Colorado Critics

Gifts from Wine.com

2012-02-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered Wine.com. I actually don't drink wine or any alcoholic drinks for that matter but I was impressed with their fancy chocolate gift baskets (by Godiva) that are $30-$80! For $30 I think I'll give this a try and maybe send my mom some chocolates for mother's day! If I'm lucky maybe I can convince my husband that this might be a great Valentines gift... I seriously am drooling over these chocolate baskets.

They even have some amazing looking cheese gift baskets. I'll have to remember this for Christmas time. I always send my dad a cheese and sausage gift set. If you do like wine, you can get a combo gift pack that comes with cheese and wine (or chocolate and wine). Best of all, they are offering 10% off through Valentines Day!

Brought To By Wine.com, Purveyors of Fine Wine and Champagne

Cafe Mexicali (amazingly great food!)

2012-02-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we decided to explore Ft. Collins. I of course looked up the most popular restaurants in the area so we could check them out. I was half excited and half skeptical about Cafe Mexicali. I was told by a friend that it's a lot like Chipotle or Qudoba. I certainly am not one to drive an hour and a half to check out low quality, Americanized Mexican food.

I had been studying the menu and had my mind set on this Corn and Onion Quesole. I wanted this since it comes with guac and a few other unique sauces. It helps too that I love quesadillas which is pretty much what this is.

I was incredibly happy with my decision to get a quesole but after tasting my husband's steak quesole I was jealous.

The steak quesole was heavenly. It made the hour and a half drive worth it. The steak was juicy, tender and perfectly seasoned.

We decided that the quesole dish is best consumed by cutting the quesole up into bite size pieces and mixing it in with the lettuce, guacamole, tomatoes, chipotle sour cream and drizzled with the creamy hobanero sauce. This combination was quite amazing. It was even better once we both combined our dishes together creating an onion, corn and steak quesole. Certainly I have to say that the steak is essential. I would seriously consider driving all the way back to Ft Collins to eat this again. It was that good!

Yak & Yeti

2011-10-25T21:15:00.000-07:00

I've driven past Yak & Yeti a time or two. The building is so inviting! I've also heard great things from many friends about the place so when my husband and I needed a date night we headed to the big yellow house for some Indian cuisine.

I don't have a lot of experience with Indian food and didn't have high expectations. Looking at the menu didn't seem to help. I had a hard time really wanting any of the items but we finally came down to ordering Lamb Saag and Chicken Tikka Tandoori. We are familure with Tandoori and we know we like it so it was a safe choice.

The Tandoori didn't disappoint! It was tasty with a bit of a kick to it. It could have used a bit more garlic but overall it was just what we expected.

When the Saag came out I awkwardly said "that looks good" but my mind yelled "that looks incredibly unappetizing". I scooped some of the Saffron Rice onto my plate and topped it with a spoon full of Sagg. I think what happened next was life changing. I fell in love and couldn't stop taking more and more. The creaminess hits your pallet first. Next you get a taste of garlic, ginger and a hint of meat. Once you think the goodness is over your hit with a slight kick of spice. It's amazing! I know I will be craving this again in the near future.

I thought the overall experience here was great. The environment was unique but nice, the service was great and the food was certainly worth going back for.

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Beau Jo's Pizza

2011-10-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

Pizza is one of my favorite foods. I could eat it daily and never grow tired of it. Now that I've lived in Colorado a few years I figured it was time I try a Mountain Pie!

We ordered the 2 pound Italian Chicken Mountain Pie. It starts with their creamy garlic sauce and is topped with Italian seasoned chicken, scallions, mushrooms (we substituted with tomatoes), provolone and mozzarella cheeses all in their super thick white crust. It really was delicious! I savored every creamy bite.I was a bit disappointed at how skimpy the toppings were though.

The thing that makes Beau Jo's special is the huge crust that comes attached to these "Mountain Pies". The crust is the bulk of the pizza and has a great texture. They serve honey to eat the crust with so you end up getting pizza and a dessert all in one! I have a massive sweet tooth so I loved this!!

I am pretty easy to please and I was happy with this place but it is highly over priced. For $20 my husband and I could easily buy 2 pizzas the size of the 1 we got here (minus the huge crust) and they each would have twice the toppings.

The issue is this... pizza dough is cheap. It's the toppings that cost the restaurant. In my opinion, they need to either lower the price a bit or be a lot more generous in the amount of toppings they put on. I do agree that they can get away with higher prices for the vanity of their unique crust and they certainly are not hurting for business. I just can't see myself going back knowing I can get a lot more for my money elsewhere.

Big Burrito

2011-08-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

After an incredibly long day and a night out on the town, my husband and I were looking for a cheap restaurant that was open late. We stumbled upon Big Burrito. We were skeptical of this little place especially since it was free of customers and only had one kid inside working. We went in anyway to give it a shot.

I was immediately impressed with the prices! At $6.20 for a full meal, you really can't complain. Well... I suppose you can and I was still a slight bit skeptical at this point. I asked to try a sample of the rice and beans to help determine whether or not I'd order a meal or just a burrito. The rice was bland but the beans made the meal worth it! I ended up getting the burrito and enchilada plate. The enchilada wasn't fully cooked so the cheese wasn't melted. The sauce that it was covered in seemed to be good but I felt it was pretty salty.

The burrito was the highlight! I was pretty impressed with the flavorful meat (beef) that seemed to be good quality. I wouldn't hesitate to order a burrito from this place in the future!

My husband ordered a breakfast burrito, I think it was called the California Burrito. He didn't think it was the greatest burrito or even one he'd rave about but he liked it. We loved the service and we were happy to support this family run business. Though we try not to repeat restaurants, we may be back to get a cheap good meal from Big Burrito!

Coopersmith's Pub and Brewing

2011-08-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's fair to say that we drove all the way to Ft. Collins to try this restaurant. It's the highest rated eatery in the Ft. Collins area and the menu looked great.

I was excited and curious to try some of their home made sodas. We tried their Cream Soda and their Root Beer. We thought it was slightly interesting they make their cream soda without cream. It's realistically just a vanilla soda. It was good non the less. I also loved the Root Beer. It had a bold, home made taste.

My husband had his eye on their daily special, a Carne Asada topped with pico de gallo. On the side was cuscus, black beans and flour tortillas. Neither of us love beans but we both enjoyed these ones. They were well seasoned and garlicky. My husband said that the beans were the best part of his meal. That's a pretty depressing statement coming from a steak loving, bean hating man.

After reading reviews, I decided I'd order a pizza. Coopersmith is listed as a pizzeria on Urbansoon after all... so I had to give their pizza a try. I too went for the pizza that was on their special menu. It was an Alfredo pizza served with a creamy Alfredo sauce, yellow squash, basil and chicken. I was excited to try one of their seasoned crusts so I chose their herb crust.

I was happy with this pizza at first. Then I decided the crust was too dry, burnt and surprisingly flavorless. I loved the sauce and toppings though so I focused on that. I soon found that the very most inner bite of each slice was filled with these delightful toppings and sauce. I was then unimpressed once again. Finally, I decided it wasn't worth eating anymore and just drank my soda.

I was incredibly unimpressed with this place. Either Ft. Collins is very confused on what is considered good food as this place is considered #1 on Urbanspoon or more than likely, it's been voted the #1 because it's a cool atmosphere with (I assume) great beer. I highly recommend you avoid their food and stick with their drinks.

Cafe Rio

2011-05-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

It seems like everyone in Utah raves about Cafe Rio. My husband and I never went while we lived there because he'd tried it and decided it wasn't all it's worked up to be. I can agree that it is silly how addicted people seem to be.

At any rate, we took a trip to Utah with a friend who is one of those who is in love with Cafe Rio so we had to make a stop for lunch. I was a little excited to try it!

We ordered a cheese quesadilla and a steak burrito. As usual we shared so we could both try the other. I'm going to have to admit, this food was pretty decent. It seemed to be comparable to Qudoba and Chipotle with the only difference being the amazing sauces! The sauces really are what makes Cafe Rio amazing.

For those of you who are either addicted already or want to give Cafe Rio a try, you'll be happy to hear they have two locations here in Colorado!

Wingers

2011-05-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

(Sticky Finger Quesadilla)

I really shouldn't even need to post reviews for Wingers. I feel that everyone in the world already knows that we are madly in love with this place and their divine sauces!

(Veggie Burger)

(Wings with their Freaking Amazing Sauce)

If you stumble upon a Wingers I would highly suggest you stop and check it out. They serve wings and burgers. The wings here are huge and definitely high quality and they are served with the most amazing sauce you will ever taste.

Ruth's

2011-05-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

We were in Utah for a friends wedding. The groom spent the morning of his wedding day with us and requested that we head all the way up the mountain to enjoy a great breakfast at Ruth's.

There is some controversy concerning these biscuits. Some say they are worth the long drive up the mountain others say they are over rated. I say they are pretty amazing and almost worth the long drive.

This is the chicken wrap that was on special for the day. I wish I had ordered it. It looks pretty amazing and I hear it was as good as it looks!

I ordered a salmon omelet with a hollandaise sauce. It was really good! I wish I could have finished it but I realized a couple bites in that as a pregnant lady, I can't eat hollandaise sauce!!

This is my husband's salmon that was also on the daily special menu. It was pretty amazing! I actually ended up eating half of it once I realized I couldn't eat my own breakfast.

These are the biscuts and gravy I kind of wish I had ordered! Do they not look amazing? The girl that ordered them laughed when she got them as they were seriously large!

I was impressed with Ruth's Dinner. It had an amazing atmosphere. I even suggested that the back yard/ porch area would make for an amazing place to have a wedding!

Tucanos

2011-05-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

If you find yourself really hungry and near a Tucanos, I suggest you go in and treat yourself to one of the greatest dining experiences! This buffet style restaurant is top of the line and probably shouldn't even be lowered to the classification of a buffet. At all.

It has a large salad bar filled with many salads, potatoes, breads, seafood, pastas, veggies, fruits, meats and sauces. I must also mention that their mashed potatoes will knock your socks off!

But the salad bar is just a side note. This place is about the meat. It is here that you will be offered an unlimited amount of top quality, flavor bursting meats.

The pineapple here is a highlight! It's grilled with a sweet glaze that makes this warmed juicy fruit a real treat!

This happens to be one of my top favorite meats they bring around. It's garlic flavored sirloin.

Hot Tomato

2011-05-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

While traveling to Utah for a wedding, we decided to find an actual restaurant rather than settling on fast food. We stopped and asked some locals in Grand Junction Colorado for suggestions. They pointed us in the direction of Fruita to find a pizza shop called Hot Tomato.

We entered the tiny town and quickly found this place. It's a hip little pizzeria that is perfectly suited for a college town. We asked the lady at the register what we should order. She suggested Granny's Pesto which is "Made with a base of (their) mouth watering Basil Pesto, then topped with Mozzarella, Garlic, Feta Cheese and Tomatoes". Really, it's probably one of the best pizza experiences I've ever had. The Feta was top quality, the pesto was incredibly flavorful and delicious!

We ordered a Stromboli to try since they looked so good! I'm really glad we did. I loved the meaty, cheesiness of this dish! It was a perfect combination of ingredients.

If we ever end up in Fruita again (which we will) we are not going to hesitate to stop here!

Heaven Dragon

2011-05-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for some outstanding Chinese food, I'd highly recommend this place! You are likely to be impressed with the food, the service and the atmosphere.

We chose to start our meal off with the classic Egg Drop Soup. I never really expect much from this soup as it's just a filler in my opinion. I was pleasantly surprised with how good this soup was though! It was probably one of the more flavorful versions I've ever had.

My main course was Sesame Chicken. It came with fried rice and Crab Won-tons. The Won-tons were great! Creamy and rich just as you would expect.

The Sesame Chicken was the highlight of my day! It was made of purely white chicken. Though it was fried, it didn't taste overly fattening and greasy. It was crisp, moist and incredibly delicious. The flavors are outstanding, sadly after I was half way done it became a bit too sweet for me.

I have heard great things about their fried rice. I really wasn't that impressed with it. It was good, but there was nothing note-worthy about it. I especially liked it mixed in with my sweet sauce from my chicken!

My husband ordered the Beef Lo Mein. We both love noodles and thought this dish was pretty good. I loved the beef! It added an extra burst of flavor to the dish. I would prefer to have this dish be a substitute to the rice rather than a dish served with rice.

The Egg roll was good. Rather than dipping it in the sweet and sour sauce they provide, I dipped it into my Sesame Chicken sauce which was amazing! It wasn't the best egg roll I've ever had but it was good.

Our friends ordered the Vegetable Chow Fun. I was pretty excited since I was curious about this dish. It's similar to Chow Mein or Lo Mein but it's made with rice noodles. I love the tiny clear rice noodles and was hoping this dish contained those. Rather, it's the fat rice noodles but it's still a pretty good dish! I would or course order it with a meat but vegetables were a healthy alternative and ended up tasting pretty good too.

Over all I would highly recommend Heaven Dragon. I would certainly order their Sesame Chicken any day but would also go back to try their Vietnamese Noodles. I would certainly order the Egg Drop soup as my soup of choice but I think I'd stick with their Crab Won-tons as my side rather than the egg rolls. I can't wait till my next visit!

Red Lobster

2011-02-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

I had the joy of trying Red Lobster as a special Valentines treat this past Saturday. I was excited but nervous of being disappointed after years of anticipation and wonder about this sea food chain restaurant.

We we're on a budget of $40 including tip which limited us a little. We obviously couldn't order a lobster but we found some great options to choose from. I ordered Crab Alfredo with Shrimp Scampi. My husband had the Shrimp Alfredo, Walt's Favorite Shrimp and Shrimp Scampi. While I would have preferred us to order completely different items, I was so in love with the Shrimp Scampi I was thankful we didn't have to share.

We found that the Crab Alfredo had an incredibly different flavor than the Shrimp Alfredo. We asked our waiter if they were the same sauce and she explained that the Crab is cooked into the Crab Alfredo which intensifies the flavors. I actually didn't favor the Crab Alfredo. The cheese was too gritty and the crab flavor was a little lost. I did appreciate the large chunks of crab though!

The Shrimp Scampi was by far my favorite dish of all time. The rich garlic butter mixed with the shrimp was perfection. I would certainly go back to Red Lobster for that dish alone. I also really enjoyed their snow crab legs which is served with a salty, creamy melted butter to dip in.

Overall I was incredibly impressed with Red Lobster. I was pleasantly surprised when we were served the most delicious cheddar biscuits. Our salads were great too. I felt silly ordering french fries as a side to my sea food but even their fries are good (especially dipped in the Alfredo sauce).

The service was wonderful. We met with the franchise owner who seemed to be on site often. He has owned the Flat Iron location since 2001! I highly recommend stopping into Red Lobster for any occasion. I know I'll be back as soon as I can!

Casa Bonita

2010-08-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

As a Colorado resident I felt it my duty to check this place out. I went with the absolute worst expectation in the world. I expected to get dry heaves at the smell and sight of the food. This expectation made ordering very difficult as I found it hard to bring myself to pay $12-$15 on something I'd just throw away.

One thing you should know about Casa Bonita is that they serve you cafeteria style. In order to enter and have a seat you must order a meal. This is a very wise tactic otherwise no one would order the food!

I ordered the Nachos or as some call it, "Nacho salad". My husband ordered their combination plate since it's all you can eat and comes with chips and salsa and all you can eat sopaipillas.

My nachos came with a surprising amount of hamburger. It didn't have much cheese though. I didn't mind eating them, they were pretty eatable. They were certainly different and very salty but they weren't bad at all. I'd stick with that if I ever have to go again.

My husband didn't like any of his food so he filled up on chips and salsa, which you have to request by the way, or they won't give them to you. The sopaipillas are all the rave but we couldn't really enjoy eating them. They didn't have an other flavors. You can top them with honey but to me, sopaipillas should have fruit and whipped cream, even a little cinnamon sugar.

The entertainment was the best part. If you have kids, you may want to check this place out. I wouldn't of had as much fun if we didn't have a little child with us. She made it a great experience. Adults wouldn't really appreciate the entertainment more than once and really won't like the price of the food for it's quality.

They have an awesome little cave you can go through! I loved it! They also have cartoon portraits you can have done and a old fashioned, western photo shoot. There is a cave full of arcade games for the gamers too! Oh, and you can't forget the souvenir shop filled with Colorado and Casa Bonita trinkets. They really have it all!

Overall, I will say that Casa Bonita is a very unique restaurant and I'll have a hard time finding anything like it. People should go once to say they have been there but that's basically the extent of the thrill of this place. The fact that there is a whole South Park episode dedicated to the place is pretty awesome!

TGI Friday!

2010-07-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

I try to avoid big chains, especially for blogging purposes but....

I am in Love with TGI Friday's 3 courses for $12.99. We're on a simi diet mostly trying to eat less. We asked if the two of us could share this great deal rather than each getting a full meal. It was perfect! I ate most of the appetizer. We tried their pot-stickers. Since this place is certainly not an Asian restaurant I had low expectations but they weren't too bad at all! I'd order them again.

My husband picked the main course since I chose the ap and dessert. He went for the blackened bruschetta pasta. He loved it! It didn't love the flavors, but I'm not into blackened seasoning or tomatoes. He ate the majority of the dish and thanks to the ap I was perfectly satisfied with that.

My favorite part of the whole meal was the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake. I think it's my new favorite treat! It was served so beautifully as well. I was incredibly pleased with our whole meal and especially happy with the price! For $13l, we had a great, quality meal!

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

2010-06-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've heard many great things about 5 Guys. Since it is a burger place, and it's menu is limited I got a Little Cheeseburger. I was excited when I noticed that their toppings are all free! They have onions, grilled onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mayo, ketchup, mustard, relish and bbq sauce.

They have two kinds of fries. Original and Cajun. We tried Cajun since that was a new flavor to us. The first bite seemed a bit dry with too much power and not enough salt. After digging in a bit deeper I really started to enjoy these zippy fries. They were even better as leftovers!!!

My burger had grilled onions, cheese and bbq sauce. The onions had a nice soft texture but they were yellow onions which I don't prefer. I liked the burger. It was juicy, thick and not too greasy. Nothing stood out to me though. It was your average burger.

My brother ordered a hot dog to be different. I'm glad he did. He said it was good. His meal seemed a bit pricey for a hot dog and fires. He paid $9 something.

My husband got the Bacon Cheese Burger with practically all the toppings. He liked it but said "Smashburger is still my favorite". I think that was my opinion too.

Mark did say that he liked 5 Guys fries more than he liked Smashburger's. I'm torn. I like that both places have unique flavors. Smash has their Smash Fries which to me, taste just like Sour Cream and Onion Chips. Five Guys has the Cajun, which have an awesome kick to them. Well, their fries are also fresh tasting and cooked to perfection. Maybe 5 Guys wins on the fries...

Cinzetti's

2010-06-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

We are invited to a birthday celebration at Cinzetti's this past week. I'm not a fan of buffets first of all because they cost more than they are worth to me. I can only eat about a half cup of food before I'm stuffed! Second of all, they usually taste like cafeteria food. Overpriced cafeteria food is not something to be excited about.

I was immediately impressed with this place. I liked that you can see the cooks adding fresh food to each buffet section. They even had a crepe station where the guy makes the crepe right in front of you and you add whatever innards you want! They have a pasta row, a pizza row, a meat row and what seemed to be a fried food's row. You can also find your typical salads.

I scooped up a bite of just about everything that looked appealing to sample it all! I was brave and tried their fried calamari. It was great! I loved it! I also really enjoyed their Pesto Pasta. The pasta of the day was Pene in was a creamy four pepper sauce. I would suggest they put that on their permanent menu.

I was in heaven with the dessert row! I was impressed that they had actual Italian desserts including Gelato, Connoli, tiramisu and many others.

Most of the food was of buffet quality. There were a few dishes that were certainly worth getting more of. We liked their Bruschetta, pizza and the pasta of the day the most.

I probably wont go back for the reasons I first stated but for a buffet, this place is pretty fancy! Our waiter told us that on Saturday's they have brunch with breakfast foods that are worth checking out! Weekday dinner is $13 something per person. They are more pricey Friday-Sunday but weekday lunches are cheaper so that is certainly the best time to check this place out!

Snooze!

2010-06-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

I had some family and friends from out of town visiting over Memorial Day weekend. They were all leaving early Monday morning but I thought they needed a good breakfast before facing their long journey home.

I've had my eye on Snooze since I first moved to Denver. Sadly, it's so popular I haven't had time to stand in line and wait to get in. This time I was wise and got there before they even opened. When they opened the doors they sang us cheerful songs and greeted us in.

I knew what I wanted. I wanted the pancake flight so I could try 3 different pancakes. I went for the pineapple upside down, cinnful and pancake of the day which was a blueberry with raspberry topping for the holiday.

(bottom is the Cinnful, middle is the pineapple upside down and the top is the Memorial Day Special)

Most of the group ordered different varieties of the pancake flight. The most popular favorite was Cinnful. The Reeses was my sister's favorite. I really loved the pineapple upside down but I have a very sweet tooth and LOVED the chocolate, nutty sugar rush as I ate the Cinnful pancake. The blueberry was great but tart.

(closest is the Strawberry Rubarb, middle is the Memorial Day special and the top is the Cinnful)

(left is the Reeses, middle is the Cinnful and right is Memorial Day Special)

Their breakfast burrito was apparently very tasty and large too! My husband ordered their Huevos Rancheros. In a corn tortilla you find beans, salsa, cheese, eggs and if you choose meat and/or avocado! He really loved this Mexican style breakfast.

(Burrito)

(Huevos Rancheros)

My father in law, who loves sea food, ordered the omelet with salmon and cheese fillings. He thought it was "pretty good".

(My mother in law ordered their french toast with strawberries and whipped cream on top!)

(Someones side of sausage and hash browns. YUM!)

It was fun to see that people with very different tastes all found a favorite on the menu. Even more impressive, they all loved their meals!

I loved my Snooze experience. The ingredients are all top quality and the food is made fresh. The flavors were unique but exceptionally pleasing. I highly suggest heading over to Snooze for a yummy start to your day! Just remember to get there early so you don't have to wait hours for a seat!!

Med

2010-05-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

Little did I know, Med serves half off Tapas between 3:30 and 6:30 for Happy Hour! What a great surprise! I had made reservations months ago and looked forward to trying this highly popular Boulder eatery.

I studied the menu all week long trying to decide what dish would best suit me. When I found out Tapas were half off and we could just order a handful of those I was more than excited! We quickly picked the dishes of our choice and only spent $25!

We tried Pinchon Moruno (lamb skewer as well as the chicken skewer), Falafel (*Chick pea croquette & tahini), Margherita Pizza (*Tomato sauce, basil & mozzarella), the Hummus Platter (includes all 3 of their hummus flavors), Caprese (*Fresh mozzarella, tomato & basil), Gambas (*Shrimp, garlic chips, lime & extra virgin olive oil) and Lamb Meatballs.

My favorite, by far, was the Lamb Meatball. The flavors were outstanding! I really think they need to incorporate this spectacular Tapas dish to one of their pasta dishes on the menu. I would certainly go back just to treat myself to this great dish again!

My second favorite was the Gambas. The shrimp was incredibly juicy and rich with flavor. The sauce it was in was so divine I dipped my bread in it!

The Falafel was good but not the best I've ever had. The Pizza was great with flavors and I certainly enjoyed eating it. The thing I liked most about the pizza was how large it is for the price! It alone could have filled me up if I ate more than one slice.

I would certainly recommend Med to any of my friends or family members. I was expecting it to be a bit fancier for the price but as I said, Happy Hour Tapas are a great deal!

*Most of the descriptions are directly quoted from the Med menu.

Bonefish Grill

2010-05-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

We were treated to Bonefish Grill last night as a birthday gift to my husband. Those among us ordered Fillet Mignon with garlic gorgonzola butter, salmon and Kobe Beef burger with a side of chips. My husband ordered their seasonal special, Shrimp Pad Thai and I had fish and chips.

Apparently the fillet Mignon was burned on the outside and too bloody on the inside but other than that it was a delicious tasting steak!

The Salmon and lemon butter was a great choice according to my father in law. He especially enjoyed the flavors of the lemon butter.

My brother in law ordered the Kobe Beef burger and was impressed with it's goodness! I was expecting the "chips" to be french fries since that's a common side dish to burgers. I was shocked to see that they literally meant chips. I thought that was silly for such a nice restaurant but I'm sure they were tasty.

I decided to keep it simple. Fish and chips. They were about what I expected. The batter was extra crunch. The fish was great, though I'm not sure what kind it was. The menu didn't say but it was a white meat. I enjoyed their extra citrusy home made tartar sauce too!

In my personal opinion my husband ordered the ultimate dish! It was far superior to all the rest. The Pad Thai was served with three sauces on the side. One of the sauces was a jalapeno with salt and pepper sauce. Simple, but amazing! I couldn't help but dip each french fry into it and saturate it was this phenomenal sauce! If I were you, and you like pad Thai, I wouldn't don't pass this seasonal dish!

Movie Tavern

2010-05-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

Our friends recommended that we check this place out. I was highly skeptical. Who can show movies and serve good quality food? I'm here to tell you that this place does just that!

We were there to see Robin Hood, which was a great movie. I ordered their Chipotle Chicken Sliders. The chipotle sauce is a honey mustard with some chipotle kick to it served on a Hawaiian sweet roll. Like I said, I was skeptical and feared my food would be greasy, burned or just plain nasty. I ended up falling in love! I savored each bite trying to soak up all the flavors the best I could. The sweet yet spicy, soft yet crunch made it onto my top ten favorite meals of restaurant history. The fries were wonderful too!

My husband had one of their burgers and enjoyed his food as well. His favorite part was the button. When you need something, you just turn on your switch and your server comes to see what you need. He now thinks that system should be applied to more places. It saves the server time since they then only come to you when you are ready for them!

I am no longer a skeptic. This system is great! I will certainly be back for dinner and a movie at this place! They are a national chain but only have one location in Colorado, that being the Aurora location. At $8 a movie and about $8 a meal, this is certainly a good deal too!

Glacier Homemade Ice Cream

2010-05-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

With this hot weather I couldn't resist Glacier Homemade Ice Cream. I didn't realize that there were multiple locations but when we pulled up to one of them and a whole baseball team was in line and a school bus unloading we were grateful to hear that there is a new location that would probably be less busy. We went to check it out. Sure enough, there wasn't a line!

I tried some of the most popular flavors including Banana Carmel Crunch, Birthday Cake, Mint Oreo, Funky Donkey, Coasta Rican Vanilla, Coffee Carmel Crunch, Butter Pecan and even one that the owners son created!

We also tried some sorbets and gelatos. Peach was a light, fresh treat! They have a chocolate sorbet that was divine! I was shocked at how chocolaty it was.

My favorite of them all, though it was a very difficult choice, was the lemon raspberry gelato.

Glacier Homemade Ice Cream is a slice of Heaven. I LOVE their ice cream and hope and wish a location finds it's way down into Denver. With the endless list of flavors you can't go wrong. Everyone is sure to be pleased here!

Village Inn

2010-05-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

While traveling, sometimes you find yourself in small towns with less food options. This past weekend while driving through Colorado we found ourselves at a Village Inn. I've never eaten here so I thought it was a great opportunity to report on a simply and common breakfast place that can be found off many exits through the state.

I was instantly attracted to the VIB option which is only $6. You get to select 4 options off their menu of 30 foods. I selected hash browns, fresh fruit, whole grain pancakes and a strawberry crepe. The fruit was good! It included cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes and strawberries. I always love hash browns! These were obviously the frozen crunchy kind but they were satisfying.

The crepe was great in the middle! The top and bottoms were crispy rather than soft so I just avoided those sections. I enjoyed the fresh strawberries and creamy center!

I received french toast though I ordered whole grain pancakes. Good thing I like french toast! I just let it go since we were in a hurry. It was pretty good! They used thick Texas style toast and served it with maple syrup. It was certainly a lot of food and a great deal!

My husband ordered their Rio Grande. It includes chicken, peppers, Pepper Jack, Monetary Jack and Cheddar cheeses and salsa! Served on top are eggs of your choice. He thought it was decent. Obviously Villiage Inn isn't a Mexican restaurant but for someone who really likes spicy food, this is a great pick!

My brother in law ordered the Chicken Ranch sandwich. It is served with a side of very seasoned fries. He said it was pretty good!

While the food was decent, Villiage Inn is not a fancy place so don't expect gourmet food. It's fairly cheap and has options to please anyone!

East Cafe

2010-05-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

ith over 200 votes, I thought this Asian restaurant might be a great place! I failed to notice that only 77% like it. That's certainly not a bad rating but it's far from the best.

Upon our arrival we were surprised at the decor. It was a few steps up from your average Chinese restaurant. It was very nice and seemed to be a hit for large groups of middle aged people.

I had to stick with something I knew I liked to test the quality. My sweet and sour combination place included shrimp, pork and chicken. The shrimp was quite phenomenal. The chicken was close to average sweet and sour chicken. I did like the quality of the chicken as it tasted fresh and juicy. The pork however was a bit fatty and seemed a bit more on the processed side. I would certainly order the sweet and sour shrimp or chicken again though!

Their honey garlic chicken was a good choice according to our friend that accompanied us. Unlike my plate, the chicken was not breaded but simply cooked in the wok with a mix of vegetables and served with rice.

The garlic combination plate that my husband ordered was much like the honey garlic plate. It was served with a lot of vegetables.

They serve the food with a large plate of rice to eat your meal with. They also make it easy to eat your meal family style, or individually. We thought this place was decent. In my opinion it was a very standard Chinese restaurant with a nice decor.

Pei Wei

2010-05-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

Last week we gave Pei Wei a second chance. I was especially appreciative of the kindness they put forth in pleasing their customers.

We took the time to sit and enjoy our food. It took about 10 minutes for the server to get us our food which was not bad for a sit down place.

I ordered the Honey Glazed Chicken with noodles rather than rice. It reminded me more of a lemon chicken with it's hint of citrus. The pasta wasn't as flavorful as I had hoped but with a bit of soy sauce it was great.

My husband tried their Low Mein. He prefers spicy food so didn't like the bland flavors of the Low Mein. I really enjoyed eating his left overs though. I found the sweeter, softer flavors to be very satisfying.

Overall, we decided that Pei Wei will be on our "liked it" list and we are already planning a second trip in the near future!