If you were to stand on the corner of Nevada Avenue and Costilla Street, looking at the former Iron Bird Brewing Co. and wondering what kind of business had moved in, you would have to make some guesses.
Vultures Venue hopes to be open as early as Oct. 1 (liquor license transfer pending) in the former Angry Pirate Bar at 2100 E. Platte Ave. Behind the venture are longtime industry faces Mike and Aspen Nipp, plus Geoff Brent who has owned The Black Sheep, just doors away, since 2019.
Year-old SoCo Chicken Food Truck is based out of Cañon City but frequents Florence Brewing Company (where we find them) as well as some Pueblo spots and beyond.
The Forge anchored itself outside Mash Mechanix a few months back, but it has been in the works for four years, says owner Steven Rodriguez, a former utilities project manager.
Located on the property of Nano 108, this truck isn’t always open, instead taking a few days a week in turn with a variety of other local trucks. Their social media frequently promotes specials, including guest chefs and specialty plates. There are none when we visit, so we order a smothered…
Chef Joe Bosworth has hit on something seriously good with his menu at Firebird. We opt for a Firebird sandwich, served spicy rather than mild (functionally a “medium” heat, we’re told).
Two-month-old 110 Reserve comes as an extension of Miss Priss Women’s Clothing Store and owner of both, Pamela Mikesell. It’s a very welcoming porch/patio/breezeway mini-bar facing the highway and Pike’s Peak, and wouldn’t be out of place streetside in Breckenridge, designwise.
It’s nigh impossible to mess up a pillowy pocket of enriched dough just out of the fryer and still hot, and the folks who run this Manitou snack shack — soon to expand into a full dining room — know it.
Nom Nom Thai (nomnom-thai.com) recently opened at 3303 N. Academy Blvd. It’s operated by the founder/chef of 10-year-old Thai Satay (thaisataycs.com), Gary Sanova, who is Indonesian-born but went to culinary school in Bangkok, Thailand.
OCC Brewing grand opens Thursday, Sept. 2 in ... you guessed it ... Old Colorado City.
Mira’s, run by college students Miranda Yenne and Rebekah Forti, pops up on Saturdays (9 a.m. to noon) at Switchback Coffee Roasters’ Shooks Run location (which recently moved its roaster off-site, significantly expanding seating).
Epiphanys is imminently opening in the upstairs portion of 32 S. Tejon St. (formerly Thirsty Parrot, once 32 Bleu) as a Latin-inspired, hybrid café/restaurant/cocktail/coffee bar and music venue.
The original Cuba Cuba started on Denver’s Delaware Street in 2001, and this Castle Rock spot marks the Cuban-operated, woman-owned business’ sixth area location, opening in 2019.
Lulu’s is, primarily, a music venue, so they’ve instituted a policy requiring proof of vaccination for anyone who intends to eat, drink or catch a band there. We’re vaccinated, but we get a Marquee Moon and a Sticky Fingers to go, by choice.
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What was the public defender’s office for many years has become the Springs’ latest food hall. More of those are on the way and even Pueblo’s getting in the game next summer. Denver, of course, leads the charge. Tejon Eatery calls itself just an eatery in its branding, though even the Downto…
It’s surprising to see that COATI food hall has brought in an Albuquerque, New Mexico-based company to replace Two Suns Superfood Smoothies, given the spot’s initial focus on local incubation.
Halina Le and her husband/business partner, Bao Le, have built something pretty cool with Buns & Bubbles. It specializes in banh mi, Momofuku-style taco-like bao buns and boba drinks.
Pueblo will get its first food hall in summer 2022 with Fuel & Iron (fuelandironpueblo.com) opening in the historic Holmes Hardware Building at 400 S. Union Ave.
At my initial visit — see Side Dish May 15 for Frankly’s full backstory — I was impressed by Frankly’s house cold brew anchor, the Buzzing Bee, made with hyper-local honey and lemon juice.
When I want mead, what I want is not what Antelope Ridge Mead makes. Their brews, which get most of their fermentable sugars from honey, explore what can be called mead in unique ways, leaning heavily on added fruit more than on the honey itself. It’s so different that my first reaction was …
This little shopping center located where Boulder Street crosses Platte Avenue on the east side of Knob Hill feels like a snapshot of Colorado Springs from decades long past. Maybe the ’70s? It’s hard to say.
In early 2019 in this spot, a cute independent place named Fat Cats Coffee & Sandwiches opened, serving locally roasted beans and quality bites. Sadly, it didn’t last.
We catch The Meltdown outside the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum during Food Truck Tuesday and we’re admittedly overdue, as owner Edward Fregoso has been operating it since 2019.
If you haven’t already done so at a local retailer or restaurant, it’s time to meet Sawatch Artisan Foods (sawatchartisanfoods.com). The 3-year-old company — craft sister outfit to commercial-scale Kansas Dairy Ingredients — runs its production out of Hugoton, Kansas, but it’s now headquarte…
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Oscar’s Oyster Bar is back, in every detail down to the dollar bills pinned to the ceiling.
Consider this an oversized update on Choice Restaurant Concepts, in brief: Former Beasts and Brews chef Noah Siebenaller is now the corporate executive chef for the company.
Who a person knows matters as much as what they know in most industries, but it’s better to impress a well-connected colleague with chops than with charm alone. Danny Williams, a student at chef Victor Matthews’ Paragon Culinary School, has the chops.
We’ve known chef Victor Matthews and his various culinary endeavors for some time, and we’ve sampled spirits from his distillery thanks to local liquor stores.
The former steampunk-themed Java Punk Coffee became Dynamo recently under Will and Leah Hotop, longtime baristas who started locally at Kawa Coffee together.
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The first draft of this review was only three words long: “Fuck, that’s delicious.”
Ask what type of place Pour House is and by way of answer you might be directed to owner Kenny Paul’s recent GoFundMe to supply free lunch for kids out of his coffee shop and roastery (All Good Things Coffee Roasters).
Drinkers who want a signature cocktail menu and hip, bougie hors d’oeuvres ought to go elsewhere. Gentle Fritz’s subterranean digs is Zodiac Two Point Oh with (sadly) no patio for smoking.
Shawn Saunders has been baking for 25 years, launching Sourdough Boulangerie seven years ago and adding a variety of breads and pastries as the business has grown.
If you haven’t already seen their products at a local retailer or restaurant, it’s time to meet Sawatch Artisan Foods and co-owners/founders Jennifer Gomez and Tim Gomez.
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"Anyone can buy a brat. It’s what you do with it, the combinations, that makes the difference. A twist can make it extraordinary.”
Three-year-old CFB claims to be America’s only true “estate brewery,” meaning some of their beers (the porter and a wheat when we visit) are entirely made on-farm, with San Luis Valley water, farm-grown hops and grains (malted on-site by sister company Colorado Malting Company) and house-cul…
The Juicy Seafood is a Cajun seafood chain that sprawls across nine states, mostly in the South. Everything about it feels like it came out of a pre-assembled kit labeled “seafood shack.”
Christine Bradley’s coffee and snack stand opened in early 2021 where The Pop used to be. It’s a cute little drive-thru shack located a stone’s throw from Dublin and Academy boulevards. When we stop in, it’s somewhat busy, with a few cars ahead of us, but the fact that it’s a drive-thru cues…
Eight-year-old, veteran-owned and military-themed Red Leg Brewing Company opened last week in its massive new location (roughly 15,000 square feet on a 2.5 acre campus) at 2323 Garden of the Gods Road, just up the road from its original 4,900-square-foot facility.
Mood Tapas Bar has a new menu, and more importantly a new executive chef: Noah Siebenaller, formerly of Beasts and Brews and Phantom Canyon. Siebenaller is now also the corporate executive chef for all of Choice Restaurant Concepts, which includes Mood, Districtelleven, Bird Tree Cafe and T-…
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When Ciao Down Food Truck owner Francine Vonfeldt spoke with theIndy in February, she said that while her initial menu would be deli-style and focused on hot sandwiches, she intended to add Neapolitan-inspired entrées down the road. We would love to try her more traditional Italian offerings…
