Lancer Lounge kitchen is on the rocks…again

  The Lancer Lounge at 233 Seventh Avenue is one of this town’s great dives, a spot where you can always count on a collegial evening of drinking, as Drew Bixby recently reported in Drunk of the Week. What you can’t count on is finding food there. The most recent…

A saucy toy drive at Steuben’s

Steuben’s will host a toy drive to benefit the Denver Rescue Mission tonight, beginning at 9 p.m. and running until about 2 a.m. And if you donate a toy, not only does God give you a pat on the back, but you receive a free cocktail or Great Divide beer! The cocktails are creations…

The chile isn’t the only thing that’s green at Mi Cocina

Saul Sierra is no tree-hugger. “I wasn’t always green,” he says. “My brothers learned about all that stuff in school, but I never went over it.” He is now, though, and both of his Mi Cocina restaurants are feeling the effects.  This fall, Sierra installed a solar patio at the…

Candy Girls: Bahlsen Domino Lebkuchen

We found the Bahlsen Domino in the large and varied display of Lebkuchen and Stollen at the Cost Plus World Market in Cherry Creek. While many versions of Lebkuchen featured gingerbread covered in dark or white chocolate, we were drawn to the German-made Bahlsen Domino because it took the concept…

Sunday is fun day at Elway’s Downtown

In his review this week, Jason Sheehan lauds the food at Elway’s Downtown — but laments its lack of fun, such a critical component in the success of the original Elway’s. Still, the joint was jammed last night, with drinkers packing the lounge and diners digging into steaks. And they…

Project Angel Heart feeling the squeeze

In an economic meltdown, charitable organizations can find their coffers drying up — but the need for their services is greater than ever. So Project Angel Heart, which provides meals to people with HIV/AIDS, cancer or other life-threatening illness, has had to get creative to streamline its operation while still delivering the…

No proofreaders need apply at Blues on Blake

Let’s hope that the music and food at Blues on Blake Supper Club (at 1925 Blake Street, in a space formerly occupied by the Dugout) is better than the proofreading,since the new club recently posted an ad that it was IMMEDIANTELY HIRING FOR SERVERS/BARTENDERS. “We are an exciting new club,…

Veggie Girl: Spicy Pickle

If it seems like I’m obsessed with soup in the wintertime –maybe I am. One of my favorite soups comes from the Spicy Pickle just a block from the Westword offices at 988 Lincoln Street. On a cold day, nothing is more tempting than a cup of the Pickle’s Corn…

Reuse your bags!

Mayor John Hickenlooper yesterday announced a Greenprint Denver initiative to promote reusable bags at various city agencies and businesses. The Denver Public Library, for example, is eliminating the use of plastic bags at all of the branches. And such companies as Safeway, Vitamin Cottage, King Soopers and Wal-Mart have signed onto a five-point plan to help spread the…

Wanted: A new tenant for the old Drift Inn

For many, many years, this storefront at 6901 East Colfax Avenue was home to the Drift Inn. But eventually, that classic saloon drifted into history, and the space was turned into Joe’s West of Memphis, an BBQ joint with an Elvis-heavy vibe. But Joe’s went south, too. Next up: the Spinnin’ Chicken, a family-owned rotisserie chicken…

Another Noodle for Noodles & Company

Colorado — the state where it all began — will get its 35th Noodles & Company outpost today. The restaurant opening at 1601 Mayberry Drive in Highlands Ranch is the second in that town and the 203rd in the country. Noodles & Company has come a long way since founder Aaron…

An official opening date for Root Down

Word just came down that Root Down, the new field-to-fork, small plates restaurant that’s recycled an old service station at1600 West 33rd Avenue, has an official opening set for Friday, December 19. And owner Justin Cucci should have no problem making that date, because the restaurant had to secure its certificate of…

Bad health reports, good pancakes at Children’s Hospital

The 24/7 cafeteria at Children’s Hospital has long been known for its pancakes, which survived the trip from the old facility in central Denver out to the new Children’s campus in Aurora. Years ago, Westword columnist Marty Jones flipped over the flapjacks in his Consumed column; just this fall, renowned restaurateur Frank Bonanno (of…

Le Central is even more affordable during happy hour

Le Central, the restaurant at 112 East Eighth Avenue, has billed itself as the Affordable French Restaurant since it opened close to thirty years ago. And now it’s getting even more affordable, introducing an incredible happy hour deal today that will run from 3-5 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. The lineup includes super-French…

Elway’s Downtown is seriously lacking in fun

The first time I stepped into Elway’s Downtown at the Ritz-Carlton, I immediately wanted to turn around, get in my car and drive somewhere more my speed: some greasy taquería, perhaps, a dive bar where I could get into an argument with a midget about Irish versus Scotch whiskey, even…

The Corner Office is one hot hotel restaurant

Elway’s Downtown (see review, page 41) sells luxury — fat steaks and lobster tails, murderously expensive ports and oysters from the raw bar, all cloaked in the trappings of a retro-nouvelle design meant to invoke those heavy, serious steakhouses of yore while still keeping the dining room approachable enough that…

Fisher Clark hams it up

Fisher Clark Deli 723 South University Boulevard 303-722-2091   Spanish Ham and Cheese Serrano ham, chorizo, manchego cheese, arugula, pear and onion jam on focaccia bread $8.95   Yeah, nine bucks is a lot to spend on a sandwich, so Fisher Clark is a place I only go to occasionally…

Guilty verdict in Ha Noi Pho Case

Yesterday, a Denver jury convicted Phuong Van Dang of attempted first-degree assault on a peace officer, attempted aggravated robbery and a whole one-from-column-A, one-from-column-B menu of other charges connected to an incident last fall at Ha Noi Pho, at 1036 South Federal Boulevard. Dang was armed with a shotgun and wearing a mask…

Morreale heads back to the future with Sketch

Over a year after he closed the well-reviewed but poorly performing Sketch Food & Wine in Cherry Creek, it looks like restaurateur/developer Jesse Morreale is reviving the concept — or at least the name — on Broadway. Morreale bought the historic, decrepit and partially vacant 1st Avenue Hotel building at…

CANstructive learning

The Salvation Army has teamed up with area schools to put a creative twist on the classic canned-food drive with CANstruction. I vividly remember canned- food drives in elementary and middle school; how I’d make a parent take me to Costco to get that last case of Top Ramen for a food drive just so our…

Robert Thompson is headed back to Denver

When last we saw Robert Thompson, he’d closed Brasserie Rouge, was out of Atomic Cowboy, and was selling B-52 Billiards (which would become the Real World: Denver House, then Theorie). He moved on to Chicago, where he’s now co-owner of Seasoned Development — a restaurant company that just leased 5,500 space at 1433…

Grilling in a winter wonderland

Black is the new black, forty is the new thirty, and you know what? Winter is the new summer. Yeah, you heard me. Effin A. I didn’t grow up with a barbecue grill in the back yard (well, there was technically a grill, but it was more of a spider…