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!

Pete Rose Sports Bar and Grill

After walking around and reading breakfast menu and after breakfast menu, we ended up at Pete Rose’s restaurant.  Great location on the strip and perfect for people watching.  We were seated on the patio and glanced over the menu. I knew exactly what I wanted, just  basic breakfast with eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast. So simple, yet so hard to find in Vegas. Brian went with the lox and bagel. The service was not the best, but wasn’t horrible. Overall, it was priced well, especially for the strip, and the food was really good.

 

OB’s Pub and Grill

We were driving along the coast in the rain looking for a place to stop for a drink and just stare at the ocean. We ended up in Manhattan Beach and in front of this place call OB’s (which is the name of my favorite beach). We were greeted by a server at the door and noticed that there were very few patrons. Everyone that was in the bar was staring at the televisions. At that time, there was a low speed chase going on in the LA area. This seemed to consume the attention of the staff and caused some slow service. The server came over and took our drink order.  She mentioned that it was happy hour and that they had some food bites. She pointed out one main thing on the menu… the grilled shrimp. With lime and garlic glaze, these shrimp skewers were calling my name. I had to get them.  They were so juicy and tender. Flavored very well and actually pretty large portions. Overall, it was a cool place to stop and enjoy a drink, a light bite and stare at the ocean.

 

King Harbor Brewing

We stumbled along a brewery at Redondo Beach on the boardwalk. The place was packed! We were lucky that someone got up and freed up some seats so that we could sit down and enjoy a beer or two. As we sat there sipping our beers, the line keep growing out the door.  This place is super popular. The atmosphere was awesome. Great view looking over the marina and great for people watching. The beers were good.  They didn’t seem to have anything crazy to try, but I enjoyed the hefe.

 

Bones

I saw that Bones was listed on Denver Restaurant Week and made a reservation immediately.  The menu looked great and I have always wanted to try it. We arrived to a very VERY small restaurant. I didn’t realize it was so tiny. At that moment, I was glad I had made a reservation. We were seated and handed the drink menu. I wanted to try something different, so I ordered a Suiyoubi No Neko from Yo-Ho Brewing Company. Excellent beer.  I actually ended up having 2 because I liked it so much. The restaurant week menu wasn’t quite the same as the menu online.  This made me a little sad because I knew exactly what I wanted.  We ended up ordering off the regular menu and all turned out well.  We started with the hamachi sashimi. There isn’t much to it, but extremely tasty laying across shishito aioli. Delish! My fiance went with the green chile ramen because he had heard from numerous people how great it was.  I got the lobster ramen because I figured go big or go home.  It was good, but I felt like it was too rich for me. The server suggested the yakisoba but I really wanted to try ramen, since that is what this place was known for.  Next time though, I am going to try that yakisoba. Great meal and excellent service.

 

Torchy’s Tacos

Torchy’s has come to Denver!! 

I kept hearing from friends who had been to Torchy’s in Texas and swear by it. Of course between that and the fact that it is a taco place, I had to go! I studied the menu before we arrived. Even after studying the whole menu, I couldn’t decide on which tacos I wanted.  We arrived around 9:20 in the morning and boy am I glad that we did. The line became horrendous after we ordered.  Got there right in time! There were 3 of us and we decided to share the well known queso and chips. That queso is legit! Not only is it gooey queso, but it was filled with green chile! We ate every last bit before our tacos arrived.  I could have licked the bowl.

I ended up going with the Democrat (barbacoa taco), the chicken fajita taco and the fried avocado. My favorite was the fried avocado. I was told that these tacos were like street tacos, so I figured between the queso and the 3 tacos, I would be full.  LIARS! They are much larger than street tacos.  They are jam packed full. I could only eat a half of each of the tacos. I now know 2 are my max.

My words of advice: 1. If you like avocados get a fried avocado taco. 2. Get there early to avoid waiting in line forever. 3. Don’t order too many, or be ready to eat a ton of leftovers. 4. Sit at the bar before ordering.  They take your taco and drink order and you can avoid the line. You’re welcome!

 

Ignite Denver

For Valentine’s Day, my fiance and I wanted to check out Ignite.  We had heard that they had excellent juicy burgers and had to give them a try. We were seated and handed the menu. Immediately we saw man candy on the menu. Basically, it was some candied spicy bacon. We started with an order of that and then moved on to the burgers. I ordered the classic with cheese.  This is my go to for trying burgers at a new place.  If they can’t make a good basic burger, then I pretty much don’t need to go back. The burger looked like a tower.  It was so tall! I bit into the burger (which was difficult since it was so large) and it began dripping all over the plate. It was messy and delicious.  I fell in love. This was then put into my top 5 best burgers I have ever had. It was so juicy and packed full of flavor.  This made for a great Valentine’s Day. I will be back to try other burgers on the menu.

Wing Hut in Aurora

Wing Hut has become my go to place for wings.  They have an ish ton of flavors and let you mix match to make your own concoction. My favorite is the basic buffalo hot wings, all flats. That is my order every time I go.  I tend to try different sides such as fried zucchini, curly fries, or jalapeno poppers. This particular time however, I tried a dessert. I don’t normally get dessert but the lady serving the beer convinced us to try the funnel cakes fries. The selling point was when she said chocolate and peanut butter.  Two of my favorite things together on funnel cake fries? Yes please!!

They came out glowing. Words cannot describe how delightful this dessert was. They almost melted in your mouth with better flavor than a Reese’s peanut butter cup. This is the best dessert I have ever had in my whole life. Even if you don’t like hot wings, or you are a vegetarian, go to Wing Hut and get the funnel cake fries! NOW!

 

 

 

Springfield Missouri Brewery Day

While visiting my mom in Republic, Missouri we decided to check out the two breweries that we knew of in Springfield. Mother’s Brewery and Springfield Brewery. My mom hadn’t been to either, so this was a first time for both of us. We went to Springfield first because it opened first. We walked in and sat at the bar. I started with the Walnut Street wheat beer. This is a great beer to start with. Smooth and easy to drink. I also tried the Aviator and the Mudhouse stout. Both are fantastic beers.While sitting at the bar, a lady came over and noticed I was sporting a Colorado hoodie and CO purse. We started talking about breweries in Colorado. She then mentioned that there was another brewery in Springfield called White River Brewing CO. Another one to add to our list to visit for the day. Springfield Brewing has a great location and excellent friendly staff. The bartender was amazing!

 

The second stop on our brewery tour was Mother’s Brewing Company. I had tried 2 of their beers the day before at Bair’s Sport Bar, so I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. We arrived right as they opened for the day and were greeted by two beertenders that were extremely helpful. I chalkboard was covered with beers you can only get there and experimental beers. I wanted to try all of them. ALL OF THEM! Well,I didn’t go that far. But I was a beer tasting machine. All the beers were awesome, but my fav was vanilla winter grind. Extremely awesome staff, great little gift shop (bought a hoodie) and crazy awesome beers! Love this place!

 

The third and final stop on our brewery tour was White River Brewing Co. We walked in and the tap room was fairly small. I couldn’t decide on just one beer, so we did a flight of 5 beers. My favorite was the Old Mill Ale. Most of the beers lacked something though.  None of them really had a distinct flavor that would set them apart from other breweries. If this brewery was in Colorado, it wouldn’t last long with the beers that they currently offer.

 

 

Bair’s All American Sports Grill

I was visiting my mom in Republic, Missouri for a few days and she kept swearing by Bair’s. I told her I had to try this place that she talks about all of the time. We stopped in for lunch at the location in Springfield. The waitress came by to take our drink order. I remembered seeing a sign for a Springfield brewery called Mother’s at the airport. I asked if they had anything from them and they did! I ordered the Tow Head American Blonde. Good smooth beer. I ordered a cheese burger and fries. I know, you are probably thinking I should have ordered something crazier, but I like to try to basics first. The burger came out and it was messy, delicious and juicy. Great burger! My mom got the sliders, which I think is a usual for her there. I ordered another Mother’s beer and tried the Three Blind Mice brown ale. Another good beer choice.  I decided then that we had to go to the Mother’s Brewery to try other beers that they offered. Bair’s has a great sports bar atmosphere. I love the food and the service was okay. I will be back when I visit Missouri again.