In July I will have one day in Denver, what should I do? Mentions of superb spicy food are not to be ruled out.
Denver bleg
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this is the best Japanese food I have ever eaten.
“One of the secrets of Domo’s distinctive taste is the generous use of shiitake mushrooms. Kombu, hijiki and funori seaweeds and other sea vegetables are also used in plenty. Domo uses over 120 varieties of fresh sea foods, meats and vegetables daily as well as many unique ingredients imported directly from the country side of Northern Japan by Domo owner and head chef Gaku Homma. Only at Domo, Japanese Country Foods Restaurant can you find this kind of quality.”
Coors Feild if you like baseball
New Library & Museum if you like architecture
If you have not been to the mountains before, I suggest renting a car and heading either out I-70 as far as time allows, or take Hiway 6 out of Golden and go thorugh Black Hawk, Rollinsville and then into Boulder, where you can see the Flat Irons. Then back to Denver. Also, the Garden of the Gods and a view of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs are worth the drive (about 70 minutes each way down I-25).
Although I am hesitant to recommend food places, as it has been 20 years since I drove a cab there, my guess is that you can still get some excellent Mexican food (take out only) at Curtis Park Creamery, 908 30th Street, Denver, CO, Phone: 303-295-2404. Lock the car doors when you go inside.
And although I have never eaten at any place in LoDo, I woud avoid it like the plague – way too trendy. Instead, head on over to Alameda and Federal (Alameda is 300 south, Federal is 3000 west), where there is a shoppping center kind of like Eden Center on the southwest corner. There are also some good Asian places on the southeast corner and stretching east of Alameda to about 2200 west, but I don’t have any names. There used to be some excellent Asian food on south Federal blvd (3000 west) in the strip malls between Alameda and about 1500 south. With your excellent nose for good food, I am confident you will rapidly identify a few good places. (And take some pictures for the blog, please. If you need a digital camera, let me know and I’ll send one over.)
Westword is like the City Paper, but the restaurant recviews are better (at least they were back in the day…).
http://bestof.westword.com/bestof/section.php?year=2007§ion=35100
Will you be downtown, Tech Ctr or what ? Will you have transportation ?
I agree with the previous comment about Lodo – avoid it.
Another mtn location not too far from town … Red Rocks.
Denver area does have a preponderance of good Asian restaurants (Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai). And if you have never tried “Mongolian Barbeque” that could be interesting (used to be one downtown and another one on Arapahoe rd in Tech ctr).
I’m not a downtown guy, live in Aurora (suburb). If you want to e-mail me for any info feel free.
http://www.kaladicoffee.com/
For great iced [or not] coffee. Denver in July, you’ll be glad for it.
The art museum addition is worth checking out too.
Local Chinese people prefer Super Star Asian Cuisine in what passes for Chinatown here… it’s very good. 2200 Alameda Ave, off of a huge, decrepit parking lot.. a bit East of Federal.
303/727-9889 ask for David.
My recollection of Denver, and Colorado in general, is when it comes to food, it’s all about hot green chiles. Restaurants brag about having the hottest chiles, and many of them let you choose whether you want hot green chiles or “not-so-hot” when you order. The Mexican food is by no means traditional to Mexico, but they’ve been making it the way they make it for so long that it is certainly traditional Colorado-Mexican food.
Unfortunately, I can’t recall an restaurant to recommend. (I grew up 50 miles north in the town of Greeley–which you can smell when the wind is blowing to the south, for Greeley is the home of the largest cattle feed lot in the world.)
I do remember Casa Bonita, though. As a child it was a great experience. The food was on par with your typical “TV” dinner. You’ve had a TV dinner before, haven’t you?
Casa Bonita is a train wreck. Go only if you are accompanying the South Park kids.
There is nothing wrong with Jack n Grill, Benny’s or Brewery Bar. I’m a big fan of Santiago’s and La Fiesta (both dives). In any event, find some green chili.
Oddly enough, Denver has a great sushi restaurant in Sushi Den – easily walkable from the light rail station.
We have many good ethnic restaurants here, but probably nothing any better than what you have there. Except for maybe Mexican. If you are interested in food with a more ‘local’ flavor, I would recommend The Fort. There are usually several spicy meals on the menu. And a nice drive up into the ‘Red Rocks’ is included. http://www.thefort.com/Menu.htm
And definitely plan on heading into the mountains. West on I70, or preferably 285, as far as you have time to go.
If you like trout fishing, find an outfitter and go.
The original Chipotle’s is downtown.
Also, the Tattered Cover is a wonderful bookstore.
But really, go outside. Anywhere outside. Find someone with a 4×4 and drive up a mountain. You can find some old mining towns close to the summits of 10,000 ft. mountains with fresh snow-fed pools of water beside them. We went snow sledding/ water sliding in July once. Awesome.
You should DEFINITELY come drink beer with me and Trey Fleisher at the Falling Rock.
Good little hole-in-the-wall Thai place at Kipling & Colfax. Order yours “authentic Thai hot”.
The Original Chubby’s at 38th & Lipan offers very simple fare but is not to be missed, for the people-watching if nothing else. There is no dine-in and the neighborhood is shady, so dress down and be prepared to eat in your car. I recommend the Deluxe Burrito, and you absolutely must order a half dozen fresh, hot tortillas.
If you can make the trip to Boulder, get a sandwich at Half Fast Subs on the Hill.
The best way to spend time in Denver is to rent a car and drive to Boulder.
Oh, yeah — and lots of microbreweries in the area around Fort Collins, too. Apparently, people in Germany like the beer from one of the local breweries.
I’ll be traveling to Boulder soon and would appreciate restaurant recommendations there.
Good game can be found at Vesta (in LoDo.)
Rent a car and drive west on I70 to see urban sprawl at its most extreme. Nearly a 200 miles of condos, golf courses, and cheap townhouses for service help so people can enjoy the pristine wilderness that no longer exists because of their present. It is a sight that every economist should see.
For Japanese food, Domo – Japanese country cuisine, not the usual Japanese city fare.
If you have a car, drive ~1 hr west to Mt Evans. It is a fourteener (14,241′) where you can drive to the peak. http://www.mountevans.com/
Also, Colorado has one of the highest concentrations of microbreweries in the US – try the Wynkoop in LoDo, then walk a couple of blocks to the Tattered Cover – an excellent bookstore.
Drive to Rocky Mountain National Park, then drive the Trail Ridge Road from Grand Lake to Estes Park. It’ll take some time to get there and back, but the most spectacular scenery I’ve every seen (I don’t get to the mountains much) is on the highest paved road in North America. I did it last week, unbelievable.
Denver has a great natural history museum. Plesiosaur and whale skeletons hanging from the ceilings, large mammals rarely seen elsewhere. Great geology exhibits. Intelligent planetarium shows. IMAX.
http://www.dmns.org/main/en/
They also have a fine zoo.
http://www.denverzoo.org/
some interesting claims in the comments — I70 west has 200 miles of development? ummmmmmmmmm, not at all. there’s the stretch to evergreen, short break, idaho springs, longer break, downie ville, longer break, georgetown, then just mountains for the 30 miles or so to silverthorne, then obnoxious development, then a 5 mile break to copper, then a 20 mile break to vail, the obnoxious development for 30 miles, then no development until grand junction, etc. and if you bother to get off I70, you see the development doesn’t get very far. don’t get me wrong, i’m sure it was much better 20 years ago. but 200 miles? not even close. i mean, have you seen the coast of s. florida? that’s development.
as for boulder being charming, treat such claims with skepticism. it’s cute enough, but not worth a day trip. the pearl street mall doesn’t even compare favorably to georgetown, and boulder’s only 20 miles away, most place would just be considered another suburb. also not some tiny charming mountain town like crested butte or somesuch — it’s got 100,000 people in the town itself, and most of the architecture is 70s.
some of these comments are along the lines of folk who worry that DC’s too dangerous to visit (or ever was). such folk obviously haven’t spent much time in NW, etc.
Sushi Den is amazing but its not in LoDo…its in Wash Park (Just south of LoDo). Also, New Saigon, as mentioned before, is amazing too.
I think Tyler should raffle off a chance to have a meal with him. In all honesty there are few people I would rather eat lunch with. On par with Warren Buffet
….
Not that it matters, but the original Chipotle is the one on Evans near DU, not the one downtown. And Sushi Den is more Platte Park than Wash Park (though still close to Wash Park). 4 miles south of downtown.
During the day, drive to the top of Loveland pass; hike from there if you’re in shape. If the Rockies are in town, and it’s a night game, go. After the game, go watch the skate kids in commons park (largest free skatepark in america! open till 11:00 PM!). If no Rockies, maybe an early evening walk in Wash Park? Definitely do something outside; summer evenings in Denver are beatiful!
WIth all the praise of Domo, I really want to go! Next time my wife and I have a free night!
Sushi Den isn’t really in
I agree that Sushi Den is very good, even by West Coast standards. Lola (http://www.loladenver.com/) was great the couple of times I went there … it was nearly next door to Sushi Den on Pearl St. (in Denver, not Boulder) but has since moved. All “Thai” restaurants in Denver are inauthentic and forgettable. Duo in the Highlands neighborhood is a new, small, interesting place. I agree that Boulder is more about proximity to the mountains (and co-eds) than a great cultural experience. I wouldn’t discount LoDo for good eats … but I honestly can’t think of a place that stands out. I’ve always enjoyed Pasquini’s Pizzeria on Broadway south of downtown. All things considered … I’d try out Lola. And to a car trip to Breckenridge if time allows.
There’s a waitress named Nonnie
At the four-oh-four,
Wishing that you were still here …
We’re still here in Denver,
Can’t wait till you get here,
Oh Nonnie!
Another round over here.
Do something in Colorado that you can’t do anywhere else. I second the suggestion to drive a car to the top of Mt. Evans, a little above 14k ft. elevation; however, I would add that you should ONLY do this if you have a rental car. Even in the low gear of most automatic transmissions, the brake overheating is severe on the way down. Bring a camera. If it is your own car, stop several times and take a twenty minute walk away from the car on the trip down the mountain.
There’s a great Middle Eastern restaurant in the southeast part of town – if you’re interested shoot me an e-mail, I know I’ve got the name on a credit card statement.
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