15th and Platte streets was an operating tavern before the 1880s — but there’s plenty of life left in the joint. For starters, it keeps late hours for such an…

Sheehan: First Week in Hell

Jason Sheehan is no fan of Hell’s Kitchen, but he watches it. And now he’s playing it, as he describes here. Week One: FNG The game is divided into five seven-day weeks with no days off and no quitting until the last table is served and out the door –…

Santa Fe Tequila Company

Albuquerque, New Mexico, about eight years ago… The rush started around five. There was never any way to gauge it — nothing scientific, no outward sign. Though we flew a jolly roger from the fryer end and my guys comported themselves like the hippest of pirates (bandannas, tattoos, ear and…

Borrowers

When Matt Selby and Josh and Jen Wolkon were planning Steuben’s, their paean to classic Americana that opened in a coolly retro space at 523 East 17th Avenue two years ago, they worked hard to get their showpiece lobster roll just right. This was a sandwich they cared passionately about,…

Midsummer Night’s Dream

The block of Broadway just below Ellsworth is suddenly my favorite block in town. Last month, Delite opened next door to Deluxe, quenching my thirst for a wonderful, comfortable bar where I could continue the evening after a great dinner. And then Beatrice & Woodsley sprouted next to Delite. From…

Las Margaritas Uptown

I typically pack a just-in-case deck of cards as a preventive measure when I’m trying out a new bar or restaurant — just in case the service is slow, or just in case the music/crowd/vibe sucks but we’re in no hurry to go home. Tonight, however, I pack my blue…

El Noa Noa

I love a Mexican restaurant that opens for breakfast. One of the reasons I know I could never again live happily east of the Mississippi is that I could never survive without breakfast burritos, steaming plates of machaca and day-old takeout green chile in my fridge. There’s one thing I…

What the Hell’s Up at the Former Mel’s?

At this time last year, fans were still bemoaning the closure of Mel’s in Cherry Creek. But there’s been a lot of action since then. Mel Master turned his two Montecito restaurants into reincarnations of Mel’s — but now, as detailed here, plans to sell majority interest in the Mel’s…

What’s All the Buzz on Agwa?

Last Friday, my friend Greg got an e-mail from a buddy in L.A. who was all excited about a new liquor he was planning to try that weekend that’s made with cocaine — sort of. Greg and his girlfriend got online to research this European concoction that’s been compared to…

Broadway Melody: Delite

Technically, Delite does not have a patio — but the front of this brand-new, storefront bar consists of garage-style doors that open wide on these beautiful nights. And thanks to alert management, smokers are kept far away from the front door, guaranteeing that the night air coming through that open…

Rachael Ray Invents Colorado’s Official Food

A few months ago, in order to assist the Colorado Tourism Office with its woefully embarrassing state marketing campaigns, we asked readers, “What Does Colorado Taste Like to You?” Looks like one of those readers was none other than that empress of evoo Rachael Ray, and she responded with an…

Meat and Greet: Sullivan’s Steakhouse

Grab a seat on Sullivan’s sidewalk patio and prepare to meat and greet. On weeknights, this stretch of LoDo can be relatively quiet, if you want a more intimate summer evening. But on weekends, both the bar inside and the neighborhood surrounding Sullivan’s are really jumping. Adding to the action…

Hell’s Kitchen: The Game

I am not a fan of Hell’s Kitchen, the TV show. It is, without a doubt, the worst, most asinine, most ridiculously overdone suckfest of a reality cooking show on television: a horrifically over-shot and over-dramatized sixty minutes with half of its runtime taken up by commercials; another ten minutes…

Life’s a Beach: Emerald Isle Restaurant

Driving back up Parker Road after a long, hot day on the southestern plains Saturday, the temptation to brake for the Emerald Isle was almost overwhelming. Not just because the bar itself is such a classic roadhouse — but because the patio behind it may just be the closest Denver…

East Angels Drink for a Cause on Colfax

They spent their high school years taking classes off Colfax Avenue, watching its endless parade of people and eating at its restaurants, and on Saturday, about 125 East High School alumni gathered at 5 p.m. at Senger’s on the Fax for the second annual Angels on Colfax pub crawl. And…

Milking It: Pops Chocolate Peanut Butter

Pops Chocolate Peanut Butter Kellogg’s Rating: Three and a half spoons out of four Cereal description: Brownish corn-meal orbs — but not just any brownish corn-meal orbs. Big ones. Imposing ones. Brownish corn-meal orbs with a gland condition, or a steroid problem. Size-wise, they’re significantly larger than, say, the typical…

Out at Second Home

I’m a dumbass. In the June 26 Bite Me, while further excoriating Sage Restaurant Group for its miss at Second Home, I mistakenly lumped the Rialto Cafe in among the properties that Sage has taken over. In actuality, Rialto is (and always has been) run by Concept Restaurants, while Sage…

French twist: Aix Restaurant & Wine Bar

What? You’re still at your desk? Get up and get over to Aix, the charming French bistro on 17th Avenue, which has a lovely patio and an even lovelier happy hour. From 5-7 p.m., you can order from a list of five different small plates and five different speciality drinks,…

Candy Girls: Chill-In Frozen Yogurt

It’s no secret around here that Liz has been obsessed with frozen treats lately. Specifically, with finding Denver’s contribution to the growing Korean-style frozen yogurt movement, popularized in LA with the Pinkberry chain and then scores of copycat stores across the country. The first Pinkberries popped up in 2005, back…