Juicy Lucy’s dries up in Cherry Creek

Juicy Lucy’s has given up the ghost at 250 Josephine Street — a ghost that’s claimed so many other restaurants, including Papillon, Indigo, Go Fish Grille and Tula. Although the restaurant closed suddenly last Thursday, the owners — who also own the popular Juicy Lucy’s in Glenwood Springs — have…

Wake-Up Call: Romanoff takes another step towards the Senate

Apparently all the behind-the-scenes arm-twisting hasn’t convinced Andrew Romanoff to abandon the idea of running for Michael Bennet’s Senate seat. The former Speaker of the House hasn’t been speaking to the press since word of his possible Senate race leaked out two weeks ago, but yesterday, he issued one of…

Meet the other Candy Girls

In this week’s Westword, Joel Warner reports on the ganjapreneurs, economic adventurers exploring this state’s booming business in medical marijuana. Among the folks high on the field’s possibilities: the Candy Girls, three women who started a company that cooks up goodies made with cannabis-infused oils or butters. This medicine may…

Wake-Up Call: A member of the bar

I am not a lawyer, but lately I’ve been called upon to play one when visiting local watering holes — as a member of the bar, so to speak. The owners of these locales all want to know one thing: Can they hold a ladies’ night? I’ve developed an unwanted…

Get ready for Mexican Independence Day

Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans make the sign of mucho dinero with a gap between their thumb and index fingers, as if holding an imaginary wad of bills between both fingers? El Zorro Chupagringos Dear Gabacho-Sucking Fox: Because if a pendejo like you can get the gesture, imagine us normal…

The winner of the burger battle at Tony’s Market

Since Tony’s Market moved in across the street from the Westword office at 950 Broadway, we’ve been making a lot of runs to the store. But nothing beat our most recent mission: joining a crew of faithful customers and founder Tony Rosacci to judge specialty burgers, all created by staffers…

Wake-Up Call: Paint the town read

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read,” Scout, the young tomboy narrator, confides in To Kill a Mockingbird. “One does not love breathing.” Now, To Kill a Mockingbird has been called on to breathe new life into One Book, One Denver, the program that promotes…

Wake-Up Call: Steve Horner, back in his corner

The Colorado Division of Civil Rights finally issued a ruling affirming Westword’s position that by publishing an ad for a ladies’ night at a local club, the paper did not discriminate against Steve Horner. And the decision didn’t stop there: In addition to agreeing that a newspaper is not a…

Wake-Up Call: Little spouse on the prairie

Always quick with a quip, Pat Schroeder was one of the most quotable members of Congress during her 24-year tenure in the House. Turns out her husband, James Schroeder, also had plenty to say, as he proves in his new memoir, Confessions of a Political Spouse. “When all of a…

El Toro a must-stop on Colorado Boulevard

The Westword staff cruised Colorado Boulevard for this week’s cover story, with stops at restaurants ranging from an old-school IHOP (which replaced a Village Inn) to the very new-school, new Snooze. One of our favorite spots didn’t make the cut — but it’s definitely worth the drive to El Toro…

Wake-Up Call: Michael Huttner, the early days

On my first road trip to Montana, back in the pre-cell-phone days, I had to stop every hour or so and find a phone so that I could check in with a lawyer who was concerned that the Denver DA’s office was going to file charges against our high-school intern…

The Mexican advises against rushing to the altar

Dear Mexican: I am a 22-year-old Mexican-American woman, still living with my parents but going to college, working full-time and taking care of myself financially. I grew up in a very traditional Mexican household, youngest of four kids, and we were all born in the United States. I’m unmarried, but with a steady boyfriend I have…

Wake-Up Call: Back in bear country

“Please scare the bears,” reads the lead sentence in a story from today’s Wall Street Journal. “That is the message state wildlife officials are sending residents of Colorado communities besieged by hungry black bears with a taste for fresh-baked pies and other fattening human fare.” The bears, state wildlife officials…

Otto’s is outta Market Street

It just opened on May 1, but Otto’s American Grill has already closed its doors at 2200 Market Street, in the former home of the downtown Brix in the Premiere Loft project. The space is currently for lease; maybe the third time will be a charm. The original Otto’s is…

Wake-Up Call: Senator Bennet rolls up his sleeves

Business boosters at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce didn’t know what had hit them. On Friday, when Senator Mark Udall offered a healthcare briefing at the Chamber, there hadn’t been a single member of the media. But on Monday, when Senator Michael Bennet did the same, the TV cameras…

Wake-Up Call: Romanoff on the range

“What’s he doing in the Senate?” “Why, it’s an honorary appointment. He’s an honorary stooge.” Frank Capra’s classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was on TCM yesterday afternoon — just the thing to warm up the set (and the sofa) before Jake Cutler returned to Mile High, particularly given all…

Oskar Blues Liquids & Solids has yet to solidify

Oskar Blues’s benefit golf tourney today at Twin Peaks is a big hit, with all 144 slots sold out. But when the golf is over, the participants won’t be able to retire to the new Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids & Solids in Longmont, as originally planned. That’s because the still-in-the-works…

Wake-Up Call: The Obama promise, stuck in line

Denver looks golden in most memories of last year’s Democratic National Convention — including Barack Obama’s acceptance speech, which was delivered on August 28, 2008, exactly 45 years to the day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. But then, there are the memories of trying to…

Wake-Up Call: The doctor is still in

Dr. Warren Hern just keeps making headlines — whether he wants them or not. For decades, he’s practiced behind bulletproof glass at his Boulder clinic, occasionally attracting the attention of publications ranging from Westword (you can read one of our profiles here) to the current edition of Esquire, whose “The…

The Mexican: You ask, he answers

Dear Mexican: A gabacho in the local daily suggested that some of our prisons be outsourced to Mexico to save us some money. What are your thoughts? Would wabs make for good guards looking after homies and white-trash inmates? Have a chew on that taco. Mike the Mick From Missouri…

Wake-Up Call: Ted Kennedy in Colorado

Remembering Denver at this time last year during the Democratic National Convention — the downtown sidewalks full, the downtown cash registers ditto — it all seems like a mirage. Like that season of Dallas that ended with Pam finding Bobby in the shower, and realizing that the entire plotline had…

Wake-Up Call: Beauprez decides against a Senate run

In politics, timing is everything. Timing and money — big money, in the case of anyone who’s going to take on barely incumbent Senator Michael Bennet, who’s already raised over $2 million to retain an office he’s held for fewer than eight months. The money was a major obstacle in…