Restaurant Reviews
An authentic Chicago dog, hold the ketchup
The finer points of the Chicago-style hot dog have always been a bit cryptic for me. A few layover meals of sausage in a bun at O’Hare did little to deepen my understanding of this Windy City nosh. Unsurprisingly, I was happy to have friend and Windy City native Paul...
Not half bad
A recent experience at a national chain sandwich shop in Lusk, Wyo., made me realize why sandwiches aren’t often my first meal choice. My sandwich wasn’t terrible, it’s just that this comestible was strictly functional, with little artistry or care involved in its ...
Mexican that meets expectations
One sip of chai too many, and colleague Carin plunged into a caffeine-fueled burst of manic energy where she was seemingly channeling the obsessive Carrie Matheson from Homeland (or as I like to call it, “My So-Called War on Terrorism”). She was bouncing off the ...
Thunderbird beats the chains
Thunderbird Burgers & BBQ faces the formidable challenge of being a locally owned business in direct competition with big multinational chains. To effectively compete, it needs to be at least comparable in price and, ideally, superior in quality. For the most part, ...
House cure for the common appetite
Café Aion on the Hill, unlike other spots in this neighborhood, is less grab-and-go student hangout than leisurely neighborhood haunt serving all three meals. Its combination of wood and brick, coupled with ample sunlight and modernistic seating, give it a quality ...
Comfort and warmth in Arabesque’s kitchen
With my Italian family, the kitchen is the focal point of our lives. Gathering around the kitchen table is where we find ourselves as we sit through laughter, joy, sadness and loss. It is our common denominator and of course there is always endless food to fill our ...
Off the beaten brunch
As friend Lisa and I drove on Hwy. 36 north of Boulder, we couldn’t help but notice the landscape’s arid harshness. Even though the sun was shining, we couldn’t shake a feeling of wintry desolation. Happily, the mood shifted for the better once we entered our ...
Double fantasy
What with all the wood furniture and the fireplace and the quiet and the snow, Praha feels like a model of a restaurant in a miniature holiday village. The keeper of the restaurant is a nonagenarian with very poor hearing, and she struggles with the weight of our ...
Yellowbelly is for Boulder´s culinary chickens
There’s no way around it; with its efficient combination order-counter/steam-heated prep line, brightly colored walls and easy-clean tile floors packed into a strip mall unit on Arapahoe Street, Yellowbelly looks just like a fast food restaurant. And the contents of ...
An escape to Paris
Clear winter days often put me in a Paris frame of mind. This time of year, cold, crisp air, leafless trees and wintry light give the French capital a monochromatic yet nostalgic quality. For me, this romantic appearance evokes the black and white photography of ...
The resurgent cupcake, reconsidered
My reaction to the cupcake’s resurgence in popularity isn’t all that different to my response to REM’s popularity when I was in college. I get how others might like a red velvet cupcake and/or Michael Stipe, but personally, neither one’s my cup of tea. Speaking with ...
On-the-go bagels and Moe
Consigliere Keith reminisced about family rituals from his New York youth...