Plush seats and good eats at Japoix Restaurant and Lounge

Happy Place: Japoix Restaurant and Lounge, 975 Lincoln Street, 303-861-2345 The Hours: Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close. The Deals: $3 well drinks and wines by the glass; half-priced beer, sake and specialty cocktails; $3-$8 small plates. Were we happy? Flip the page…

Six casual Denver restaurants with super-cool wine lists

Why is it that so many of Denver’s more casual, moderately priced restaurants have wine lists that make the oenophiles among us want to just give up and order a beer? It’s as if the people in charge of designing these lists decided that when entrees cost somewhere in the…

Five Denver bartenders mix up vodka cocktails you can make at home

Vodka has been the most popular spirit in America since the 1970s, and there’s no sign of it slowing down. As outlined in “Clear Thinking,” this week’s cover story about Spring44, vodka’s popularity keeps growing year after year, expanding into a market now worth billions of dollars. Part of that…

Five ways to freshen up the Great American Beer Festival

What’s that you say? How can you mess with perfection? Easily. The Great American Beer Festival, which takes place September 29 to October 1, is the biggest consumer beerstravaganza in the world. It’s on the life to-do list for beer lovers all over the globe, and it brings more cachet…

Leopold Bros. Distillery gears up to release a Fernet

We’re always excited to see what Scott and Todd Leopold, the brothers behind Denver’s Leopold Bros. Distillery have dreamed up for their next project. Between special barrels of whiskey for restaurants like Vesta Dipping Grill, fruit liqueurs and fruit whiskeys, absinthe and gin, we’ve never had a Leopold Bros. spirit…

Fish and a foul happy hour at Oceanaire

Happy Place: Oceanaire Seafood Room, 1400 Arapahoe Street, 303-991-2277. The Hours: Sunday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. to close. The Deals: $3 draft beer; $4 wines by the glass; $5 specialty cocktails; $6 martinis; $5-$8 small plates. Were we happy? Flip the page to find…