Denver, CO + Add a trip

Trident Coffee & Bookstore

Metropolis Cafe

Best espresso in town, super nice people behind the counter

Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Cafe

European-style bar with an awesome selection of Belgian beers.

Irish Snug

about as close to a real Irish pub as you're going to find in the US -- great drinks, fun atmosphere, and a very good place to bring a crowd.

Sushi Den

Go early & order the recommended specialty sushi. If the Copper River salmon's still in season, go for it!

Cherry Cricket Bar and Grill

Best Hamburger in town by FAR! Great atmosphere, cheap drinks, an outdoor patio for the smokers and a pool table that only charges $7 an hour.

Great Coffee and Great Atomsphere @ St.Marks

St. Marks Coffee house is a great place to grab some coffee and spend time reading/working/researching. It captures the essesce of Denver living. You will see all here. The occasional urban family, suits on the way to work, students cramming for school, hipsters working on their Macs.

Oshima Ramen on Hampden, just East of I25.

7400 E Hampden Ave Denver, CO 80231 (720) 482-0264

It's very authentic Japanese ramen, inexpensive and plentiful.

Downtown, Osteria Marco has great fresh, made-in-house items including the incredible Burrata Cheese. Rioja right down the street, also in Larimer Square, is great, as is Bistro Vendome. For laid-back burgers a little further south try the Cherry Cricket. For Mexican you can't beat Highlands' Taqueria Patzcuaro, and for Vietnamese Da-Lat, and for Thai try Chada Thai on 17th Ave.

German places Cafe Berlin Cheap lunch specials http://www.cafeberlindenver.com/

For those who know what they want their burger to look like: The Counter. Good Stuff, custom-built.

The Blue Cow, another laid back place in Morrison. Good food, fair prices. Simple.

Indulge Wine Bar out in the southern outskirts. Classy (though in a strip mall).

Rioja on Larimer Street

Le Central calls itself "the affordable French restaurant" and it is exactly that, very affordable, however, it is also delicious as well, and is one of my favorite places to eat in Denver. They feature mussels cooked at least ten different ways, with all-you-can-eat pomme frites, wonderful appetizers, and baguette loaves you can buy and take with you.

Good happy hour times (3p-7p, 7 days a week). Great burgers!

Great people watching. Very eccentric and liberal-minded clientele. And one of the best burgers I've ever had.

They have some very upscale cute waitresses..Exellent palce to drink and dine..

Go for Earl's...

Fun place to take a cooking class and learn something new! They also offer wine tasting classes, couples' romantic classes, catering, entertainment.

They feature mussels cooked at least ten different ways, with all-you-can-eat pomme frites, wonderful appetizers, and baguette loaves you can buy and take with you.

Great little place to eat, sensational atmosphere and well worth the visit.

It captures the essesce of Denver living. You will see all here. The occasional urban family, suits on the way to work, students cramming for school, hipsters working on their Macs.

It captures the essesce of Denver living. You will see all here. The occasional urban family, suits on the way to work, students cramming for school, hipsters working on their Macs.

Rioja right down the street, also in Larimer Square, is great, as is Bistro Vendome. For laid-back burgers a little further south try the Cherry Cricket. For Mexican you can't beat Highlands' Taqueria Patzcuaro, and for Vietnamese Da-Lat, and for Thai try Chada Thai on 17th Ave.

Great atmosphere, cheap drinks, an outdoor patio for the smokers and a pool table that only charges $7 an hour.

Fantastic fried chicken and biscuits and gravy. Absolutely delicious!

Delicious Italian post roast, and fantastic crab cakes!

The Belgian waffles are sooo good.

Fogo is Fogo and it's still muito gostoso, but it's not really the same experience in Denver as it is in Brazil. There were several waiters who spoke Portuguese, which was cool, but our main waitress didn't even know what Feijoada was, which was shocking. We had to ask since, unlike in Brazil, it was not included in "salad bar". Another waiter thought the traditional recipe included chicken hearts. A little training would go a long way. Of course, no Cupim in the rotation, but the Picanha was superb. Still glad we went.

Breakfast burritos as big as your head (and twice as delicious)

Expensive, but worth it. Great atmosphere. Generous portions. Excellent service. The Nice Little House Salad is the best house salad I've had anywhere.

I wanted to try everything, but settled on the Cubano sandwich. Sinfully delicious. Bummed that they don't have Dr. Brown's anymore (it's still on the menu), but Boylan's is a passable alternative. Incredibly friendly place. I'd eat there every week if I lived in Denver.

They serve liquid nitrogen cooled milk shakes, which is more sizzle than steak. The shakes come out smoking, but they are not nearly as cold as you'd expect. I was gearing up for the all-time ice cream headache, but the shake was oddly warm. The flavor of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge was off the hook though. Gotta get yourself one.

Line out the door during lunch spoke to the quality of the salads. Or so I thought. It was just ok. The menu had some serious usability issues. You were relatively safe if you chose one of their recipes, but if you wanted to "Create You Own Salad", there was no way to find the possible ingredients or dressings before getting to the front of the line. Oddly enough, the menu does alert you "WARNING: excessive creativity can hit you in the wallet:60¢ or $1 per ingredient." I guess they don't want to make money.

Definitely worth reading this:

http://www.observer.com/2011/media/morning-links-salad-bar-nate-silver