Opinion & Commentary

Westword editor Patricia Calhoun has won first place for General Column Writing in the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Awards (daily circulation 1-100,000/non-daily publication) with a collection of columns that included two pices on the Sand Creek Massacre (including Governor John Hickenlooper’s apology to descendants) to a pioneering…

On April 25, the fourth anniversary of Hart’s Corner Bar & Restaurant reopening on the corner of Mississippi and Sheridan Boulevard, I drove past the old roadhouse — hailed as Lakewood’s oldest business — and saw that it had gone dark again, ninety years after it first opened. Over the…

When Sassafras opened in an old Victorian bungalow listed on the National Register of Historic Places three years ago, co-owner Julia Grother brought considerable experience in the restaurant business to the Jefferson Park neighborhood – and a lot of Southern comfort. One thing was missing, though: a liquor license. Even…

Glendale officials last week announced their plans for a 22-acre project, Glendale 180, that promises to return that little town surrounded by Denver not to its squeaky-clean origins as a dairy a century ago, but to the swinging ’70s. Glendale 180 is slated to include 25 bars and restaurants, a…

When the trains pulled back into the renovated Union Station last year, one stop was conspicuous by its absence: the model train layouts that had graced the basement of the building for decades, and were featured at regular open houses for the public. The oldest was the 6,500 square food…

Colorado Business Committee for the Arts celebrated its thirtieth anniversary on March 11 at its annual luncheon in the Seawell Ballroom — an add-on to the Denver Performing Arts Complex that didn’t exist when CBCA got its start. And back in 1978, when Americans for the Arts held its convention…

Now that development of the historic Stapleton Airport control tower is about to take off — come spring 2016, it will hold the city’s second Punch Bowl Social — only a few iconic buildings in this city still sit empty. In RiNo, once-decrepit warehouses are being turned around daily. An…

In the early 2000s, Denver was all about the creative class. Author/big thinker Richard Florida had labeled the metro area one of the top creative spots in the country, an honor that John Hickenlooper used to promote the city that had just elected him mayor. Fifteen years before, he’d been…

Gretchen Kurtz recently visited Butcher’s Bistro, where a butcher’s counter up-front displays the cut of the day you may later see on your plate. But without any sauce, she writes in her review of Butcher’s Bistro, that cut looked pretty lonely. Fortunately, the restaurant has since added sauces that are…

Comments have been pouring out about one of this year’s Super Bowl commercials, a Budweiser ad that drew special attention from the 3,200 craft breweries across the country — and the people who drink their beer. “Brewed the Hard Way” began with the words “Proudly a macro beer” spelled out…

Kobe An just moved to Cherry Creek, after many years in Lakewood. Longtime Creek favorite Cucina Colore recently expanded. And many other new restaurants will soon open in Cherry Creek. Decades, this neighborhood was Denver’s hottest dining destination — is it heating up again? See also: Cherry Creek Set for…

Residents of the southern suburbs were excited when chef Mary Nguyen, who’d gained a strong following at Parallel Seventeen (now P17, and celebrating its tenth birthday this year), opened Street Kitchen Asian Bistro in the Vallagio development in Englewood in January 2011. But since then Nguyen has added Olive &…

Yelp released its second annual list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. last month, compiling user data of the most popular and well-reviewed eateries of 2014. And according to Yelp users, the one place in all of Colorado worthy of national attention is the Kitchen Table…

Chef’s counters are becoming increasingly important features at local restaurants, including Brazen Neighborhood Eatery, the new restaurant in northwest Denver that Gretchen Kurtz reviews this week. In fact, Brazen rates our list of the twelve best chef’s counters in Denver, which we rolled out yesterday. But did we miss one?…

The sign outside Bruxie promised “Sweet Treats,” but the waffle sandwich shop, one of our ten best new fast-casual restaurants in 2014, just met a sour end. Bruxie has closed up shop on Colorado Boulevard “due to unforeseen circumstances,” according to a message you reach when you dial the place…

The Denver ramen scene has been heating up, with high-profile noodle-house openings late last year, and more to come soon. But in Aurora, a deep demand for Japanese noodle bowls has apparently been bubbling beneath the surface, because when Katsu Ramen opened Monday at the corner of Havana Street and…

The Inuit have more than fifty words for snow — including pukak and matsaaruti — but you’d need more than fifty words to describe the amazing things done with cabbage at Dae Gee, which Gretchen Kurtz just reviewed. In the process, she offered a few tips about traditional Korean food…

The New York Times served up a “36 Hours in Denver” feature last week, filled with suggestions for what to see and eat in Denver — including New York-style bagels at Rosenberg’s Bagels & Delicatessen, the incredibly popular new spot on Welton Street. Some readers liked the Times’s suggestions, others…

The New York Times just served up “36 Hours in Denver,” a feature on what a visitor should see and eat during a short trip to the Mile High City. The piece included standard must-go spots (Denver Art Museum, Biker Jim’s) and some surprises (sending New Yorkers to Rosenberg’s Bagels…

Peruvian-born Marjorie Silva opened Azucar Bakery in 2006 to fill a hole in a town more accustomed to cupcakes and pie than flan and Suspiro de Limeña. But while she’s giving Denver diners a good taste of South American delicacies from her shiny, pink-frosted space on South Broadway, she’s also…