Denver Food Blog

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The Drink, the first of the three spots that Paul Piciocchi, owner of Tryst, is putting into the former home of Alto at 1320 15th Street, will hold its grand opening tonight, with free Coors Light from 6 to 7 p.m., and other deals through the weekend, including a free shot toast at midnight both tonight and tomorrow, and free Sam Adams Light from 6-7 p.m. tomorrow. For more details, go to www.thedrinkdenver.com.

Look for Rock & Rye, the gastropub, to open December 4, with the Mix, a music lounge, coming a week after that.

​We hear there may be a few tickets left to tonight's talk by Anthony Bourdain, which starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Buell Theatre. If you want to try your luck, log onto ticketmaster and use the special promotions code WESTWORD.

If there are still tickets to be had, you'll get a $10 discount on each one you buy.

​If you've been anywhere near the Denver Pavilions recently, then you know what an utter and complete construction zone clusterfuck it's been. But it appears that the cone zones, yellow tape and dust bowls are finally coming to an end. And to celebrate that milestone -- or as some would call it, the re-introduction of the Pavilions -- Maggiano's Little Italy is hosting a whole slew of events that kick off Tuesday, November 10 and continue through Tuesday November 17.

At noon on November 10, Maggiano's executive chef, Eric Kolk, struts his stuff up and down the escalator as part of a fashion show to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Colorado, and at 12:45 p.m., Kolk will re-create his mushroom ravioli al forno during a chef demo. Throughout the week, Maggiano's will also be offering specials and a "today and tomorrow" menu, which allows noodle rockers to choose one dish from the menu and go home with another dish of their choice to grub on the next day.

For more info, visit the website or call 303-260-7707.

​We know: the Broncos were pure suck last Sunday, and for me it was double-suck, because I was in a bar with sucky food (but a good beer selection). A tailgating party would have been a lot more fun, and the food a whole lot better -- especially if it had come from Morton's of Chicago, which has just introduced tailgating takeout bar menus at both metro locations:

​For the past fifteen years, the original Jax Fish House, at 928 Pearl Street in Boulder, has been feeding fish heads to the finicky (and spawning a Top Chef victor, but you already know all about that), a feat that's being marked through the week as part of a fifteenth anniversary celebration.

From now until Thursday, November 5, Jax-Boulder is making waves with a sea of specials, including 15 oysters for $15; $5 strawberry lemonades; $14 wine flights; throwback and modern cocktails for $6; and two prix fixe menus, one of which focuses on favorite Jax dishes from the past, while the other menu is all about Ho-Se-A Rosenberg, that guy (and the exec chef at Jax) who won a hundred thousand smackers on Top Chef and marshaled the University of Colorado's homecoming parade this past weekend.

To view the menus, or for more details on Jax's anniversary events, go to www.jaxfishhouseboulder.com or call 303-444-1811.

​It's back: Chipotle is giving away free food on Halloween eve.

The Denver-based burrito chain has done this annually, though it's kept the offer a little more quiet in recent years. But we may as well shout it out: From 6 p.m. until close, customers can get a free burrito, naked burrito bowl or taco.

But there's a rather strange catch: You have to dress up as a Chipotle dish, like, you know, wrapping yourself in a Styrofoam taco or taping aluminum foil around your belly to be like a burrito. The possibilities are endless.

Not willing to accessorize yourself with cheese and sour cream? SONIC Drive-Ins will be offering up corn dogs on Saturday night from 5 to 10 p.m. for 50 cents a piece. And in this case, costumes aren't a requirement.

Restaurants and bars continue to offer a flurry of snow deals. Yesterday we reminded you about McCormick's excellent dollar Irish coffee offer whenever it snows, as well as half-off Murphy's at Argyll and new deals at Mezcal, Tambien and Sketch.

Now comes word that Lime XS, at 730 East Sixth Avenue, is offering half-off on appetizers when it snows. Since Thursday's regular specials are $5 burritos and $5 mojitos at all four Lime locations, that could make for some bargain eating and drinking today.

Lime XS opens at 11 a.m. and is within walking distance for many Capitol Hill residents, so what are you waiting for?

​Cook's Fresh Market is serving up a new dish to downtown dwellers and commuters. The upscale grocer at 1600 Glenarm has begun selling bistro dinners on weeknights from 5 to 8 p.m. for an unbelievably not-so upscale price of under $10 an entree.

Menu items include wood roasted beef tri-tip sirloin with a tomato-blue cheese salsa with sides of asparagus and mashed potatoes; fettuccini with garlic, onion, bacon, spinach, cream and parmesan reggiano; and pork shoulder green chile stew with black beans and herb rice. You can check out the entire dinner menu here.

Owner and chefs, Edward and Kristin Janos believe that downtown "needs a fast, casual dinner service, with delicious and affordable entrees that can be served to you in the market or taken home to enjoy. Creativity, variety and value are essential to the the downtown diner's palate," they insist.

We'll eat to that.

​The good people at Mezcal (3230 East Colfax Avenue), Tambien (250 Steele Street) and Sketch (101 Broadway) have declared a state of happy hour emergency, which is often the case when the streets and sidewalks are canvasses of white.

And so long as the snow continues to fall, all three watering holes will offer food and drink specials.

Choose your poison:

Mezcal:

Margaritas and mojitos, $4.50
PBR, $2
Tecate, Dos XX and Sol, $3
Well drinks, $3
$6 shots of Corazón and Gran Centenario tequila
Modelo Especial 24-ounce cans, $5.50
Half-price quesadillas
$3.95 nachos

Tambien:

Margaritas and mojitos, $4.50
PBR, $2
Tecate, Dos XX and Sol, $3
Well drinks, $3
$6 shots of Corazón and Gran Centenario tequila
Half-price appetizers and dollar tacos

Sketch

Sangria, $5
PBR, $2
Box wine, $2
$2 ham and cheese plates; half-price carpaccio

Lori Midson

The sliders are just one of several new add-ons at Park Burger

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On the first big snow day, restaurants and bars offer a flurry of cold-weather specials. But it's hard to beat the standing deal at McCormick's Fish House & Bar, the cozy spot tucked into the Oxford Hotel at 17th and Wazee streets.

Whenever it's snowing, this McCormick's offers Irish coffee for a buck. That's a deal guaranteed to make you warm all over.

​Don't have any plans for Halloween night? How about partying while getting your eat and drink on at the same time?

Interstate Kitchen and Bar is hosting a "Haunted Highway" Halloween party on Saturday from 9 p.m. until close with unlimited food and premium well drinks for $30 per person. The retro Americana restaurant, located at 901 West Tenth Avenue, will also be pouring shots of Buffalo Trace bourbon for $3.

And don't forget your balloon boy costume, because there's going to be a contest with prizes. As the Sea Captain from The Simpsons would say, "Come for the freak, stay for the food."

Kokoro ad featuring its new miso ramen

​Kokoro, voted Denver's Best Not-So-Traditional Japanese Restaurant in Westword's 2009 best of issue, is leaning a little more toward old school.

The quick-casual, homegrown Japanese mini-chain has added miso ramen to its menu, which already features udon bowls and the more contemporary sobaghetti (yakisoba with vegetables and sauce). The miso ramen is accompanied with the traditional meat, egg and sprouts. What's not so traditional is the corn that comes on top.

But before you go running out to get yourself a bowl, you should know that the only Kokoro in the metro area that's offering the new miso ramen is the one located at 555 Broadway.

Also: It's only available for dinner on weeknights after 5 p.m. and all day on weekends. And according to the ad sent out to homes last week, the soup takes at least 15 minutes to make. But at $6 a bowl, it's an inexpensive dinner that's well worth the wait, especially on those chilly nights ahead.

Kokoro is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Courtesy Vita

​Vita, the Highland restaurant boasting one of the best rooftop patios (and views of the downtown skyline) in the city, has introduced several fall items to its dinner lineup.

Courtesy Vita

Shrimp Two Ways

​The new offerings include shrimp two ways: tempura shrimp with chili honey sauce and shrimp poached in tequila topped with chimichurri and a roasted pepper salad.

Courtesy Vita

Pork Tenderloin

​Entrees making it onto the fall roster include a pork tenderloin with mustard spaetzle, candied walnuts, watercress, dried cranberries and an apple vinaigrette, as well as sea bass that's lightly blackened and accompanied by sweet potato and crawfish hash and an arugula salad dressed with a buttermilk vinaigrette.

Looking for an escape from football madness and TV-laden bars this season? On Sundays and Monday nights, dine on sliders, domestic beers

Courtesy Vita

Lightly Blackened Seabass

​and drafts in Vita's bar for $3 each. Well cocktails are $4 a piece.

Vita, located at 1575 Boulder Street, is open for dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It's also open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. To reach the restaurant, call 303-477-4600.

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Happy birthday, Viet's Restaurant.

The busy Vietnamese restaurant, located at 333 South Federal Boulevard in the Far East Center, replaced Thai Hiep Vietnam House a year ago. And to celebrate its first anniversary, the restaurant is offering free lobster or crab to parties of four or more.

Even though the sign hanging from the joint's facade says the offer is only good through today, a quick phone call confirmed the dates had changed, and diners could still take advantage of the free crustaceans -- until "maybe forever," which is what Ngoc Duong, the guy who answered the phone, suggested might be the case.

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The Smashburger in Aurora didn't open this week -- a permitting delay -- but as a consolation prize, the public is invited to register for the last few spaces at the VIP/Sneak Peek party at the new store, at 2630 South Parker Road, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, October 26. Free burgers!

To register, go to www.smashburger.com/sneakpeek.php. Soon.

Kim Nguyen

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As if you needed another reason to go to LoHi Steakbar.

The Highland eatery at 3200 Tejon Street has introduced Beer O'Clock during its weekday lunch hours. Beginning at 11 a.m., PBRs and Coors Lights are a just a dollar a piece; the price goes up a quarter every hour until 3 p.m. But by then, you'll be too drunk to count quarters.

​You know what would make this week infinitely better? Free access to caffeine. And it turns out that Red Trolley, the ritzy ice cream joint at 2639 West 32nd Avenue, agrees.

Sign up for Red Trolley's monthly newsletter on its blog and you'll get a coupon good for free coffee and tea all this week. That's right --not just one free cup of joe or a couple of gratis tea packets, but a whole week of piping-hot goodness without once having to flash your wallet.

And Red Trolley serves the good stuff: Westword best-of winner Novo Coffee and private-label, whole-leaf teas. What's s the catch? Well, you'll be getting a few more e-mails in your inbox --but that's a small price to pay for a week of caffeine jitters on the house.

opus executive chef Michael Long

​Opus, Michael Long's long-standing restaurant at 2575 West Main Street in Littleton, just introduced a new autumn dinner deal that runs Sunday through Thursday from now until Thanksgiving. The deal, which includes three courses, is $33 per person; wine pairings are available for an additional $12.

Here's a peek at the menu:

Starter

Mixed salad of leafy greens with walnut crouton, warm brie, white balsamic and overnight tomatoes
or
Butternut squash bisque with goat cheese and squash confit
or
Pecan lump crab cakes with corn relish and lemonade sauce

Entrée

Coffee and cardamom crisp duck breast with Granny Smith apple polenta and apple cider duck jus
or
Thai poached salmon with pineapple fried rice and lime chili broth
or
Grilled bison flank steak, prepared mid-rare with agave nectar quinoa, acorn squash and sun-dried cherry bison jus

Finale

Autumn apple crisp with rustic oat topping, caramel sauce, apple chip and buttermilk ice cream
or
Melting chocolate soup with whipped cream, flourless chocolate cake and fall berries

For more information, or to make reservations, call 303-703-6787.

​Starbucks, the giant java company with a storefront on a street corner near you, is joining the instant coffee market with a free taste test in every store beginning at 10 a.m. today and continuing through Monday, October 5. The national chain officially introduced VIA Ready Brew, its trio of instant coffees, on Wednesday.

The four-day VIA taste test works like this: Hit up any Starbucks, saunter up to the counter and let your friendly coffeehouse barrista know that you're up for The Challenge. If you take the plunge, you'll receive samples of both VIA and Pike Place Roast brewed coffee. And just in case you're slow this morning (lack of caffeine, natch), the ploy behind the promotion is to see if you can taste the difference between instant and brewed coffee.

Frankly, it doesn't matter one way or another, because even if you can't discern one iota of difference, anyone who takes on The Challenge leaves with a free tall-sized drip coffee, or a coupon good for a buck off a three-pack of VIA.

Drink up, kids.

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Café Brazil, which recently opened the Rum Room next door to the already pulsating restaurant at 4408 Lowell Boulevard, has just introduced a fantastic way to make a complete ass of yourself -- and you don't even have to open your mouth in the process. Except to drink, which you can do for free if you can jive.

Every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to close, the Rum Room's bartender becomes both judge and jury in the dance department, and in order for him to rule in your favor, you have to shimmy, sway, strut, prance, twist or two-step your way to his approval. The other catch? Your audition must be at least sixty seconds long. No exceptions.

The prize for your footwork? A free caipirinha. And if that first dance doesn't go quite as well as you'd planned, you've got the option of paying for your first drink and doing a little samba to get the second drink free. If that fails, there's always another bar.

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You could have a Pop-Tart or one of those cinnamon rolls with orange frosting that the Pillsbury Dough Boy pimps -- or you could chuck all that and join the downtown fray at Panzano, 909 17th Street, which is giving away 1,000 hot, fresh zeppole (that's Italian for "doughnuts") and coffee this morning between 7 and 8:30 a.m. on its patio.

The freebies are a precursor to the new zeppola program at Panzano (read our interview with chef Elise Wiggins here), where one of the chefs will crank up the doughnut machine at the restaurant each Monday morning. Two varieties are planned --a plain doughnut hole and one plumped with hazelnut chocolate ganache -- and they'll be sold by the half-dozen or dozen with prices beginning at $3 for six plain zeppole and maxing out at $7 for twelve of the chocolate suckers. Freshly brewed coffee will also be available by the cup for $2. Tax is included; so is speedy service.

But remember: This morning it's all free.

​If you haven't had the opportunity to sample the bar menu at Elway's in Cherry Creek, at 2500 East First Avenue, or just want to combine exec chef Tyler Wiard's newest offerings with football, then whoa-boy, do we have a deal for you.

Wiard, who you can read all about here, just unveiled a kick-ass, bar-priced bar menu that hustles everything from sliders in all guises and Prime beef tostadas to truffle-salted fries, mussels in a spicy tomato broth, cured meats and cheeses and wicked good deviled eggs with chorizo -- all of which are available during the week after 4 p.m. and all day Saturday and Sunday.

About Sunday: Elway's has just signed up for NFL Sunday Ticket, which allows the restaurant to broadcast any of the NFL games on all of its TVs, which number seven, because, well, you know. In any case, if there's a game that you're desperate to watch, be nice to the bartender and he'll probably tune a TV to your favorite.

​For those of you who can't get through a weekend without a full-bore sugar IV, may I humbly present Living the Sweet Life, a new cake, pie and cupcake shop celebrating its grand opening this weekend at 1535 Central Street, right next to Masterpiece Deli.

What's that you say? Denver already has plenty of cupcake shops? More to the point, Denver already has plenty of cupcake shops that aren't that good and exist solely to hump a trend that's already about two years dead?

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So, here's the thing: When you can get a trio of Prime cheeseburger sliders for a fiver at Morton's the Steakhouse, the testosterone-fueled cow palace that doesn't exactly do things on the cheap, then that's your clue to grab every single cheapskate you know and drag them to the clubby bar, where they can swell their guts with seven, five buck bites, all of which are part of the steakhouse chain's new Bar Bites menu.

For your five hundred cents, you can also get three miniature crab cakes; an iceberg wedge salad; four petite filet mignon sandwiches; french fries with blue cheese and chives; spinach, artichoke and crab dip; or chicken goujonettes (a tarted up name for chicken fingers). And because it's only natural that you'd want to pair your picks with alcohol, Morton's is also offering discounted pricing on wines, beer and martinis.

The Bar Bites menu is available daily from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close at Morton's Downtown and Morton's Tech Center, located at 1710 Wynkoop Street and 8480 East Belleview Avenue, respectively.

Qdoba's is handing out free samples of its newest item, Classic Street Tacos, until 1:30 p.m. today on the 16th Street Mall -- at Larimer, Lawrence, Arapahoe and Glenarm.

Get 'em while they're hot.

These are the same tacos feature at the newest Qdoba, which opened in Centennial earlier this month.

Today, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m., the Lone Tree Pasquini's Pizza at 7431 Park Meadows Drive, is doling out free slices of pizza to anyone who wanders through the doors. And lest you think that your free slice is just cheese, please, think again. In an effort to "draw some attention," which is how the pizza guy I spoke to on the phone described the pizza push, the piehole palace is offering free slices of pepperoni and sausage for carnivorous souls and mushroom, black olive and tomato wedges for vegetarians. For more info, call 303-662-8888. 

​While close to forty members of the Denver Independent Network of restaurants are rolling out menus offering locally sourced products through Friday, September 18 -- the last day of Harvest Week -- a few restaurants are also celebrating the state's allegiance to the locavore movement with special dinners. At 6:30 p.m. tonight, Avenue Grill, Andrew Lubatty's place at 630 East 17th Avenue, will partner with Ben Parsons, winemaker and founder of the Infinite Monkey Theorem, a Denver urban winery that's generating a dedicated swell of grape stompers, for a six-course local product-driven dinner that spotlights the same number of wines from Parsons. The evening is priced at $75 per person (excluding tax and gratuity), and reservations are essential; call 303-861-2820 to make yours.

While you're waiting for dinner, here's a menu preview:

Eat: Asian buns filled with char su portabella mushrooms
Drink: 2008 IMT riesling

Eat: Sauteed Colorado striped bass, red carrot bisque, roasted fennel crème fraiche
Drink: 2008 IMT sauvignon blanc

Eat: Local chicken with pineapple sage, walnuts, tomatoes and lemon
Drink: 2008 IMT chardonnay

Eat: Slow-roasted pork tenderloin with spiced blackberries
Drink: 2008 IMT cabernet franc

Eat: Star anise BBQ buffalo short ribs with buttermilk mashed potatoes
Drink: 2008 IMT syrah

Eat: Dark chocolate budino with spearmint gelato
Drink: 2008 IMT, Petite Syrah

​Bones, Frank Bonanno's fantastic ramen noodle bar at 701 Grant Street, has just rolled out a daily happy hour, which the crew is calling "Five for Five at Five." That's because the five happy-hour dishes -- shishito peppers, crab wontons, a duo of egg rolls, escargot pot stickers and black cod tempura -- each cost $5 during this time period, and happy hour begins at 5 p.m. Unfortunately, it ends just an hour later, which barely gives you enough time to eat your way through the board. Factor in the time it takes to down the two sakes and sake sangria that are also offered at $5 each, and damn, you're done. Not that we're complaining.

I suspect Bonanno isn't complaining either, since Bones was just named one of the Top 10 New Asian Noodle Bars in the United States in the October issue of Bon Appetit: "This is local celebrity Frank Bonanno's casual Governor's Park neighborhood joint. In one of the restaurant's best dishes, chilled soba noodles are paired with roasted lamb, curry vinaigrette, goat cheese and almonds," raved the foodie mag.

We'll slurp to that.