Colorado Cuisine

It's rare that I write a post solely about restaurants, but then again, I'm a rare kind of guy.  

Casa Bonita

Jon is one of my dearest friends in world.  He and I share a love of travel and I can only hope to get to a small percentage of the places around the world he has been.  So, when Jon speaks, I listen(about anything!).  He suggested I go to dinner at Casa Bonita(meaning "beautiful house" in Spanish for those of you keeping score at home).  It sounded delightful.  He encouraged me to keep an open mind and "just go with it" when I walked in there.  I'll admit, my mind took me to a dingy biker bar reminiscent of something I might find, say on a back road of South Carolina.  

I couldn't have been more wrong, which is kind of funny when I think about it:   Expectations about places, people, events, etc usually get me in trouble.  (Maybe I'll write more on that one day, but the truth for me is that I am working on letting things go, just showing up, be accepting rather that judgemental and just let things happen)   

Casa Bonita, as I soon found out, bills itself as the "World's Most Entertaining Restaurant."  

One of the bits of information Jon did give me on the Scouting Report was that there were Cliff Divers there.  Yes.  You heard me correctly.  Cliff Divers.    Oddly enough, when I entered the restaurant in a state of utter confusion about what I was getting myself into, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman.  As we stood in line much like cattle waiting to go to the slaughterhouse, I asked him, "Um, how does this work?"  His reply, "I don't remember this part honestly, but they have Cliff Divers."  And guess what, when someone asks me about my experience at Casa Bonita, the first thing I'm going to tell them is, "You know the food is average at best, but they have Cliff Divers!"

CB is a really cheesy place.  And you know what, I knew that going in.  And it was fun.  When I walked in the main dining area, after going through the cafeteria style food line, I immediately noticed that the "gun fight" portion of the evening was happening on the main stage, which for those of you needing a word picture, overlooks the lagoon where, guess who dives in the water?  Yep.  Cliff Divers.  

I was taken to my booth where I had a right, front view of the stage and the lagoon.  Once seated I saw a wide variety of folks enjoying the World's Most Entertaining Restaurant:  mostly families with kids, but then there were couples on dates(young and old).  I couldn't help but think that this would be a fun place to have in Columbia.  

Between "shows" the mariachi band would strike up, there were puppets and piñatas in the room next door.  And of course, there was a cliff diver, and let me tell you, he was freaking awesome.  

So I'm proud to say I've been to Casa Bonita!  

The Chalet

I happened upon The Chalet after meeting some locals that suggested it.  It's located in Wheat Ridge right outside of Denver.  And let me tell you, Wheat Ridge is a really cool suburb that has everything one could ever need, including a Boston Market!  (More on that later)  

I liked The Chalet so much on Saturday morning, I went back today as well for breakfast.  Both trips I tried a "skillet" which features a base of home fries, scrambled eggs and cheese.  The skillet I had today added tomatoes, onions, peppers, bacon and sausage.  "Hearty" doesn't begin to describe these dishes.  

The service takes The Chalet over the top because, let's be honest, the interior and exterior of the restaurant is akin to Omega Pancake House or any other of the 7,429 pancake houses in Myrtle Beach.  There was one waiter that was on the move the entire time both mornings.  If I had just taken a sip of my coffee, he was right there to top it off and warm it up for me.  

Which, let me take a little detour here.  I'm not a fan of the "warming up of the coffee."  It takes me a while to get the perfect amount cream and/or sugar to get the coffee right where I like it and I don't want extra joe to entered into that equation.  Oh and while I'm on my soapbox, why is "joe" another name for coffee?  I think I'm going to start calling it vladimir.  

Ok, my point is:  I like The Chalet.  And I plan on going back one day.  

Oh and fun fact:  the building and restaurant has been there for over 50 years and was formerly known as Weber's Fireside Grill.  I'd like to think that they moved that one to Indy.  If you're wondering what I'm talking about, go back through my posts about Indy.  Don't have the time?  Me neither. 

Boston Market

For the first time in my life, I was able to actually use the hours of Boston Market TV commercials and actually visit a Boston Market.  Remember how they used to run ads on tv in South Carolina incessantly without a Boston Market to be found?  I never quite understood that.  However, congratulations Boston Market, those thousands of dollars you spent over the course of my life FINALLY paid off as I visited your restaurant and spent $7.54 on a salad.  Solid return on investment if you ask me.  

And if you asked me about the salad, what would I say: It was ok.  

Save A Lot

One of the most clutch things I've done in a long time was to stop by the Save A Lot near my Air BNB when I first got into town to pick up some water, bananas, peanuts and strawberries.  I ate those all weekend and they made for great snacks when I was out on the road this weekend.   

Linger

In the seemingly trendy Lower Highlands of Denver sits several good looking restaurants, one of which is Linger.  Offering a very diverse selection of food and drink this spot has a gorgeous setting with large roll doors that open and a good view to boot from the second level.  

Th waiter we had was one of my all time favorites.  Honest would be an understatement for this guy.  He told us right off the bat about a couple of dishes he thought weren't that good.  When I asked him about the Cuban Mojo Pork he said, "You know, it's ok.  I had it last night and it wasn't as tasty as I thought it would be."   And you know what, he was right.  It tasted fine and I agree with him, it was missing something.  

At any rate, I'd go back there again because it's a good looking spot with obviously great service and pretty decent food.  I guess you really have to know what to get and really listen to your waiter!