Remembrance of things pasta at the Saucy Noodle

A river of memories — and red sauce — runs along the 700 block of South University Boulevard, where Sam Badis bought a little joint named Jim Sano’s back in 1964, changed the name to the Saucy Noodle, painted the walls red and added the slogan, “If you don’t like…

Andrew Romanoff loses one, wins one

Andrew Romanoff. Andrew Romanoff, the outgoing speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, will be back at the Statehouse today, helping to choose the leadership for the next session. In his last year of his last term before the state’s term-limits law booted him out, Romanoff crafted a plan to…

After Obama’s election, an important sign of the times

Paul Trujillo’s art captures an historic moment. Yesterday, the day that Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, I received a note from the Fords. They’re the family who’d asked Paul Trujillo, a sixteen-year-old urban artist, to paint a piece on the back of their garage…

The mail-in ballot horror stories continue

Please, Mr. Postman. Polling places across Colorado report that the voting process is going smoothly. But there are still plenty of bumps in the road — and Mimi Kaupe just hit one of them. Since she’s working in California, she’d long ago applied to the Denver Election Division for a…

High on my Highland polling place

Keep your distance, media scum. I was the 26th person in line at 6:45. Another fifty people had arrived by the time the election workers at the Mile High United Way polling place at the edge of Highland started the countdown at 6:59: “Five, four, three, two, one… the polls…

Get out the vote. And get off my lawn

Va-va-va-vote! When I arrived home late last night, I found a flier under my doormat, “Vote for the Change We Need,” with a number to call to find my polling place today. Right above the mat, suspended from my doorknob, was a more elaborate hangtag, “Vote Obama,” with detailed information…

Boo! Denver procrastinators get a ballot break today

What are you waiting for? In Denver, early voting ends today at 7 p.m. at the thirteen early-voting locations (find them at www.denvervotes.org). It’s too late to request a mail-in ballot by mail or over the Internet — but you can still pick one up until 7 p.m. today at…

A mystery whets our appetite for Twelve

There’s a mystery behind twelve, and it’s not why the restaurant opening November 4 in the Ballpark neighborhood, at 2233 Larimer Street, refuses to use capital letters. No, here’s the mystery: Who’s the man pretending to be the owner of twelve? Yesterday, I’d just finished perusing twelve’s press kit –…

Painting by numbers never creates great art

Sean Rice was the first gallery owner to discover that the city had wiped out a wall of urban art. It was just before the Democratic National Convention hit town, and Denver’s graffiti cleanup crew, called out to deal with tagging in the Ballpark neighborhood, decided to give nearby Orange…

Mail-in ballots, down for the count

“X” marks the drop. We can’t tell you when you’ll get that mail-in ballot you requested, and then requested again. But we can lay to rest another rumor making the rounds: that mail-in ballots are only counted if a vote looks close election day. “We count every ballot,” says Linda…

Take a dip into history at the Wynkoop Brewing Co.

Gary Isaacs’s original photo for the Wynkoop proclaimed that Beer Is Food. The blow-out, twentieth anniversary celebration of the Wynkoop Brewing Co., 1634 18th Street, continues today with the after-party for the Gorilla Run and then, at 2 p.m., an amazing (and potentially very icky) stunt: a dive into a…

From Tosh’s Hacienda to Kiva to Club Dynasty

Tosh’s Hacienda The flier for the S.O.S. — Sophisticated.On.Saturdays — party October 25 says that it will be held in the new Club Dynasty, located in the “old” Kiva Restaurant at 3090 Downing Street, with two floors of dance club and a spelling-impaired dress code: “no hats, white tees, do…

Another round of Wynkoop stories

Adman Lew Cady sent in the following memory of the early days of the Wynkoop Brewing Co.: The night Rock Bottom opened, John Hickenlooper and I (and you) were there and I asked Hickenlooper what he was going to do now that there was a second brewpub in town. “Crush…

A very hoppy anniversary for the Wynkoop Brewing Co.

Gary Isaacs’s original photo for the Wynkoop proclaimed that Beer Is Food. After twenty years and many, many, many times twenty beers, memories tend to get a little foggy. Still, I have no problem recalling the day in October 1988 when the Wynkoop Brewing Co. opened its doors. The town…

If You Can Read This, You’re Following Close Enough

Does reading this blog make you hunger to write? Westword is expanding its Cafe coverage, and we’re looking for people with a passion for food and restaurants, as well as the ability to produce stylish and knowledgeable news and opinion pieces about the Denver dining scene. E-mail a cover letter…

Brews and beaver at the Wynkoop Brewing Co.

In honor of the Wynkoop Brewing Co.’s twentieth anniversary, we’re asking readers to send their memories of the brewpub — with the author of the best account getting free beer! As a former Westword employee, John Kessler is not eligible for that prize — but his story is definitely a…

The week ahead: vice and potential vice presidents

Why wait? Early voting starts today — too late to stop the continued barrage of campaign visits to Colorado. This week’s frequent fliers: Sarah Palin, barnstorming the state today, and Joe Biden, coming tomorrow. But the Colorado ballot includes more, much more, than just national offices, as the non-stop barrage…