Pink elephants and Palomas at Los Chingones

The name Los Chingones — “The Badasses,” more or less — suggests that Troy Guard’s new restaurant is populated with tequila-slamming roughnecks. Yet its paloma, a tequila drink made with pink grapefruit and soda, is not exactly chingón, shall we say. The gentle yet addictive paloma has single-handedly caused my…

25 things you never knew about Michael Reilly, bartender at the Matchbox

As Westword’s Ask the Bartender columnist, I’ve talked with many bartenders for Cafe Society’s “Behind the Bar” series, posing numerous questions to Denver’s top bartenders…and often receiving the same answers: “I love chartreuse,” or “I’m really into smoked cocktails/barrel aging/bottled cocktails.” See also: A bartender by any other name…is still…

Photos: Former Future Brewing opens tomorrow on South Broadway

James and Sarah Howat will launch the past into the present when they open Former Future Brewing tomorrow on South Broadway’s Antique Row. The spot will specialize in “futuristic interpretations of historical styles,” both in its look and feel and in its beer recipes, which will incorporate both the old…

Absinthe madness at Z Cuisine’s A Cote Bar

Is there any liquor with a reputation as misleading as absinthe? Sure, it may be a hip, edgy cocktail ingredient today, but not long ago it was blamed for everything from Van Gogh slicing off his ear to Ernest Hemingway moving to Idaho to the L.A. Rams’ 1992 season. America’s…