Miguel Otárola - Reporter

12/26/2024

Someone here was asking for the tamale plug... I went to Pochito's the first time on the north side last week. Owner Levi Luna will be opening a new location, also in the Sunnyside neighborhood, to keep up with demand for his tamales and tortillas. Hot tip: Add the chipotle salsa and an order of rice pudding. Both were 😚🤌🏾

Between these tamales and the ones our friend group made last night, I'm good to go for the winter. Gift link in bio cause it's the holidays 🎁

A busy holiday season will turn even busier for the Mexican market next year, owner Levi Luna said.

12/24/2024

I haven't yet gone to Cafe Brazil, and now it might be tough to:

The restaurant was named one of Denver’s 36 “legacy businesses” this month.

12/20/2024

The lounge upstairs serves classic cocktails and has an unperturbed view of the Rocky Mountains.

12/20/2024

TGIF! This weekend is the grand opening of Laws Whiskey House new 4,000 square foot tasting room. The bar and lounge upstairs is the real star of the show. We've got photos and more details on the distillery's reintroduction:

The lounge upstairs serves classic cocktails and has an unperturbed view of the Rocky Mountains.

12/20/2024

I'm gonna be real with you, I had a tough time without the Pepto Bismol after eating at Taco House. But the Tex-Mex diner is closing after 66 years. I had to try it. Then I met Becky Trujillo, who was there with her granddaughter Denise. Trujillo used to go with HER grandmother back in the 70s. Time flies.

I share a little of their connection to the restaurant in the story. Also, doing research on this location I learned it used to be the site of the Crown A Drive-In, a diner infamously connected to the 1955 bombing of an airplane that killed 44 people. One of the Taco House family members remembered her dad having to scan the building for bombs upon moving in.

Taco House owners said the pandemic and rising costs led them “to raise prices to levels that are increasingly not affordable for many of our customers.”

12/19/2024

Two Tex-Mex mainstays will close their Denver locations at the end of the year. One was a diner that first moved into Federal Boulevard in the 50s. I spoke with one woman who'd gone with her family since the 70s:

Taco House owners said the pandemic and rising costs led them “to raise prices to levels that are increasingly not affordable for many of our customers.”

12/18/2024

A special for today to introduce myself a little bit, where I'm from, and what food you can't get away from there. In Denver, empanadas are a taste of home.

Gift link so all can check it out:

The Latin American staple is a simple, savory pie you can hold in your hand.

12/18/2024

Five empanada spots in Denver to check out (and where you may find me): https://www.denverpost.com/2024/12/18/best-empanada-denver/?share=8ersedptbdsdo18dmdva

12/18/2024

Some more news from yesterday. Fruition was one of the first farm-to-table restaurants to come by the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Award-winning chef Alex Seidel is closing Fruition just months after selling majority stake in Mercantile.

12/17/2024

A skateboarder loving burgers isn’t rare, but Chicago’s Neen Williams has turned his passion for them, and a key friendship, into seven restaurants dishing out a chomper of a cheeseburger.

The new location is on Larimer Square:

The two friends started Not a Damn Chance Burger in Austin.