All photos by Lori Midson.

Earlier today, just minutes before Scratch Burrito & Happy Tap opened in Berkeley, exec chef-owner Clay Markwell was peering over his kitchen crew, advising them how to wrap, roll and twist the corners on the aluminum foil that hug the bulging burritos emerging from the kitchen. By noon, an hour after Scratch opened, there was a line of hungry curiosity seekers jonesing for those burritos, all of which, says Markwell, who used to cook at TAG, "map back to different cultures and cuisines."

See also:
- Clay Markwell opening Scratch Burrito & Happy Tap in the former Shazz space
- Benny Kaplan, former chef of Shazz Cafe, opening Wafflich on Tennyson Street
- Denver's five best breakfast burritos

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All photos by Trevor Andersen.

Beer By Design opened on June 1 as Northglenn's first brewery taproom and it has received a warm welcome from the surrounding community. Owners Vance Sabbe and Rich Aggen met as neighbors and decided jump into the industry after 22 years of homebrewing. Beer By Design Brewery will host a grand opening on June 28 at 4:30 p.m., which will include food trucks, live music and wide variety of beer.

See also:
- Beer By Design opens June 1 as Northglenn's first craft brewery
- Left Hand Brewing's Week Sauce was designed specifically for craft beer weeks
- Colorado's beer festivals are becoming victims of their own success

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All photos by Lori Midson.

It's Saturday afternoon, and the kitchen magicians at BRU Handbuilt Ales and Eats are on the patio, running through their checklist; an hour later, Ian Clark's new alehouse in Boulder is pulsating -- with music, energy and a swell of bodies, all of whom have been invited to be the first to check out the project that Clark has been working on for the last several months: a joint brewery and restaurant that, in some ways, is an extension of the brewing operation that Clark started in his home garage a few years ago.

See also:
- Ian Clark, chef of Jax Boulder, is leaving to open BRU Handbuilt Ales and Eats
- Centro Latin Kitchen chef Ian Clark brews up Bru, a tiny beer-making operation
- Centro chef Ian Clark weighs in on the Big Red F'n Tequila

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All photos by Lori Midson.

When Rob and Karin Lawler opened the doors to the Truffle Table last week, deliberately without fanfare, they knew that cheese admirers from across Denver -- and especially those in the Highland 'hood -- would sniff them out no matter what, and so they did, giving the crew a gentle workout before tomorrow, when the Lawlers, who also own the Truffle Cheese Shop, officially debut their new cheese-and-wine-centric restaurant, perched on the triangled corner of 15th Street and Boulder.

See also:
- Truffle owners opening the Truffle Table in the Cellar Wine Bar space
- The Squeaky Bean's Crickett Burns tapped as the kitchen manager at the Truffle Table
- The Truffle's Rob Lawler on Spam musubi, brains, glutards and his favorite cheese

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All photos by Lori Midson.

Tom Ryan and his partner Rick Schaden are on a roll -- a burger roll, a 24/7 restaurant roll and a pizza roll. The two men, both of whom are the entrepreneurial brains behind Consumer Concept Group, one of the country's top companies in the field of restaurant development and investment, founded Smashburger, which now trumpets more than 220 locations across the world, including 22 in Colorado. Last year, on Halloween, they unleashed Tom's Urban 24, a 24/7 food temple that's also expanding outside of Colorado, and on Thursday of this week, Ryan and Schaden will open Live Basil Pizza, their first fast-casual pizza chain, located just off I-25 and Hampden...and conveniently next door to Smashburger.

See also:
- The man behind that smash hit, Smashburger
- First look: Smashburger unveils new design concept
- Exclusive first look: Tom's Urban 24 opens on Halloween

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You likely won't notice that the front door of Jimmy's Urban Bar & Grill slants, if only a little. It has something to do with luck -- good luck -- and Alicia Bernat, along with her husband Jim and their son and exec chef Jimmy, deliberately designed their new namesake restaurant with teases of feng shui: copper and metal elements are strategically placed among the televisions, while earth tones, the color of warm spices, brush the walls showcasing original art from local artists, which, by the way, is all for sale -- and every dime of what's sold goes directly to to the artist.

See also:
- Killer Cuisine & Cocktails" coming to 1500 block of Blake Street
- TD's Dogs dries up downtown
- Pouring craft beer, pulling Strings: Our restaurant roll call for April

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All photos by Lori Midson.

The city's second Über Sausage, owned by Marco Macchiaroli, Alex Gschwend, Brad Arguello and Henry DeMetteis, opened today in LoHi with a similar menu of sausage sandwiches augmented by a case slinging fresh sausages and several new dishes, including salads, a burger, a southern fried chicken sandwich and sweet and savory wrap- and waffle-centric breakfasts, the latter of which should be a big hit in the 'hood.

See also:
- Now open: Über Sausage is über good
- A second Uber Sausage will open in early spring in LoHi
- Brad Arguello, exec chef of the Uber Sausage, on the hotness of Ashton Kutcher and the merits of mustard

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All photos by Danielle Lirette

"We're basically coining the term 'craft casual,'" says Jason Rogers, the executive chef at the newest dining concept from Oskar Blues, CHUBurger, which is slated to open April 5.

The term defines CHUBurger's approach to fast-casual dining -- sure, you walk up to the counter and put in your order as you would at any other casual burger joint. But it's the "craft" portion that Rogers believes will set this Longmont outpost apart. "I've been to certain fast-casual places from time to time, and I just wasn't impressed. I'd rather go to a diner to get a good burger, you know?" he says. "We said, we can do this different. We can do this our own way."

See also:
- CHUBurger from Oskar Blues will serve burgers, fries in Longmont in 2013
- Ten Colorado beers that are hitting stores now
- Two Rock Bottom brewers will open Lowdown Brewery and Pizzeria on Lincoln Street

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All photos by Lori Midson.

After Ali Baba Grill first opened in Golden a dozen years ago, two more outposts followed, including one in Greenwood Village and another in Highlands Ranch, which is now closed. But the Middle Eastern joint, whose cuisine is rooted in Lebanon, Persia and the Mediterranean, is now back to being a trifecta; a new location opened last week near the University of Denver, at 2060 South University Boulevard.

See also:
- Ali Baba Grill vegetarian spread brings the Middle East to Golden
- 100 Favorite Dishes: Baklava from Ali Baba Grill
- Photos: Cafe Byblos Mediterranean Grill is now open

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All photos by Lori Midson

Zanitas Mexican and Margaritas, which originally opened in Boulder in August of last year -- and then shuttered just four months later -- is back in business, this time in south Denver, right off I-25 and Hampden in a new retail and restaurant development that also includes a Smashburger.

See also:
- Zanitas Mexican is open for business in Boulder
- Why Denver is home to the best Mexican dish in the United States
- Denver's five best street tacos

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