Bites 2013: Carrot Cake

Though it comes in the shape of a slice, this huge monolith of dessert has more layers than Shrek, feeds up to four people, and fits just fine in a completely empty, jumbo-sized freezer (because you're not eating this whole thing at once). It's a symphony of creamy frosting, soft layers of cake and all the caloric guilt you can muster. ($9.95)

Bites 2013: Green Curry

So much depends upon a red wheel barrow ... we mean, um, the green curry — at Wild Ginger. Of course it depends on the heat level you order, and whether you prefer tofu, chicken, beef, pork or shrimp as your protein. But however you construct it, the kitchen won't let you down when it comes to spiking the velvety coconut milk sauce with all the usual suspects like fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves and basil. Flavorful, floral, essential. ($10.95)

Best Of 2012: National Chain Coffee House

Best Of 2012: Place for a Blind Date

Bites 2012

Take in a charming Jersey attitude, on and off the sub, with classic East Coast items like Tastykakes and Boylan's Birch Beer playing backup. We like the ground Italian sausage sub a lot, heaped with grilled peppers, onions and gooey cheese. If this be your heritage, you'll be at home.

Best Of 2012: Neighborhood Restaurant: Central

Owners Alexius Weston and Kurt Bunch love the Shuga's neighborhood so much that they got married right outside the restaurant's front door, in the median on Cascade. (It's the same median they walked for seven years when they lived down the street.) They know their neighbors well and have a devoted following of regulars who crave menu items such as the Brazilian coconut shrimp soup, lavender martini and lemon ginger tea. "It's so nice to serve people that you know," Weston says. "You know their name and what they want to eat or drink." To which Bunch adds, "And if they don't come in, you get kind of worried. Where are they? Are they OK?" Together, they've seen kids grow up, and couples fall in love. Weston says she likes to pause and take a step back sometimes to take it all in: "It's like life happening right in front of you." — Darcie Mankell

Bites 2013: Spicy Brazilian Coconut Shrimp

As prawn baths go, this one's epic. It's got peanut buttery, starchy sweetness, coconut milk smoothness, a mild ginger bite, medium jalapeño burn and a touch of cilantro influence. It's almost like a Thai dish doing a sexy samba dance. But it's more like the best damn thing in the world at that moment you're mopping it up with fat bread wedges, eyes rolled back, groaning like a mad fool. ($4 cup/$7 bowl)

Click here for Shuga's Applesauce Cake Recipe!

Drink 2010

Happy hour: Monday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to close

The goods: $3 house drafts, wines and wells, $5 appetizers

InSider 2010

Rock Bottom may be corporate, but its Springs location does all its brewing on-site, every beer the product of local brewmaster Jason Leeman. He picked up two awards at the Manitou Craft Lager Festival last summer, and each month unveils a new creation. Rock Bottom usually offers about 14 brews on tap, but don't expect to find Bud or Coors: "If we don't brew it," Leeman says, "we don't serve it."

Bites 2013: Tiramisu

A good tiramisu is like a classic painting in that all the culinary brushstrokes are authentic, you know when you're seeing the real deal, and a lame knockoff simply will never capture the original's spirit. Paravicini's tiramisu is the equivalent of a primo museum piece, with the ideal creamy texture plus balanced coffee and chocolate notes. A masterpiece. ($6)

Best Of 2012: Bread

Best Of 2012: Soup

Bites 2013: Smoked Salmon Cakes

Precious few items remain fixed on Margarita's ever-changing menu, but this is one that's earned its spot by popular demand. The salmon's rubbed with brown sugar, salt and pepper and hickory smoked on the stove-top. Insert a bed of spinach salad, caper cream cheese and either a horseradish crema or lemon-dill tarter sauce. And son, you're in happytown. ($10 on the lounge menu/$13 at brunch)

Best of 2012: Bar for a Margarita

Most of us probably drink our margaritas at night, Mexican vacations excepted. But at the Loop, a lot of people drink margaritas in the middle of the day. They are men waiting for their wives to finish shopping, or exhausted hikers returning from the Incline. "That's my favorite thing on Saturday morning, Sunday morning, is people coming down [from the Incline] and saying it's like the light at the end of the tunnel," Loop manager Amanda Galloway says. The Loop offers 14 margaritas in a regular or grande (32- to 34-ounce) size, but will also make the drink with a tequila of your choice — it's got more than 40 to choose from. Favorites have long included the house and the Horni Grandma with Grand Marnier, but Galloway says people lately have been going for the Skinny, made with lime juice, agave nectar and Partida tequila. — J. Adrian Stanley

Best of 2011: Neighborhood Bar: Manitou

General manager Matt Milar, the son of the Keg's owners, says he wants the restaurant and bar to evolve every year. Last year, Milar focused on bringing sparkle to the building and expanding the menu. This summer, he brought in bands — local acts like Lipstick Voodoo, Arch Hooks and High Wheeler — for some weekend nights, and he hopes to keep the gigs going through the winter. Meanwhile, Milar says, during football season the bar opens at 10 a.m. each Sunday with a special breakfast menu of biscuits and gravy and chicken and waffles, and TVs offering "any game you want." Other changes include a new buffalo bratwurst and a happy hour that runs from 3 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. But don't worry, the Keg hasn't tossed its old favorites like the ½-pound buffalo burger or the berry salad.— J. Adrian Stanley

Bites 2013: Shabu- Shabu

Jun is the only place in the city you can find Shabu-Shabu, commonly called "Japanese fondue." You take carpaccio-thin steak cuts of your choice and quickly boil them in dashi water (dried kelp and fermented tuna flake) with optional spicy sauce and miso paste enhancement. In goes cabbage, onions and other veggies, all of which is spooned out over rice or plonked in bright, house-made Ponzu, Yuzu or sesame dips. (New York strip/$39.50, filet/$47.50, Kobe filet /$89.50)

Bites 2013: Shabu- Shabu

Jun is the only place in the city you can find Shabu-Shabu, commonly called "Japanese fondue." You take carpaccio-thin steak cuts of your choice and quickly boil them in dashi water (dried kelp and fermented tuna flake) with optional spicy sauce and miso paste enhancement. In goes cabbage, onions and other veggies, all of which is spooned out over rice or plonked in bright, house-made Ponzu, Yuzu or sesame dips. (New York strip/$39.50, filet/$47.50, Kobe filet /$89.50)

Best Of 2012: Japanese/Sushi

The champion of sushi and Japanese cuisine has knocked every challenger out of the ring since 2006. This round finds Jun with a new kids menu and a grand re-opening special offering 20 percent off all food items at dinner for a limited time through October, and, according to Jun, perhaps even into November. "Times are tough right now," he says, "so we're going to offer the re-opening special as long as we can." Senior Sundays offer 10 percent off menu items after 7 p.m., and military members get 10 percent off at both lunch and dinner. "But right now, we're not offering the Senior Sundays or military discounts, because the special is a better deal." At the Dublin location, check out the new Japanese noodle menu, or go to Centennial for the teppanyaki grill. — Bret Wright

Bites 2013: Mixed Mezze

Another ode to the indecisive: the all-encompassing platter that lets one sample widely. A meat version features Keftethes (zesty Greek meatballs) and gyro meat while a vegetarian rendition subs in grilled veggies and gigantes (big-ass seasoned white beans). Both get the feta, olives, hummus, spanakopita, dolmadakia, pita and tzatziki that collectively whisper the finest essence of the Mediterranean in tones of salt, garlic, yogurt tang, grape-leaf bitterness and phyllo dough crunch. ($16 each)