The Golden Bee is in the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. This is a 5 Star hotel and truly amazing. They have great off season deals in the winter. The Bee is an English pub where you can get yard beers and at night they have sing along with a piano player. Lots of fun. And the food is pretty darn good too. My wife, Leslie, and I went there for lunch and I had the Chicken Curry “Tiki Masala”. Excellent!
I honestly think Walnut Cafe has the best breakfast in town. But I sometimes forget about it because of it’s off beat location. They have added a second location in South Boulder and it is just as good. Everything is scratch made. The biscuits are great and everyday there is a fresh coffee cake. I love the huevos rancheros and get it every time! Great atmosphere and the staff are always super cool.
When this Chicago boy is craving a hotdog and fries I always head to Mustard’s Last Stand in Boulder. It’s real deal Chicago. Vienna Beef, poppy seed bun, bright green relish and sport peppers. And NO KETCHUP! Excellent place and the owner, Danny, is from Chicago so he knows what he is doing. He is a location in Denver too.
Leslie and I recently went to Izakaya Den on South Pearl in Denver with some good friends. Cool area of the city and this place is super swanky and the food delicious. It is a Japanese Gastro Pub serving global cuisine. It sits right next to Sushi Den and is the same owners. Amazing atmosphere and design. They even have a retractable roof for the summer. They make killer cocktails and a very fun and diverse menu. The steak, seaweed salad and Kobe beef sliders were excellent! Enjoy. This was an all around great experience.
Chicago is known for great steakhouses and Gibson’s is one of the best. It’s on Rush Street across the street from the Thompson Hotel which is a great boutique hotel. Super hip and not pricey. Roll out of the Thompson after a fun night on the town to Gibson’s for lunch at get their famous Bookbinder soup with bread and you have yourself some happiness. This is a fresh fish chowder and I couldn’t believe how good it was. I couldn’t stop telling my waitress who I think thought I was a little weird. It was so good that I had to try their Beef Barley soup which was pretty damn good too. After that my waiter definitely thought I was weird!
Make no mistake, Au Cheval is not a dive and that double cheeseburger is to die for. Esquire just named it best burger in the country! Get a fried egg on there and life just got better! Get the Green Salad with pickled shallot, herbs & sherry vinaigrette and you have the perfect meal. This place is super hip with a super cool laid back vibe and the food and drinks are excellent. They have a great selection of beers on tap and can make a mean cocktail. By the way, their scratch made fried bologna sandwich is excellent. It is in the West Loop which is hipster these days with lots of good eats and bars. This place is open till 1:30 am nightly. Whenever I am in town I end up here at the end of the night once or twice. Go! It can get pretty crowed these days and they don’t take rezys. But remember that the 6 seats on the left end of the bar are 1st come 1st serve:).
Three Dots and a Dash is a cocktail focused tiki lounge in Chicago. It is hard to find as it is down an alley and the door has no sign. Just a blue light on top. And you walk in and go down the stairs. It looks sketch then opens up into this super hip oasis where upscale tropical drinks are served. I got a tropical take on a margarita called the Pinky Gonzales. Delish!
When in Chicago, Girl and the Goat should be at the top of your list to eat. This wonderful place is in the West Loop which is a cool area that didn’t exist 25 years ago and now hosts a bunch of great restaurants and bars. Girl and the Goat is owned by Stephanie Izard. She is the Executive Chef and a Top Chef winner. The food is really good. Pictured here are the Goat Empanadas, Beet Salad and Green Beans. Goat is kinda there thing and those empanadas were wonderful. The Short Ribs and Scallops were crazy good too. Everything is served small plate style to be shared. They also have an excellent wine and beer list and the atmosphere is lots of fun. One word of warning though, you have to be in the mood for loud. Not a quiet place. And Tyeler and I had to get a pic in front of the funky goat mural!
Rolf & Daughters is located in the Germantown Neighborhood of Nashville. In 2013 Bon Appetit voted it the #3 best new restaurant in America and now I know why. I loved the atmosphere in this place. Very casual, hip, loud but not too loud. Excellent service and outstanding food and cocktails. Whenever I am in Nashville I will always go here. This is my kind of place. The pasta is outstanding and they can make you any cocktail you want and make it well! A must go.
I came to Pinewood Social twice during my recent trip to Nashville. I loved it that much. It sits on top of a hill overlooking the river and downtown. The building used to house trolley cars and the space is huge and now super hip. You can come for coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails, bowling and swimming in the summer. And the food is excellent. For breakfast I had the Eggs in a Jar and for lunch the Catfish Sandwich. It was a great place for me to catch up with my friend, Josh, that I hadn’t seen in 34 years! Love this place.
