Restaurant Reviews

Quickly glancing into its window, it’s easy to dismiss Pearl Street’s Two Spoons as a mere gelato shop. But as the temperature drops, this self-proclaimed “smallbatch kitchen” shifts its focus from frozen treats to a more seasonally appropriate menu of warming soups ...

The word “riff” implies improvisation and excitement. It instantly brings to mind a memorable guitar solo, and applied to food, the expectation for something inspiring. Unfortunately, in the case of Riffs Urban Fare, there is such a thing as too much riffing...

I’ll argue that the most critical determinant of an ethnic restaurant’s success is how much it respects the source cuisine. Go to any ethnic neighborhood in a big city, and you’ll likely chance upon a family-run hole in the wall that’s wildly popular due to its ...

Chaat is savory Indian street food, and it’s also something that has become increasingly available at local eateries like Boulder’s Jai Ho and Tiffins. Lafayette’s Krishna Kafe is the newest purveyor of these subcontinental specialties, and like its forerunners, it’s...

When we go out for a dining experience, there are expectations, many of which we can’t even articulate, but know viscerally when they’re not met. That’s why as a food writer, I spend so much time writing about a restaurant’s environment and atmosphere. The food is ...

One does not live by New American locavore farm-to-table fare alone. Sometimes all one needs is a simple diner experience more suited to an unpretentious ’70s movie protagonist like Jack Nicholson’s character in Five Easy Pieces or Dirty Harry than some lightweight ...

There’s something inherently enigmatic about a restaurant calling itself Pickled Lemon, as this moniker raises more questions than answers. Is this a venue for citrus-based cocktails? Does the menu focus on fruit? Is this a cryptic reference to a Tina Fey character? ...

Though the specific locale is different for everyone, we all have that place, the one you drive past nearly everywhere you go, thinking to yourself, “I should stop in some time,” but keep driving past for at least another six to eight months. You know where I’m ...

Popularized by such operations as L.A.’s Kogi, kitchens on wheels have finally hit the streets of Boulder. Far removed from the catering trucks of old, these outfits eschew stale plastic-wrapped sandwiches in favor of ethnic street food and comfort classics. Streat ...

The Rib House, formerly located in downtown Boulder, has relocated to University Hill, bringing with it loads of classic American barbecue meats perfumed with wood smoke. The bright new venue eschews the former formal dining room setting with a more casually down-...

Whenever I go back to the Bay Area for family visits, it’s inevitable I stop by San Leandro’s Taqueria Los Pericos with one or both of my brothers. I suspect our visits are equally driven by the quality of the food as well as having us be seen in public for the ...

Not to disparage the noble roach coach, but for many budding restaurateurs, the food truck is mostly a vehicle (pun intended) to open a sit-down storefront, offering them a low-cost way to vend and market their chow. But like so many things, more dream the dream than...