I don't care what Anthony Bourdain says, Denver is a great restaurant town. It isn't New York, but then what city in America is? But I'm convinced there are any number of restaurants here that would do quite well in the Big Apple, thank you very much.
Let's talk about lunch. It is my favorite meal to have in a restaurant and my least favorite to have at home. That is probably due to the fact that making your own lunch invariably interrupts some other activity and generally messes up the entire day. But lunch out is an event. The whole day, instead of getting messed up, revolves around the lunch. And there are so many likely lunch spots in the Denver area.
There is Tom's Home Cookin' in Five Points for the best soul food in town. How about Bones at 7th and Grant for steamed buns with pork belly and any noodle bowl on the ever changing menu. What could be better than Osteria Marco's bar with house made mozarella, Frank's Salumi Plate and a couple of quartinos of house red? How about a pitcher of Sangria and some kind of mole at Tamayo. Get a cubano sandwich at Masterpiece Deli and take it home, since it will probably be impossible to find a place to sit. Tacos at Jack 'n' Grill, and in the summer, the upper level deck at Morrison Inn is a great place to hang out with some shrimp enchiladas. And one musn't leave out Benny's for the quintessential Colorado tex-mex experience.
Hamburger joints abound. The perennial 5280 winner for best hamburger is the Cherry Cricket in Cherry Creek and rightly so, but I prefer the ambiance at Brothers Bar on 15th street. How can you not like a bar and grill so established that it doesn't even bother to put up a sign? The smashburger at Elway's is hard to beat and if you really want to get ambitious, drive up to Aspen for a burger at the J Bar in the Hotel Jerome.
However, if it is just a great hamburger you are after, let me recommend Park Burger at 1890 S. Pearl in the DU area. Jean-Philippe Failyau, chef and part owner of Osteria Marco as well as a long time Mizuna stand out, has followed the recent craze of places that only serve burgers and fries. I ate at one such place in D.C. recently and there were lines out the door for their counter service. Five Guys in Parker and throughout the country even tells you what part of the country your fries came from.
I think Park Burger is better than any of them. Like all places spawned from the Frank Bonnano restaurant machine, Park Burger has drunk the Michael Pollan Kool-Aid (We're talking the credo of THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA.) Everything is grass-fed, sustainable and never frozen. There is an impressive beer and wine list and an even more impressive chocolate shake. The buns hold up to the fresh juiciness of the patty and the french fries are ample, crisp, and perfect.
Park Burger is a straight forward burger joint with great drinks and classy art on the walls. Try it.
4 comments:
You're making me miss Denver. :) Good to know you have a blog -- got you put into Google Reader now!
Take care -
Karin Bates Snyder
BTW, did Anthony Bourdain *really* diss Denver?? PSHAW. Denver *is* a great restaurant town, and I think A.B. just lost a couple of points with me! Humph!
...and everywhere I go people ask me the same question. They say, "Phil, what is the secret of happiness? What is the secret of JOY? Of ecstasy?"
And everywhere I go I tell people a story I once heard about a little boy, went into a candy store, all he had was a nickel.
He took his nickel into the candy store and he looked at all the kinds of candy that was there, and he picked out the candy bar that he wanted more than any other.
And he said to the man behind the counter, he said, "Sir, I'd like that candy bar right there."
The man looked at the little boy, looked at his nickel, and he said, "Sorry, son, it's a ten-cent candy bar, all you've got is a nickel."
The boy was disappointed.
But he thought and he thought and he thought and he came up with an idea. He said, "Why don't we compromise? Why don't we take that candy bar and cut it in half, and you take half and I'll have half for myself. How 'bout that?"
The man smiled at the little boy.
He said, "Son, it's a ten-cent candy bar. Get your skinny ass out of my store, get me another nickel and I'll sell it to you."
And with that the man turned his back on the little boy. And the little boy stood there, dejected, rejected, abandoned by this man.
And he looked at the nickel in his hand, and he looked at the man's broad back turned against him, and then he looked at the candy bar he wanted so much.
And you know what he did? He reached out and he kind of touched that candy bar... And then he reached out and kind of held that candy bar... And then he RAN OUT the store with the candy bar.
And as he was running down the street he realized something. He still had his nickel in his hand. And in his other hand he had a WHOLE candy bar.
And he was suddenly filled with a tremendous feeling of happiness and joy and ecstasy.
Now let me ask you something: When was the last time YOU felt that good?
-Eric Bogosian
"Inner Baby"
A place I go EVERY time I come home to Denver is El Taco de Mexico, for the smothered Special Burrito, sometimes twice in a three day trip. The ambiance is not more than a shack, but I have yet to find its match in taste, even living in Northern Mexico like I do.
Cheers!
Sara
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