Colorado Restaurant Compendium

[Danno]

In some, it should not really be destination restaurant

In some what?

[Rontele]

In some what?

I have noticed my TGR grammatical prowess take a turn for the worse.

[Danno]

Walnut Brewery, $-$$, brew pub
1123 Walnut Street, Boulder, (303) 447-1345
This is sort of a chain and sort of not. Part of the Rock Bottom Restaurant group, but they seem to be run independently. The atmosphere is typical brew pub, that is to say comfortable but unidentifiable. The beer is, IMHO, just ok, but the food is always quite good, and the portions are huge. Also, because the place is pretty big, the waits are usually not too bad even when it is busy. Edit to add: if you join their "mug club" or if you just say you're a member, they give you a bigger 22 oz beer instead of a pint.

The Walnut Cafe and The South Side Walnut Cafe, $, Breakfast/Lunch joint
3073 Walnut Street, Boulder 303-447-2315; 673 S. Broadway, Boulder, 720-304-8118
Good solid breakfast food, good coffee. The "Eggs Marcos" is really good, the "Big Dill Eggs" are also one of my favorites. After Lucille's, this is the next place to go for breakfast in Boulder.

[Pegleg]

I like your Walnut theme, Danno.

Try the Sunrise Sandwich at Southside Walnut (it's not on the menu at the original Walnut Cafe, for some reason). Best. Breakfast. Sandwich. Ever. They'll even make it to go for you if you call in advance, ready for a quick pickup on your way out of town to head to the mountains.

[Danno]

Best. Breakfast. Sandwich. Ever.

I am surprised to see you say this, as the best breakfast sammich I have ever had was at the illustrious Butterhorn.

[telepariah]

frasca did not live up to its reputation for us.

Service was clumsy, the tables were so crowded we spent most of the meal with a waiter's ass in our faces. The salad was good but the entrees were extremely salty and burned. To top it off, the busser mocked me for noting to the waiter that I was allergic to nuts. We will never, ever go back to frasca.

[lemon boy]

sad pants.

didja complain?

send an email to the GM. A buck says he goes out of his way for you. Also, if you get a gift cert or something do the proper thing: blow it all on a single glass of louis the 13th. No sense going back for another meal

[telepariah]

Oh we complained alright. The manager didn't seem to care. It was late by then as we had to wait 45 minutes after our reservation time to be seated in the first place.

Poseurs is what we came away with.

[lemon boy]

Gat

sorry Cez

[Rontele]

Beatrice and Woodsley $-$$ - New American / tapas

Based on a recommendation from C. Knight, I decided to have a going-away dinner for a friend here with a group of 10 people. First impression upon entering: where am I? The inside is draped with bamboo and has quite the simplistic, natural atmosphere. The top floor is equipped with semi-circle booths while the bottom floor is perfect for a large group setting in private. Service was adequate. Only gripe was that the cheese dish arrived at the table before wine was served. We ordered 14 plates which was sufficient for 10 people in that none of us left the restaurant hungry. Although everything we had was excellent, the big winners were artisan cheese, mushroom pasty, spicy braised lamb breast, and diver scallops. Highly recommend for an intimate or group situation. Will certainly be back.

Good review, we'll have to check that one out.

[Rontele]

Deluxe Denver 30 S. Broadway, Denver. (303) 722-1550. American, $$$-$$$$. Superb. That is the one word I would use to sum up our meal at Deluxe on Friday. Absolutely superb. Although Deluxe has been open for roughly five years, I have only had the chance to eat there once before. After my meal on Friday, I will be back for sure. I had a ceasar salad and the lamb special, but also tried my mom's swordfish (excellent). The future-Mrs. Rontele had the shrimp curry, which was excellent albeit the portion was smaller than the other entrees. Downsides are that the restaurant is small (so make sure to have a reservation) and loud (try to go there on a weeknight). But combine excellent, progressive food with a great and moderately priced wine list and Deluxe is a winner.

They have also opened up Delight right next door, which is more a bar/small plate restaurant that we are going to try to check out sometime this week.

[MrZach]

Tacqueria Los Comales $
111 W Prospect Rd
Fort Collins, CO 80525
(970) 407-9998

I've been hitting this place since it opened and can say hands down it's the best authentic taco joint I have found in the Fort Collins/Loveland area. Outside of the fantastic tacos & burritos, there's chilaquiles, fajitas, tortas, platas, quesadillas and half a dozen huevos dishes for breakfast. Asada, chorizo, pechuga, al pastor, chuleta and carnitas are some of the wonderful filling choices to be had and the fresh salsa bar has about five or six selections to add some extra zing. Get a house-made horchata or melon water to wash your meal down with.

P.S. -
Hey LB, why no update to the first page listing? I'm far to lazy to sift through this whole thread now that it's 9 pages long.

[lemon boy]

P.S. -
Hey LB, why no update to the first page listing? I'm far to lazy to sift through this whole thread now that it's 9 pages long.

Exactly my problem

[MakersTeleMark]

Pretty cool site, and accurate (for my area) as well:

www.yelp.com

[pechelman]

le central or trinity or the highlands garden cafe or french 250 or aix

further south, just below cherry creek, id say sansones if lots of old people dont bother you

[lemon boy]

I'm coming up short. I guess it depends how you want to define downtown and then how french you want it.

If downtown = 45* streets then I think the answer is no dice.
If downtown = 45* streets + 2 miles or so

Mizuna - haven't been, supposed to be great. Will be packed get resr.
F250- Uber French, I really like it - spendy! (so is Mizuna)
Le Central- Inexpensive, not ultra wine list and pretty casual with occasionally hit or miss items but generally their food is just really good.
Kevin Taylor- probably the closest to being "French" and is actually downtown (45*)

[mcsquared]

Any suggestions for a French place in the downtown area with an intimate setting? If not French, then Mediterranean cuisine with a quality wine list. Downtown is definitely required.

Z Cuisine. 30th and Wyandot. They don't have a lot of tables so there can be a wait but they have a wine bar next door where you can wait. Also, they don't take reservations.

[Cruiser]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Le Central too. While it's just a bit outside of downtown, it's worth the extra cab ride IMO. Sit out on the back porch by the windows and you're golden. It's true that the wine list doesn't have a lot of really high end french wines, but it does have some great French table wines at reasonable prices. We've never had poor service there, and never had a dish that was poorly executed.

[MCLC]

I'd add Bistro Vendome (1420 Larimer) to the list. Nice atmosphere, good food, and reasonably priced.

[telepariah]

Fruition -- http://www.fruitionrestaurant.com/ -- $$$ rating - New American
1313 East 6th Avenue
Denver, CO 80218
tel 303.831.1962

Kazumi and I went here for our 13th wedding anniversary last week. I ordered roses to be delivered and they were on our table when we were seated. We started with wine -- the list is not real extensive, but I kind of like it that way. Give me a few choices and keep it reasonable. We had the 2001 Palladino, “Brico delle Olive”, Barbera D’ Alba, Piedmonte, Italy. It almost seemed really tangy at first taste but opened up into just the kind of rich and dry Italian red that we like. Give this wine at least 20 minutes out of the bottle before you get into it.

We had Halibut cheeks as a starter. Served with a kind of eggy polenta, peas, and corn, it was nice but not as fatty as I like cheeks to be.

For dinner Kazumi ordered the Seared Maine Diver Scallops with English Pea Agnolotti, Vidalia Onion & Foraged Mushroom Ragout, and White Truffle Beurre Fondue. The scallops had a salty crust that on its own (if you were only scarfing scallops) might have been overwhelming, but the scallops themselves were fresh and cooked just right -- if there's one thing that's a turnoff for us it's overcooked seafood and this was tender and juicy. And what really made this dish was the pea agnolotti. It had a delicate sweetness that balanced the salty crust on the scallops perfectly.

I had the Salmon Creek Farms Grilled Pork Chop, topped with Parma Proscuitto on a bed of Toasted Farro, Baby Arugula & Preserved Lemon Salad and finished with a Black Mission Fig Jus. This was simply one of the best pork chops I've ever had. Again, it was tender, not overcooked, and the combination of the nutty taste of the farro, the saltiness (but not too salty at all) of the proscuitto, and the sweetness of the arugula and figs was blissful. We finished it up with a nice cup of strong french pressed coffee and a peach cobbler. Yummy all the way through!

The service was smooth and professional, and we never had to ask for anything. The chef came from Mizuna. A nice little cafe atmosphere at 6th and Marion.

After, we went to the Alicia Keyes concert and walked out laughing our asses off at how bad it was. We like her but between the bad sound mixing and the overproduced arrangements that featured the drum, bass, keyboard, and guitar all playing the same, unsyncopated notes at the same time, we realized that our grrl had sold her soul to the Man and was just going though the motions. We had a good time mocking how awful it was until we started offending the people who were enjoying it and then we left doubled over in laughter.

But a big two tips up for Fruition!

[Pow4Brains]

^^^ for more Aspen info. Seems like most of the info here is for swanky places. My Bro and sister-in-law are headed there for a night and would like recs on a casual place with good food.

[Rontele]

Fruition -- http://www.fruitionrestaurant.com/ -- $$$ rating - New American
1313 East 6th Avenue
Denver, CO 80218
tel 303.831.1962

Kazumi and I went here for our 13th wedding anniversary last week. I ordered roses to be delivered and they were on our table when we were seated. We started with wine -- the list is not real extensive, but I kind of like it that way. Give me a few choices and keep it reasonable. We had the 2001 Palladino, “Brico delle Olive”, Barbera D’ Alba, Piedmonte, Italy. It almost seemed really tangy at first taste but opened up into just the kind of rich and dry Italian red that we like. Give this wine at least 20 minutes out of the bottle before you get into it.

We had Halibut cheeks as a starter. Served with a kind of eggy polenta, peas, and corn, it was nice but not as fatty as I like cheeks to be.

For dinner Kazumi ordered the Seared Maine Diver Scallops with English Pea Agnolotti, Vidalia Onion & Foraged Mushroom Ragout, and White Truffle Beurre Fondue. The scallops had a salty crust that on its own (if you were only scarfing scallops) might have been overwhelming, but the scallops themselves were fresh and cooked just right -- if there's one thing that's a turnoff for us it's overcooked seafood and this was tender and juicy. And what really made this dish was the pea agnolotti. It had a delicate sweetness that balanced the salty crust on the scallops perfectly.

I had the Salmon Creek Farms Grilled Pork Chop, topped with Parma Proscuitto on a bed of Toasted Farro, Baby Arugula & Preserved Lemon Salad and finished with a Black Mission Fig Jus. This was simply one of the best pork chops I've ever had. Again, it was tender, not overcooked, and the combination of the nutty taste of the farro, the saltiness (but not too salty at all) of the proscuitto, and the sweetness of the arugula and figs was blissful. We finished it up with a nice cup of strong french pressed coffee and a peach cobbler. Yummy all the way through!

The service was smooth and professional, and we never had to ask for anything. The chef came from Mizuna. A nice little cafe atmosphere at 6th and Marion.

After, we went to the Alicia Keyes concert and walked out laughing our asses off at how bad it was. We like her but between the bad sound mixing and the overproduced arrangements that featured the drum, bass, keyboard, and guitar all playing the same, unsyncopated notes at the same time, we realized that our grrl had sold her soul to the Man and was just going though the motions. We had a good time mocking how awful it was until we started offending the people who were enjoying it and then we left doubled over in laughter.

But a big two tips up for Fruition!

Glad you guys a great anniversary. We had a terrible experience at Fruition, but I am glad to see it delivered.

[Cruiser]

Venice - www.veniceristorante.com - $$-$$$ - Italian
5946 S Holly St
Greenwood Village, CO. 80111
720.482-9191

We used to go to Venice for lunch occasionally when Mrs. Cruiser worked in the DTC. The food was always good and the service was top notch. We rarely had more than an entree and a cocktail though so my experience was limited. Yesterday I was invited to attend a wine tasting / lunch there with a very nice little Italian winemaker who had become rich by inventing the leak proof sunroof and selling it to GM. Our group consisted of 9 people including 2 sales reps, the wine maker, and assorted wine buyers. Lunch began promptly at noon with assorted cured meats, olives, and fresh mozzarella. Then we were served calamari, bruschetta, and some of the best caprese salad I've had in a long time. The pasta course included a healthy dose of rosso di montelcino and left everyone at the table anxiously awaiting the chef's entree course. The entree was a perfectly prepared sea bass filet over herb roasted potatoes in a beautifully formed red wine tomato reduction sauce. Finally we finished up with assorted cheeses, candied walnuts, balsamic reduction, and fresh green apples. The service was simply outstanding with perfectly timed courses, and a steady supply of fresh glassware for the 10 or 12 wines that were served. I can't say enough about the quality of the food and service. When the chef came in to say hello right before the cheese course the entire group applauded his efforts.

The verdict: I'd highly recommend Venice to anyone wanting a well made authentic Italian meal in the DTC. Our private room was capable of holding a few more than the 9 people we had and felt very secluded from the rest of the place. I've never been there for dinner so I can't comment on the atmosphere at night, but during the day the place is light, airy and the tables are spaced out nicely so that you can push your chair back to stand up without bumping into anyone. Things feel casual but elegant at the same time.

[pechelman]

Yesterday I was invited to attend a wine tasting / lunch there with a very nice little Italian winemaker who had become rich by inventing the leak proof sunroof and selling it to GM.

lol

what is it with italians and doing this

had some wine from the Jacuzzi family the other day that wasnt half bad
yes, the same people who invented the Jacuzzi motor for hot tubs

[Rontele]

Venice downtown is pretty sweet too.

In very sad news, Nine75 closed