Restaurants & Bars

There are over a hundred restaurants and bars within half a mile of my loft. Here are a few of my favorites.

• Wynkoop Brewing Company. Of course my local brewery needs to be first on the list! Colorado's oldest brewpub. Great beer, pool hall and atmosphere. Some of my favorite dishes there are the artichoke and parmesan dip with beer bread (always recommended as a shared appetizer!), the elk medallions and the Shepherd's Pie. An elevator ride from my place!  Citysearch review.
• Vesta Dipping Grill. My favorite downtown restaurant - their distinction is that they have 30 different dipping sauces, and each main dish comes with three recommended sauces but you can substitute if you like. The food is always great and it has a cool funky downtown atmosphere. Two blocks from my place.  Citysearch review.
• McCormick's. Fresh fish restaurant in the Oxford Hotel, with an elegant, classic atmosphere. Some of the best service I've had anywhere. One block from my place.  Citysearch review.
• Mori. My favorite sushi place downtown - very down to earth and unpretentious, not a typical LoDo place, but great food. Highly recommend the caterpillar roll!  A whole four blocks from my place! Citysearch review.
• Jax. Another great seafood place, across the street from McCormick's but very different atmosphere - noisier, trendier, more crowded. One block from my place. Citysearch review.
• Bistro Vendome. Great little intimate French restaurant hidden away on Larimer Square. The best pommes frites (french fries!) I've ever had - quite unusual, sprinkled with herbs and glazed with a little champagne! Citysearch review.
• Gumbo's. Nice, pretty upmarket, New Orleans restaurant (and I've been to New Orleans enough times to know one when I see one!). The sweet potato catfish is excellent! Two blocks from our place. Citysearch review.
• Trios Enoteca. Excellent wine and jazz bar just a few steps from our front door. Good food too - Paula and I often go for three appetizers for $15, which is enough for the two of us. Citysearch review.
• El Chapultepec. Very interesting old jazz bar which has been around forever (by Denver standards) - supposedly the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald have played there. Not fancy at all, usually pretty traditional jazz, and an interesting crowd of old folks, hip students and assorted oddballs! They appear to be the only place on this list without a web site, which somehow doesn't surprise me! Citysearch review.
• The Cruise Room. Very cool bar in the Oxford Hotel, modeled after one of the bars on the Queen Mary. Big martini menu, you can get food from McCormicks and they have a cool old jukebox. The Citysearch review says "an elegant hotel bar James Bond would love" - so there you go! Citysearch review.
• Adega. Superb high end restaurant right on our block, which was indirectly responsible for Paula and I meeting (long story!). Had a great meal here with Paula on my 40th birthday. Quite a few bad reviews on Citysearch recently though, will have to go sometime to see if there's any truth to them! Citysearch review.
• Fado. Local Irish bar which is always packed and partying. Citysearch review.