100 Favorite Dishes: Santa Fe skillet from Hits the Spot Diner

Lori Midson

No. 52: Santa Fe skillet from Hits the Spot Diner

Diners are notorious for clouding the brains of well, the other kind of diners, with their staggeringly large menus that zigzag from eggs and pancakes to steak dinners and fried seafood platters. And nearly every diner claims to have the best chile and/or chili in town.

But Hits the Spot Diner, which opened a few months ago on West Colfax, in the space that was home to the Doll House for more years than we care to remember, makes a different declaration: "The fastest egg in the west," proclaims the menu. True, the eggs come fast and furious, but it's the joint's Coney Island red chili that the owners should be pimping. It's darker than the desert sky at sunset, dense, heartier than a backwoods redneck and slightly smoky with a subtle heat that sneaks up on you like a snowstorm in summer. It's served by the bowl, on a hot dog, smothered over french fries or hash browns, or generously sheeted over the Sante Fe skillet, a dinosaur-size plate of sausage, onions, jalapenos, hash browns and two eggs, preferably basted, and dribbling with yolk.

Hungry for more? All the dishes in our countdown are linked below:

No. 100: Italian wedding soup from the Squeaky Bean
No. 99: American Classic Burger (and fries) from Tarbell's
No. 98: E's clam linguini from Mangiamo Pronto
No. 97: Queso a la plancha taco from the Pinche Tacos wagon
No. 96: Prosciutto-wrapped jalapeño poppers from Tony's Market
No. 95: Fried chicken from the Pinyon
No. 94: Seafood soup from Farro
No. 93: Posole from The Porker
No. 92: Breakfast Burrito from the Taco Wagon in Lafayette
No. 91: Hummus from Shish Kabob Grill
No. 90: Albondigas meatballs from Solera
No. 89: Lemon-ricotta doughnuts from Olivéa
No. 88: Döner kabob from Shondiz
No. 87: Roasted cauliflower salad from Euclid Hall
No. 86: Beef cheek enchiladas from El Diablo
No. 85: Fried Brussels sprouts from Panzano
No. 84: Pork osso buco from Osteria Marco
No. 83: Cazuela Colombiana from Cafe Brazil
No. 82: Chicken potpie from Devil's Food
No. 81: Sichuan braised beef noodle soup from Zoe Ma Ma
No. 80: Larb nua from Taste of Thailand
No. 79: Pork shank from Argyll
No. 78: Truffo panino from Shangri-La Cafe
No. 77: Pig-snout tacos from Guadalajara Authentic Mexican Buffet
No. 76: Speck and maple ice cream from Pizzeria Basta
No. 75: Tom yum goong from Thai Flavor
No. 74: South African black ruff from TAG
No. 73: Gumbo from Bistro One
No. 72: New England clam chowder from Bittersweet
No. 71: Celery and lime popsicle from Spuntino
No. 70: Curried split pea soup from Modmarket
No. 69: Mais pizza from Pizzeria Locale
No. 68: Risotto frutti di mare from Firenze a Tavola
No. 67: Frico caldo from Frasca Food & Wine
No. 66: Sea scallop and rock shrimp noodle bowl from Bones
No. 65: Luther Burger from Crave
No. 64: Chongqing Chicken from East Asia Garden
No. 63: Bouillabaisse from Deluxe
No. 62: Crue fries from D Bar Desserts
No. 61: Chili gobi from Jai Ho
No. 60: New Mexican eggs Benedict from DJ's Berkley Cafe
No. 59: Lamb vindaloo from Cuisine of the Himalayas
No. 58: Gazpacho verde from Zolo Grill
No. 57: Hama Hama oyster from Jax Fish House-Denver
No. 56: Mixiote de borrego from El Trompito Taqueria
No. 55: Samosas from the British Bulldog
No. 54: Mole verde with carnitas from Tarasco's

No. 53: Pork chop from Le Grand Bistro & Oyster Bar

In late 2009, we embarked on a culinary journey that took us through our favorite dishes in the Mile High City -- one hundred, to be exact. Now we're back with round two, counting down (in no particular order) a hundred more of our favorite Denver dishes in a list that, by our imperfect calculations, should be wrapped up...sometime this year. If there's a dish you think we need to try, tell us about it in the comments section below, or shoot us an e-mail at lori.midson@westword.com.