Denver Food Blog

Lori Midson

​Last week, I asked whether pho could be on the horizon for the Streets at Southglenn -- specifically a second outpost of Pho 95, Aaron Le's original temple of pho at 1002 South Federal Boulevard.

I have an answer.

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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.

​For decades, University of Denver students have downed beers at the Border Restaurant and Lounge, a sometimes Mex joint tucked into a strip mall at 2014 South University Boulevard. Some of those students even did so legally.

But for the past thirty days, the Border has been dark: Its liquor license was suspended because the bar got caught serving an underage drinker in July -- its fourth official under-age violation since February 2006. The suspension expired yesterday, but under a deal with the city, the Border is still closed, and the business is supposed to be sold by December 1, when its liquor license comes up for renewal.

Want to own a college bar? Border owner REM Capital Corp. is asking $195,000 for the contents, which is being brokered by Sanborn and Company.

Lori Midson

One of the first pizzas to come from the oven at Kaos

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​Udi's Bread Cafe, which already has locations in Stapleton (7357 East 29th Avenue); Louisville (185 South 104th Street); Aurora (12700 East 19th Street); and north Denver (101 East 70th Avenue), officially opens its fifth location today at 7600 Grandview in Olde Town Arvada, directly across the street from Archive Room, which opened last Wednesday.

The breadery was doing heavy trade last Friday during a trail run, and while the board was limited (and the kitchen had run out of the French dip sandwich and Reuben), today should see the start of the full menu, which includes breakfast, lunch, happy hour and dinner. Two things that this Udi's pimps that the other outposts don't? Pizzas and a full bar.

Udi's is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Dial 303-421-8000 for more info, or to make reservations.

Lori Midson

Read all about it in the Archive Room

​"We did 160 covers the first night and 140 covers the second night, which I think qualifies as busy," says Jeff Arnold, one of the owners of Archive Room, which opened last week in Olde Town Arvada at 5601 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard. "We've been busy every night, we're getting a lot of industry people in after work, we're staying open late and the feedback has been great from the neighborhood so far," says Arnold, who also runs the Pour House Pub at 1435 Market Street. 

Strewn with framed clips of historical events, the dark-wooded space (the former home of Arvada Grill) serves standard bar grub (chicken wings, chicken tenders and fried artichoke hearts), salads, soups and stews, sandwiches and serious comfort food entrees that are filling, delicious and inexpensive ($9.95 to $11.95).

When I stopped by for lunch late last week, I tried the deep-fried blarney puffs filled with corned beef, scallions, cheese and mashed potatoes, and the chicken and dumplings, a dish that's quickly becoming the hit of the menu, according to Arnold. "We have a lot of great dishes, but the chicken and dumplings is everyone's favorite." The restaurant also serves a small brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday. For more info, call 303-432-0400.

​We've got two closures to report in Boulder, both of them somewhat surprising.

First to go down? Spud Brothers at 2010 10th Street, which closed the doors on August 28, much to the disappointment of Micks and stoners city-wide. According to the official report from Spud Brothers management, the big problem was that the city of Boulder wouldn't allow them to stay open past 11 p.m., and that they were turning people away every night. And while, yes, I can see that this would be frustrating, I just can't imagine how an all french fry restaurant couldn't find a way to make it in a city like Boulder.

In any event, Spud made it just over a year before giving up the ghost. The space is still open and wanting for a new operator. Perhaps some sort of all potato chip and hash brown restaurant?

Lori Midson

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Paul Piciocchi has had his hands full this fall, turning the former Alto space at 1320 15th Street into not one, but three venues -- and also running his other popular Denver club, Tryst, at 1512 Larimer Street, right up the street from his new project.

A third of that project will debut this weekend, when The Drink, the portion of the space that's billed as a "soft tavern & bar," is slated to open. Rack & Rye, the gastropub, and mix, a live music venue, should come on line within the week.

Lori Midson

Restaurateur and chef Mark Tarbell inside his new restaurant, Home

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Lori Midson

Six pack abs and a nice rack are on the menu at Tilted Kilt

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​It's been a long, rough ride for many of the shops at Denver Pavilions, with some high-profile restaurant disasters, including the Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe space on the still-empty bridge, which replaced the disastrous Cafe Odyssey, where diners got to eat at Machu Pichu (yum). But through it all, one spot has stood as proof that restaurants can not only survive at the Pavilions, but thrive: Maggiano's Little Italy.

Denver's Maggiano's is one of the most successful in the chain, packing in locals and tourists alike since the space opened back in 1998. And to mark the official grand reopening of the Denver Pavilions today, Maggiano's is offering a platter of special deals that Lori Midson described here. And the restaurant's not alone (for once): New Pavilions owner Gart Properties has poured millions into the remodel, and many of the shops are offering specials both at the noon unveiling today, and throughout the week.

You'll find details on the Denver Pavilions web site. But you won't find a list of the clubs and restaurants that have come and gone. For a Maggiano's meatball, can you name them?

The former Real World home is empty again.

​As Bella, 1920 Market Street served upscale Italian fare. As B-52, it was bar chow. As the site of the Real World: Denver, the space served up mostly melodrama. But when new owners Shane Alexander and Josh Hawkinson took over the LoDo building and turned it into Theorie, they hoped to return the space to its more sophisticated origins, complete with a wine bar.

But those dreams didn't last long. Those owners left last fall, replaced by Paul Piciocchi, who made such a hit with Tryst. And now he, too, has left the building, which will soon become...another LoDo sports bar.

​If you're looking for a quick lunch downtown, your options just got a hell of a lot tastier, thanks to Mike Winston and Bryan Hume, two cooks who worked the line together at Table 6, 609 Corona Street, before striking out on their own and opening Gastro Cart last week on the northeast corner of 18th and Curtis streets.

Lori Midson

​The SportsBook, a new nightclub, sports bar and restaurant whose menu is overseen by chef/restaurateur Michel Wahaltere (9th Door, MiniBAR, 5 Degrees), is holding its grand opening tonight with complimentary drinks and food from 7 to 9 p.m.

In between grubbing on Wahaltere's small plates and comfort foods, sports buffs can catch the Nuggets taking on the Miami Heat on one of the joint's 26 TVs (including two projector screens) and turn half time into play time with Wii, Golden Tee or Big Buck Hunter. While you're at it, check out the library of sports-related books and the female servers, dressed as librarians, who'll climb the ladders to fetch your reading material.

The party kicks off at 6 p.m. at 1434 Blake Street. For more info, call 303-446-2222.

For information on dozens of other culinary calendar events across Colorado, go to our online Food & Drink listings.

Lori Midson

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XO Noodle Bar, the hip (but hardly happening) noodle bar that opened in June at 1612 Wazee Street in the Jet Hotel, shuttered on Saturday. "We totally believe in the concept," insists exec chef Jose Guerreco. But, he adds, "it was a huge struggle to get people in that back space. It was always a challenge, so were looking for a new location."

​ Mojitos Cuban Bistro, which opened last year at 1120 East Sixth Avenue (in the former home of Mel's, and Montecito, and Piscos, and Chives, and Dudley's...), has poured its last mojito.

The restaurant is locked up tight, and a sign on the door announces, "We are closed...sorry for the inconvenience."

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Lori Midson

​While Jason Sheehan is busy building a dream team staff for Ondo's, the tapas restaurant taking over the subterranean space at 250 Steele Street, owner Curt Steinbecker, who trained with his wife, Deicy, at the Escuela de Cocina Luis Irizar, is just trying to get his restaurant open. With any luck, that will happen two weeks from now.

"Things are going according to schedule, and it looks like November 15 will be our first day," says Curt.

Lori Midson

Construction chaos at Kaos

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Lori Midson

Another 24/7 option: Tacos Rapidos on West Alameda.

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RESTAURANTS OPENING IN OCTOBER:

CY Steak, 1222 Glenarm Place
Illegal Pete's, 1744 East Evans Avenue
Jack-N-Grill, 2630 West Belleview Avenue, Littleton
Mangiamo Pronto!, 1601 17th Street
Noodles & Company, 1737 East Evans Avenue
Oskar Blues Home Made Liquids and Solids, 1555 South Hover Street, Longmont
Patsy's Pizza, 3651 Navajo Street
Pico de Gallo, 2925 West 38th Avenue
Rackhouse Pub, 200 South Kalamath Street
Smashburger, 2630 South Parker Road, Aurora
The SportsBook, 1434 Blake Street
Tacos Rapidos, 2345 West Alameda Avenue
Toast, 222 Columbine Street

RESTAURANTS CLOSING IN OCTOBER*:

BB O'Reilley's, 1500 West Littleton Boulevard in Littleton
Chedd's Gourmet Grilled Cheese, 1906 Pearl Street; 8966 West Bowles Avenue in Littleton
Emily's Gourmet-To-Go, 1543 Champa Street
Hospoda, 3763 Wynkoop Street
Old School Burgers, 901 West Hampden Avenue; 3995 North Lewiston Way
Ristras, 11961 Bradburn Boulevard in Westminster
Stage 2, 2729 Welton Street

*or earlier

To see our September Roll Call, click here.

Boulder's newest truck stop

​Chris Long, ex sous chef of Boulder's Black Cat (and a former line cook at Charlie Trotter's) and Cyrus Stroker, a former manager of The Kitchen, also in Boulder, have given up the restaurant business to further their careers in trucking.

Sort of. Seems the two have teamed up to bestow earth muffins Boulderites with street food from a truck they've named the "Green Gringo." According to the website, the Green Gringo is a "Boulder-based day-glo food truck with a mobile kitchen that serves high quality street food favorites like slow-cooked pork tacos, chile-rubbed beef brisket sandwiches, soups, fresh cut sweet potato fries and warm doughnuts."

The Green Gringo will begin pimping street eats at 9 p.m., Saturday, October 31 on the southeast corner of Pearl and Ninth Streets. Green Gringo will dart around downtown Boulder on a daily basis. And just to keep things interesting, its exact whereabouts can only be pinpointed via "street tweets" at www.twitter.com/thegreengringo. Don't bother looking, though, until 11 a.m., which is when the windows open for business.

Squeeze the sausages

​Just got off the phone with Bill Feid, a Denver entrepreneur who's never done a restaurant, but has firm plans in place to open Billy's, a gourmet hot dog and sausage shack, at 2445 Larimer Street in mid-November.

According to Feid, this isn't going to be your average dog house. Instead, he explains, his namesake joint will peddle "healthy, high-quality non-processed hot dogs and sausages" that are free of preservatives and light on the salt. "We're really going to try to dumb down the salt and instead use other great spices and flavors, and we definitely want to stay away from all meat processing," Feid says.

​After two owners, two locations -- first at 1555 Champa Street, then at 1543 Champa, in the circa 1889 Odd Fellows Hall (right) -- and one Best of Denver award, Emily's Gourmet-to-Go is finally a no-go.

Chef/owner Victor Miller, whose soups had snagged the Best Soup award in the Best of Denver 1999, had sold his spot to the former owners of Vietnamese To Go in the Tabor Center -- but now they're all gone.

The classic Smashburger and Smash fries waiting to win you over

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Attention, Aurora residents: Your wait for the "better burger" is almost over! Smashburger will open its ninth metro location tomorrow at 2630 South Parker Road. Taking its name from the cooking method, a Smashburger is either a one-third or half-pound ball of 100 percent Angus Beef smashed on a flat grill to sear in the flavor.

"Smashburger is on its way to becoming Denver's favorite burger place," proclaims Tom Ryan, Smashburger founder, in announcing the official opening of the Aurora store, which was delayed a week because of permitting issues. (Read Jason Sheehan's interview with Smashburger founder Tom Ryan here.)

"Our burger-centric menu is outstanding," he continues, "but for those that live with burger lovers and aren't themselves, there are other options." And those options include Smashchicken sandwiches, Smashdogs and Smashsalads, as well as Haagen-Dazs shakes and malts.

The Aurora store -- the 35th Smasburger in the country -- opens tomorrow at 10 a.m., and will stay open until 10 p.m., seven days a week.

Lori Midson

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Where were you then? That's the question the new Archive Room will ask diners.

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Lori Midson

​The yellow tape and chain-link fence formerly surrounding the Tacos Rapido compound at 2345 West Alameda Avenue have finally been removed, which means that all you drunkards hankering for breakfast burritos, tacos, tostadas and and tortas at 2 a.m. now have another 24/7 pit stop at which to get your Mex in the city. The original location at 2800 West Evans boasts the same hours but doesn't have a dining room, whereas this new joint can accommodate a whole posse of obnoxious inebriants.

That said, I stopped in yesterday to check out the new digs, and judging from the stoic demeanor of the staff (minus the cook in the kitchen who waved for the camera), it doesn't look like they're in the mood to deal with drunken drama or theatrics. You've been warned.

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The Tilted Kilt, a sports-bar chain popular enough to publish its own calendar, will start a new page the first week of November in Denver, when its latest location -- in the former ESPN Zone in the Tabor Center -- is now slated to open.