[?]Subscribe To This Site
Downtown Denver Restaurants Review
I believe Denver has many different layers and it is possible we experience the same city in different ways..One example of this is how often I am surprised to learn of restaurants I didn’t know existed despite living here a very long time.
People mention restaurants all the time assuming that I know about them…I don’t...it is impossible to know even a fraction of downtown Denver restaurants!
For example…I don’t know anything about 17th Avenue places…other than a nearby place on 19th Avenue Las Delicias…which was okay. 17th Avenue was quite popular since the end of the 1990’s and to live there and eat there was young hip Denver at its most trendy…LOL..which is why I don’t go there.
I think of places on the edge of downtown that are fantastic…and simple!
One example is Tom’s Home Cooking on East 26th Avenue near Downing…maybe it is west of Downing..it is very hard to find and part of the reason is it is only open for a few hours every day..from 11-2pm. When you go into the restaurant it reminds you of a little house with community seating…the furnishings are very basic..Picnic style with southern food…even if you don’t know much about that cuisine you will recognize the menu as being more typical of Sunday dinner at grandma’s house than a public restaurant. I remember meatloaf and mashed potatoes that knocked my socks off!
I have told people about it over the years and unless you time it right with parking during business hours..you can pass right by without realizing there is a restaurant hidden amongst the neighboring houses…but if you go during the right time you can see people walking in and out.
The place sits fewer than 20 people from what I remember and I seem to remember that the closer you get to closing time they might run out of some menu items but this place is a hidden jewel!
If you like soul food and barbeque…Denver actually does have it but people don’t talk about it too much or they complain that there aren’t many options to choose from.I like M&D’s on 28th Avenue and Vine…some think you can find better LOL..if you can you should go. I want food made with love not slapped together..though there are many good downtown Denver restaurants..so many of them have a corporate feel that seem to mass produce meals instead of creating food for enjoyment..and if it takes awhile to wait for it and the place smells good I will be patient but if I have to endure a sterile atmosphere while waiting for a non descript bland meal..I won’t go back.
Barbeque and home cooking are great examples of feeling comfortable and eating food I can’t necessarily cook myself. I enjoy the atmosphere and flavors and it doesn’t have to be flawless and scientific..just good..with personality.
I choose these 2 places as an alternative to the stuffy places that seem well suited for the downtown business crowd…though they can be found here too!
