Amber's Sticky Note Reviews

02/13/2019

As far as burger joints go, CHUBurger has got all the bases covered. Nothing fancy, just good food.

We went on a Monday night, so the space was pretty vacant and the staff very attentive. The restaurant features a pretty open floor plan with one large hightop table (which I assume is meant to me a communal table) and lots of smaller tables and booths. They feature a full bar and a decent beer list - I had a vanilla porter because it was REALLY cold out and for some reason porters and stouts are good cold weather beer.

CHUBurger features eight specialty burgers or a build your own option, as well as some a la carte sides and a few salad choices.

I went for the veggie burger (featured recently on 303 Magazine's top 10 Denver veggie burger list), my friend went for the buffalo burger (made from bison, not buffalo wing style) and we shared an order of cheese curds.

The curds were acceptable, but nothing special. The Gonzo veggie burger, however, was outstanding. It features a falafel-style patty, crunchy carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, red onions and tomatoes, as well as a Greek yogurt tartar sauce (read Tzatziki).

The onions were finely sliced and delicately and artistically draped on the burger instead of an overwhelming fat slice - a definite win on flavor. I was surprisingly pleased with the patty - not being a huge chick pea fan. It was well-spiced and not mushy like some garbanzo bean-based foods can be. The thing that really made the grade though, was the pile of veggie accoutrements which cut the heaviness of the falafel and gave the burger a nice crispy texture.

Tip - even if you aren't a ketchup fan, try their homemade ginger tomato ketchup. Also take a look at one incredible piece of art on the north wall made from tons of found objects including shuffle board discs, gardening shears, nails, wrenches, doorknobs and even a metal toy tractor.

Rating - 4 stars. Service, food, price and ambience were excellent, but again... no mints. Somebody get me some mints!

08/08/2018

Finally! A Five-Star Eatery. Seriously, people. Mints really do work wonders!

Let's get down to brass tacks. A delightful take on New Orleans-style, Cajun and Creole food. Serving only breakfast and lunch at three locations. We headed to the Denver/Jefferson Park spot.

The restaurant is cozy - set in a turn-of-the century home, with a large outdoor dining space, mismatched furniture, cloth napkins, mason jars for glasses and plates designed to look like those flimsy paper plates we all know and love (hate) at picnics.

Starting our meal, I was thrilled with the Pepper Berry Limeade. Um, hello? House-made Limeade, Fresno Chili Coulis and Wild Berry Puree. Tart - yep! It got me right in those salivary glands at first sip. Spicy - perfectly balanced - no burning. Sweet - not over done. What a treat!

I ordered the Pimento Chicken Biscuit - with fried chicken confit, pimento cheese, sunny side up eggs (I don't like them runny, so I asked for scrambled), pickle chips and duck gravy all atop a buttermilk biscuit. I could have used a few more pickles... but wow! Tasty without being too heavy.

It came with a side of potato casserole - just smooshed potatoes, onions and other seasoning and cheese. Perfect too! Some might have wished for a sprinkling of bacon in there, but as a non-pork eater, it was great to get a potato dish without bits of swine.

My friend ordered the Chicken Fried Eggs & Buffalo Hash - which raised my cholesterol just looking at it. Free-range pecan wood smoked buffalo topped with two eggs which were first soft boiled and then dipped in batter and deep fried till just crisp, but not done. Serve that with corn bread and top it all with Fresno chili hollandaise and you have a delightfully sinful breakfast treat. Note: he DOES like his eggs runny, so they were cooked to perfection.

Service was friendly, attentive and quick even though the place was packed. (Hint: they do take reservations - one of the few lunch/brunch restaurants in Denver that still do, so take advantage of that, otherwise you will have to wait because it's always busy).

Decor - this place looks like it was furnished via estate sales and thrift stores and that's a perfect vibe for it!

Vegetarian warning - only a few V-friendly options and nothing if you are vegan. Sorry.

How many starts??? FIVE!
Food - definitely a star
Service - yep!
Ambiance - indeed
Price - very reasonable!
Mints - YAY! They gave us mints with our bill.

06/15/2018

SECOND REVIEW - Tupelo Honey. 3 stars. Another mint-free establishment. Bummer. Crowded and salty and not a great value. I do want to go back and try it again though. Stay tuned.

We visited Tupelo Honey in February for Denver Restaurant Week. As an urban beekeeper I was pretty excited to visit a honey-themed restaurant (they even had some bee-related artwork), but I wasn't that thrilled with the food or ambiance.

The restaurant was way too crowded. Noise was overwhelming and the poor waitstaff had to tiptoe and weave through the tables like contortionists.

The food started out wonderful! The fried green tomatoes were tart, crispy and cooked perfectly - sometimes because they aren't ripe, they can be chewy, but these just melted in my mouth. Plus, the restaurant week menu came with a cocktail, which was a nice treat.

Things went downhill from there though. Gumbo - salty, fried chicken - salty. Plus they didn't let me select a side with the chicken, so the too salty fries and the too salty mac and cheese didn't do much to quell the salt from the chicken. I would have really liked a refreshing green option (salad or steamed veggie of some sort). The chicken did have a little sweetness to it (the "honey dust" I assume), and as someone who used to ALWAYS dip my chicken in honey as a kid, I did appreciate that, but the saltiness overwhelmed the sweetness. The shrimp and grits were good, but not fabulous. By the time we ended our meal, it was all a little too much salt, a little too much fried, a little too much carby and heavy. I just felt like a balloon filled with carbs, fats and salts.

That said, Restaurant Week is always a limited menu, so I would like to go back to try out a more varied menu.

How many stars? 3

PRICE - During restaurant week it's hard to determine whether they would get a STAR for price or not - but looking at their normal menu, I would say HALF STAR. It's a little pricier than I would expect for good ole comfort food - $10 for app, $25 for an entree. There's nothing fancy on the menu though, so I would expect more like the $8 app and the $18 entree price.

ATMOSPHERE - fun decor, but way tot tightly packed and way too loud - HALF STAR.

SERVICE - ONE STAR. Our waitress was very nice and relatively attentive given the mine field of tables and number of diners.

MINTS - another restaurant without after dinner mints. Really folks? What's going on here? ZERO STARS.

06/15/2018

We visited Tupelo Honey in February for Denver Restaurant Week. As an urban beekeeper I was pretty excited to visit a honey-themed restaurant (they even had some bee-related artwork), but I wasn't that thrilled with the food or ambiance.

The restaurant was way too crowded. Noise was overwhelming and the poor waitstaff had to tiptoe and weave through the tables like contortionists.

The food started out wonderful! The fried green tomatoes were tart, crispy and cooked perfectly - sometimes because they aren't ripe, they can be chewy, but these just melted in my mouth. Plus, the restaurant week menu came with a cocktail, which was a nice treat.

Things went downhill from there though. Gumbo - salty, fried chicken - salty. Plus they didn't let me select a side with the chicken, so the too salty fries and the too salty mac and cheese didn't do much to quell the salt from the chicken. I would have really liked a refreshing green option (salad or steamed veggie of some sort). The chicken did have a little sweetness to it (the "honey dust" I assume), and as someone who used to ALWAYS dip my chicken in honey as a kid, I did appreciate that, but the saltiness overwhelmed the sweetness. The shrimp and grits were good, but not fabulous. By the time we ended our meal, it was all a little too much salt, a little too much fried, a little too much carby and heavy. I just felt like a balloon filled with carbs, fats and salts.

That said, Restaurant Week is always a limited menu, so I would like to go back to try out a more varied menu.

How many stars? 3

PRICE - During restaurant week it's hard to determine whether they would get a STAR for price or not - but looking at their normal menu, I would say HALF STAR. It's a little pricier than I would expect for good ole comfort food - $10 for app, $25 for an entree. There's nothing fancy on the menu though, so I would expect more like the $8 app and the $18 entree price.

ATMOSPHERE - fun decor, but way tot tightly packed and way too loud - HALF STAR.

SERVICE - ONE STAR. Our waitress was very nice and relatively attentive given the mine field of tables and number of diners.

MINTS - another restaurant without after dinner mints. Really folks? What's going on here? ZERO STARS.

04/28/2018

FIRST REVIEW - Avelina in Denver! 3.5 / 5 stars. Lacking mints will really hurt your score. But aside from that - a classy, tasty option in Downtown Denver. A little hard to find (the address says 17th street, but it's halfway down Wazee). Good for gluten free and fish lovers. Great for a splurge!

http://www.avelinadenver.com/

I was really looking forward to checking out Avelina during Restaurant Week and plan to do so again, so I can dive deeper into their menu - which is full of pescetarian options. LOVE IT!.

Starting with apps and salads - the brussels sprouts were delightful, the squash salad was solid. Loved the mussels, though I would say this - they should have just served with plain bread so I had something to suck the broth up with. And BTW - that is a LOT of mussels for what's normally $12. Well done! It's hard to make boudin fancy since it's sausage smooshed up with other things and shoved back into the casing, but putting lavender with it is a good try.

Moving onto the main courses - Lobster agnolotti was lovely and the pairing with the broth, asparagus and bacon jam was a palate-pleaser. The veggie lasagna was heavy on the unnamed squash (probably sweet potato) though. And I really like sweet potato. Throw some butternut or a zucchini in there!

Now... the desserts... you might think that you can't turn beets into a dessert and you would be right. That said, a really fun try and the accoutrements were tasty. Plus after my guest and I tasted it and shook our heads, the waitress was completely willing to take it back and not charge us - which was really nice (we paid for it anyway, because it's not the restaurant's fault that we ordered something we were pretty convinced we weren't going to like). However, the pear tart was AWESOME. The pastry it sat on was crumbly, but not dry, and just so very buttery. Eggnog ice cream? Yes. The almond brittle was so delicate and just melted in my mouth.

How many stars? 3.5

PRICE - During restaurant week it's hard to determine whether they would get a STAR for price or not - but looking at their normal menu, I would say HALF STAR. It's on the pricey side, which I am willing to overlook if everything else is over the top awesome. But Avelina is just normal levels of awesome. You could easily walk away with a $200 dollar bill for two people.

ATMOSPHERE - subtle, modern decor. Not too loud - ONE STAR.

SERVICE - without a doubt ONE STAR. Our waitress was very accommodating and very nice (see note about beets for dessert); she even got us a dish from their lunch menu (even though the restaurant was only serving the Restaurant Week Prix Fixe menu for dinner) to take home for a grumpy husband who couldn't join us.

FOOD - see above. ONE STAR. Even though a few things were a little hit and miss, they were overall complete hits. Would order just about everything again - minus the beets. Did I mention that I hate beets?

MINTS - sadly, Avelina falls short with nary a mint to be seen. ZERO STARS.

04/27/2018

I was really looking forward to checking out Avelina during Restaurant Week and plan to do so again, so I can dive deeper into their menu - which is full of pescetarian options. LOVE IT!.

Starting with apps and salads - the brussels sprouts were delightful, the squash salad was solid. Loved the mussels, though I would say this - they should have just served with plain bread so I had something to suck the broth up with. And BTW - that is a LOT of mussels for what's normally $12. Well done! It's hard to make boudin fancy since it's sausage smooshed up with other things and shoved back into the casing, but putting lavender with it is a good try.

Moving onto the main courses - Lobster agnolotti was lovely and the pairing with the broth, asparagus and bacon jam was a palate-pleaser. The veggie lasagna was heavy on the unnamed squash (probably sweet potato) though. And I really like sweet potato. Throw some butternut or a zucchini in there!

Now... the desserts... you might think that you can't turn beets into a dessert and you would be right. That said, a really fun try and the accoutrements were tasty. Plus after my guest and I tasted it and shook our heads, the waitress was completely willing to take it back and not charge us - which was really nice (we paid for it anyway, because it's not the restaurant's fault that we ordered something we were pretty convinced we weren't going to like). However, the pear tart was AWESOME. The pastry it sat on was crumbly, but not dry, and just so very buttery. Eggnog ice cream? Yes. The almond brittle was so delicate and just melted in my mouth.

How many stars? 3.5

PRICE - During restaurant week it's hard to determine whether they would get a STAR for price or not - but looking at their normal menu, I would say HALF STAR. It's on the pricey side, which I am willing to overlook if everything else is over the top awesome. But Avelina is just normal levels of awesome. You could easily walk away with a $200 dollar bill for two people.

ATMOSPHERE - subtle, modern decor. Not too loud - ONE STAR.

SERVICE - without a doubt ONE STAR. Our waitress was very accommodating and very nice (see note about beets for dessert); she even got us a dish from their lunch menu (even though the restaurant was only serving the Restaurant Week Prix Fixe menu for dinner) to take home for a grumpy husband who couldn't join us.

FOOD - see above. ONE STAR. Even though a few things were a little hit and miss, they were overall complete hits. Would order just about everything again - minus the beets. Did I mention that I hate beets?

MINTS - sadly, Avelina falls short with nary a mint to be seen. ZERO STARS.

03/04/2018

The concept for this page emerged years ago, when my college roommate and I took it upon ourselves to review every restaurant in town using a five star system. We decided to measure the quality of food, service, price and ambience, and added a bonus star if the restaurant offered after dinner mints. No mints, no star... They're that important.

I decided recently to revive this concept, and what better time to do it than during Denver Restaurant Week? Stay tuned for photos and reviews as I eat my way through town.