Bar Louie in Northfield

I was invited to attend a Yelp event at Bar Louie in Northfield. Immediately upon sitting down the GM came over and began telling me about National Martini month and their new martini that they were unveiling the next day. It was a a strawberry martini with jalapenos in it. It actually still had seeds floating in it. Although this drink sounds good in theory, it really just screams heartburn. I couldn’t finish it and had to go with a much sweeter martini.

The food was being brought out very slowly. We were asked of we wanted to try anything else on their appetizer menu that they provided and we asked for a flatbread.  They then stated that they couldn’t put in an order for that. I gave up asking for new apps because I felt like I kept getting excuses. The food that we did get to try was okay. Most of it was dry and lacked seasoning. The only thing I felt that tasted good was the buffalo chicken flatbread. The tangy buffalo sauce was a great compliment to the tender chicken and soft bread.

The service was horrific. For being a Yelp event you would think that they would have their top players working the event.  If those are their best servers, then I understand why they have such bad reviews. The only helpful people were the GM and a server named Kyle(if I remember his name right). He was tall with dark hair and kind of funny like Dane Cook. The bartender was messing up drinks right and left.  Kyle went back to the bar several times until our drinks were correct. He seemed like he was doing everything he could to make sure everyone at our table was happy.  Unlike some of the other servers that I saw spilling drinks, ordering the wrong drinks and ignoring customers. I might be back for the great happy that the GM told me about, but that is about it.

Wingstop

Wingstop has my favorite wings. They have a solid buffalo sauce with their original hot.  It is just the right amount of spice with great flavor. The employees always seem upbeat and love working there. The best days to go are Tuesdays. The wings aren’t any cheaper, but they have ALL of their beers for only a $1. $1!! That is right. This is the time to try different beers and enjoy some hot wings. The fries are also a bit different.  They season them with not only salt, but also some sugar to give them a slightly different flavor than most french fries. My only complaint about Wingstop is that my fingers are always orange afterwards! Ha!

Syrup

We were having a girl’s day with brunch and Rockies game. We all agreed on brunch at Syrup downtown Denver.  I have been to the one in Cherry Creek and love it! They won’t seat you if your whole party hasn’t arrived.  I kind of understand this, but at the same time, we were all ready to start drinking.  Just because one person is running behind, you shouldn’t hold up the rest of the party. We were finally seated and the drinking commenced. I knew exactly what I wanted when I walked in the door and was ready to gobble the food up. I ordered the silver dollar pancakes with peanut butter whipped butter and butterscotch syrup. This was a sweet tasty way to start the day off. Topped with a carafe of mimosas, my morning was complete and I was ready for the Rockies game. The service was awesome and the food was delicious!

Meadowlark Kitchen

I had the pleasure of enjoying Meadowlark for dinner for a friend’s birthday.  She is very familiar with the place and goes quite often, so I was stoked when she said that is where we would be celebrating her birthday.

The place is quite small but they manage to fit a lot of people inside.  We wanted to be on the patio, but there was a private party already taking over the whole outside so we were seated right by the front door.

The table shared the Denver nuggets and the chips and dip.  Both were absolutely delicious. I really liked the dill sauce that came with the nuggets. It was the perfect amount of tangy. Brian went with the Meadowlark burger. That thing was HUGE! Oozing with cheddar sauce. It almost took over the burger, there was so much.  He said it was amazing and I don’t doubt it.  It looked phenomenal. I went with the BLT.  The best part about it was that it came loaded with candied bacon. When I say loaded, I mean loaded!  Fantastic food and drinks! The service was even better.  I felt like we were family.  The whole table was well taken care of, always refilling waters and cocktails. What a great place! I will be back for sure!

Arepa’s House At The Big Wonderful

The Big Wonderful is an event every weekend throughout the summer in the Denver metro area. It consists of artisan vendors, local music artists, crafty cocktails and different types of food trucks. On this occasion, we attended The Big Wonderful in downtown Littleton. I walked down the sidewalk looking over menus for each food truck. The last one in the row was Arepa’s House. I didn’t know what an arepa was, but I am willing to try anything once. All of the other food trucks were pretty basic food. Ice cream, burgers, sandwiches, etc. I wanted something different. I decided on Arepa’s House and asked the man taking the orders what he recommended.  He said the Queen arepa with chicken. It tasted much like chicken salad, but much better. Wrapped in something like a pita, this Venezuelan food was pretty delicious. I truly enjoyed trying this new dish and I would have Arepa’s House again if I come across them at a festival.

Patty’s Gourmet Hamburgers

I had heard that the newly open food truck was going to be in Monument at a moonshine distillery, so we decided to make the trek south to check it out. The owner, Rick, does a great job explaining how the burgers are made from scratch each day along with the amazing ketchup and mustard. If you like a burger with a kick, I suggest trying the peppered burger. They add some spicy ketchup and mustard to the mix to really tickle your taste buds. I went with the cheesy burger. It came out gooey with cheese and dripping from all of the natural juices from the very large burger patty. Cooked perfectly, I devoured the burger very quickly.  Be prepared for a messy burger, because these ones drip everywhere! I can’t wait to try the other burger options and see this food truck grow! Keep up the good work guys!

 

 

 

Henry’s Tavern

We were strolling down 16th Street Mall looking for a place to grab a drink.  I had remembered that Henry’s opened recently and we hadn’t checked it out yet. We walked in and sat at the bar. Immediately we were greeted by a bartender and handed the happy hour menu. Then it was like we disappeared. The bartender helped another couple that arrived after us sitting at a table. They ordered their drinks and received them before we were even looked at again. We sat their patiently waiting and watching as the bartenders kept walking past us.  I was starting to feel ignored. We were about 2 seconds away from getting up and leaving when the bartender finally circled back to us.  We ordered drinks and an appetizer. He put the app into the computer right away.  We sat there and waited, and waited for our drinks to be made.  He finally mentioned that someone had to get some liquor from the back, so we waited even more.  Our food arrived and we began eating.  We got a crab and avocado roll.  It was okay.  I would compare it closely to sushi you would get from King Soopers in the sushi section.  It wasn’t bad, just not worth the cost. We finally got our drinks.  I asked the bartender then for some napkins. He didn’t respond, so when he looked up again, I started to say it again. He cut me off and said, I know, you want napkins. As if I didn’t already feel like this was a bad experience, that topped the cake. We then asked for our tab.  Between the rudeness of Adam (the bartender) and the douchiness of other bartenders wearing sunglasses inside and running into you, I will not return. I wanted to like this place, but that was not a very good impression and I don’t want to waste my time or money on this establishment anymore.

 

Golden Saigon

Okay,

1. Thank you Yelp for suggesting Golden Saigon when I searched for pho places in Aurora.

2. Thank you Golden Saigon for being so damn amazing!

From the looks of the place outside, you would think it would be kind of a shit hole. But then you walk inside and see how beautiful it is.  I would really think it was a nice steakhouse if I only saw the inside and didn’t know what kind of food they served. We were greeted and seated in a booth.  Other people came in after us and were seated and ordered drinks. It did take a bit before we were greeted in our seats, but after that, the service was beyond phenomenal.  We started with some crab cheese wontons. Along with the wontons came an order of spring rolls on the house. The wontons were HUGE! And packed full! OMG they were fantastic. The spring rolls were flavored well.  Very tasty. As our meal we each got pho. That day they had a kobe beef pho available, so Brian had to get it.  I tried the rare beef pho, which is my fav. Both were excellent.  The broth was almost sweet.  This was different and a great change compared to most Vietnamese restaurants. Once we finished the pho, a server came by and asked how dinner was.  We kept raving about it.  He asked if it was our first time, and we replied yes.  Not even a minute later he was serving us strawberry shortcake and hot jasmine tea on the house.  The strawberry shortcake melted in your mouth and wasn’t too sweet.  The tea was the perfect finish for the evening.  The whole meal really couldn’t have gotten any better. We will be back. Many many many times!

Jax Brunch in Glendale

My girlfriends wanted to have brunch at Jax Fish House in Glendale. Of course, I was in. I have never had brunch there before, so I was excited to try new dishes.  To get the party started, we ordered some mimosas.  They offer several flavors to pick from. I wanted seafood since it is a fish house, but they really don’t have much on the brunch menu that has seafood in it.  I settled on a few things to cover all bases. Oysters to start off the brunch were fantastic. Then got the chicken and crawfish gumbo. This dish was phenomenal! I wanted more.  Then to wrap it up, I got biscuits and gravy topped with sunny side up eggs.  What a great overall brunch. The service was great and perfect atmosphere. Great job Jax!

 

 

Biker Jim’s

Have you ever had reindeer, rattlesnake, pheasant,  boar or duck? If not, then you are missing out and must go to Biker Jim’s right away. Every dog I have had has been nothing but amazing.  The most recent trip I decided to try the all beef bacon wrapped dog and then added the Sonoran style to it with pinto beans, dices jalapenos, tomatoes, onions, yellow mustard and mayo.  It wasn’t quite as good as El Guero Canelo in Tucson, AZ, but it was pretty close and will do since I am in Denver. Nonetheless, Biker Jim’s has these crazy and weird hot dogs on lockdown. Great flavors, awesome upbeat staff and love that there are multiple locations now.