Elway's Downtown makes veggie sushi to order

We've written before about the vegetarian food at Elway's Downtown, 1881 Curtis Street. The restaurant remains one of our favorite (and least obvious) places to grab a bite to eat in the area -- you wouldn't think a steakhouse would cater so well to vegetarians, but this one does. In 2011, the joint also won a Best Of Denver award for Best Sushi in a Non-Sushi Restaurant, so we stopped by to see what the sushi chefs could do with a no-fish roll.

The restaurant was packed on the Friday we stopped in, with post-work happy-hour drinkers and couples on dates filling up the sushi bar, where you can watch the chefs at work. We slid into a roomy booth and told our server what we wanted. There aren't any vegetarian rolls on the regular sushi menu, but as we've discovered, this place will cater to any and all special requests. If the kitchen has the ingredients, the chefs will make whatever your heart desires.

Pictured above is a tempura avocado roll, with little bits of vegetables in the rice and a ribbon of cream on top. (Of course, if you prefer to go fully vegan, just tell your server and they'll hold the cream.)

First up, though, was the edamame -- a staple of any good sushi restaurant, and the edamame at Elway's is cooked perfectly, the beans popping out of the pods.

And because we're suckers for avocado, we also loved this roll, with even more avocado and a carrot aioli sauce inside.

Visit Elway's for lunch or dinner; you can peruse the website beforehand, but trust us when we say that vegetarians and vegans need only let their servers know what their dietary restrictions are, then sit back and allow the kitchen to work its magic. Call 303-312-3107.