M&D's Cafe, an iconic Denver restaurant, closes after more than thirty years

• Jim n nicks is not the same as M&D's, not just food wise but management wise. At M&D's, you knew the staff was part of the family, and treated as such. Jim N Nicks is just another chain that doesn't do anything for the Denver small business dining scene. 

• Wow I remember eating there with my parents on Sunday's I was 13yrs then Im now 43yrs live in Vegas,Nv said one day im going back to Denver to visit some people and places n YES M&D's was one od them. food was so good ima miss M&D's Catfish.

• To be honest,  their bad karma started when they got that big city loan, took over the whole block which included throwing Mr. Howard ( Howards Liquors ) out in the street. They had pretty good food, marginal service and so on. In reality, being open that long is a blessing. Like Kapre, all good things must come to an end. Just pray for there family : )

• Wow!  I used to go to M&D's all the time before they went upscale.  The hole in the wall was the best food.  I moved here from Washington, DC and it was the first best restaurant I visited in Denver.  I took all of my visiting out of town friends there.  Yes, they did have some unfriendly staff; however, I would always ask for their mother.  Mrs. Daisy was always nice and kept them in order.  She was very friendly and even made my NY girlfriend corn cakes to go with her greens.  I loved Renee, she was always very friendly and nice. I didn't like the new place so good.   I visited twice and the food was very different.  When you mess up the catfish and the pound cake, I have to leave you alone.   Sometimes, expansion is not good for the mom and pop outfits.

• Hmmmmm. Same thing happened to me and I'm black. Sometimes it is just bad service...

•  try jim and nicks in northfield.

•      Ditto! i to am a Black-American who now resides in England. I was on line reading the Denver Post where discovered the restaurant closing. I use to live in Glenwood Springs prior to relocating to Europe. I would travel down to Denver several times a month to visit family and friends; i would regularly stop by M&D's for some down home food.  I would sometimes call my order in, and i still would have to wait 40 min or more. They ( the staff) were aware that i traveled a great distance to patronize their eatery, but to no avail,i was consistently treated like i was at the bottom of the food chain.  I watched as the staff grinned and fawned over the business crowd at lunch time displaying historicle sycophant behavior at massa while showing me contempt! Solution, i am now Vegan!!!!!!

• M&D's will be missed. They had great food and gave back to the community. Gotta love Elsie!!! And fried green tomatoes.

• You are the best soul food yet in denver make u feel like your downsouth somewhere you will truly be missed.May god bless you and your family for the future in whatever you decide to do.

• To be clear, and this is not being mean just the unfortunate truth, I am 26. I have been going there all my life. I have only seen them treat their white customers, especially the white business lunch crowd the way customers should be treated. I know this person's statement is true because it happened all the time to me. Honestly, I'm glad to know they actually treated white people the same way. I always thought they went out of their way to be nice to them. Atleast they were consistant with that....again... unfortunately this was bound to happen. They had quite a long run. I'm sure the first generation treated their customers better though.

• In response to "Notarealemail": Some black people feel like we are being pushed out of our neigborhoods, so for the stares during your family walks I completely empathize with you. As not only a black person but dark skinned black female (trust me, it makes all the difference) I get those looks from any kind, all my life, anywhere I go. So I am sorry your family and you had to go through that. But trust me the customer service was terrible (to me) regardless of your color. I grew up in the Park Hill neighborhood & went to M&D's quite often for only their banana pudding. Never really liked anything else. I was never greeted by any of the long lasting workers. AKA family. Only every now & then by a random new face that I would never see again. Maybe they got fired for good customer service! Anyway, point is that it wasn't your color that made them act that way. I came quite often because they made the BEST banana pudding. My weakness. Even as a consistant, loyal customer I was never treated as a customer should be. Really only the business people were treated nice the way I saw it. I honestly, sometimes, felt like I was at a soup kitchen begging for food instead of paying the way they acted. So in a nutshell it was, in my opinion, the bad bbq chicken and absolutely terrible customer service and bad attitudes that shut this place down. Recession or not, it was bound to happen. Really sorry. But I will TRULY miss the banana pudding. On the few days they had any.... actual quote... -me: Hi, can I have a small order of banana pudding please? Order taker: we ain't got no mo-....* Just speaking the truth

• I'm a 50-something white guy who went in alone one afternoon for my first, and, evidently, last visit last spring and had both a damn fine lunch and warm, friendly service. Sorry to see them go.

• I am so totally bummed, I've been going there for over 20 years and love the staff.  A special thank you to "Elsie."  It was the best bbq in Denver.

• The last two times we ate there, our waitress hinted that a closure was imminent. We, of course, hoped that would not happen. We have enjoyed M&D's for 26 years and most definitely mourn its passing. I would also encourage Q lovers to patronize Sam Taylor's, also locally owned and also serving wonderful food. Last time we were there, our waitress admonished "Pray for us," so times may be tough there, too.

• you're from Texas and you thought Wolfe's was good BBQ? That's just not right, son.

• Notarealemail:  I don't know why you had this experience here..  but I am sure it must have been a freak incident.  I am a white male who is 29 years old and have been going to M&Ds since I was a child.. LONG before Whittier was considered a place white folk should go. Never once was I mistreated, looked at differently or made to wait for any reason, let alone the color of my skin.  They have always been nothing but kind, friendly and warm to me and anyone I have ever brought there.  M&Ds and their banana pudding will be sorely missed!

• Today is a day of mourning.  While I used to eat there much more before their renovation, and thought that the food was better in the days before the renovation, I am saddened to see this great restaurant close.  Denver, stop eating the crap from Brothers' BBQ and Dave's, and start supporting true family-owned places, or risk becoming a boring city.  M&D's will be missed by me and by the many of people that I introduced it to over the years.

• If we're not careful Denver, we can end up with nothing more than WalMarts and Subways lining our streets while true locally-owned and operated businesses go the way of the dinosaur.

• I feel like my best friend just died. I've been going to M&D's for the last 12 years or so. There is no other place like it. They were always so friendly and the bbq was simply the best there is (in my opinion). This leaves a gaping hole in the Denver dining scene.

• Notarealemail: Can disagree more. From the perspective of someone who's "new" to the area myself (5 years), I always felt super welcome at M&Ds. They had some of the friendlies staff around, and certain better than some genericana chain restaurant. Great small ends, sad to see it gone.

• Keeping this anonymous because it could be a little inflammatory, but I moved into Whittier about 7 years ago.  We certainly weren't the only white family in the neighborhood, but we were there early enough to feel a lot of anti-gentrification sentiment when we took our kids for walks, etc.  I *love* BBQ and I was excited to try the restaurant out. The weekend we moved in I went there and no one spoke to us, so we just took a seat. We watched for 45 minutes as the staff walked past our table ignoring us, avoiding eye contact and pretending not to hear us while we waited for someone to wait on us.  We got up and left, and even then no one said anything to us.  I don't know if anyone else had that experience, but with the diversification of the neighborhood no restaurant can afford to turn away a customer, regardless of what they look like.

• This is a tragedy. With Wolfe's and M&D's gone, there is essentially no where decent left in this city to get BBQ. I might just have to move back to Texas.

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