Earl's - Denver, CO

Ok, so I usually try to include the reason for choosing a place that I visit and this time it was a recommendation from the bell boy at the Sheraton I was staying at. I asked him for a good place around the area for lunch that would provide a satisfying bite to eat. I told him I had about an hour before my next meeting and he said to me with great conviction: You should go to Earl's just a couple of blocks down the street. The food is good but the "view" is better he said with a little wink in his eye. Immediately I knew what he was referring too and I couldn't stop myself from one of those invisible laughs. Here I am looking for great food and he gives me a totally different reason to go there. Being a sales person this totally breaks the rules of providing someone with a solution to their problem through great listening and confirmation. Either way, obviously his "tactics" worked as I found myself walking towards Earls for a quick lunch without the confirmation of good food being served there.

I arrived at the restaurant and saw a very modern looking sports bar type place. Take the modern steakhouse and marry it with a hardcore sports bar and this is what you get. Upon reception by the hostess i noticed why the bell boy said what he said....there was not one guy working here other then possibly in the kitchen. The crowd in the restaurant was mixed between guys and girls so at least it wasn't male dominated but mainly a nice lunch crowd from surrounding businesses. This is a huge plus for me when finding places for lunch because the atmosphere is so much better at a standard lunch joint for the business people in the area versus a tourist lunch place like Hard Rock.

So let's get to the lunch. The menu is quite extensive with anything from Maki rolls, Salads, Sandwiches, Pastas to Steaks and fish at varying prices. Salad and soup combo with rosemary ciabatta for $8 seemed like a very nice option but instead I went for the Grilled Chicken and Baked Brie Ciabatta which is a grilled chicken breast, melted brie, roasted apples, spinach, sweet fig jam, garlic mayonnaise on a toasted ciabatta. Instead of the fries I opted for a Caesar Salad on the side. And the verdict........the salad was awesome, crisp and hearty with a Caesar dressing that must be homemade (if it isn't I need to ask for the brand next time). The sandwich was good, nice combination with the aioli and sweetness of the figs and apples. The real star in this sandwich though was the chicken breast. Unless I am at an upscale restaurant or at home I never see the following technique used in a classic bar joint when making a chicken breast sandwich; the skin was still on the chicken breast. As it was pan-fried and then most likely finished off in the oven, leaving the skin on makes the chicken breast much juicier and it also gives it a nice pungent smooth chicken taste. This may seem like a little thing but it makes wonders and I whish more places would adopt this practice but then again it probably would be hard to do for two reasons; one being that people would feel that leaving the skin on would result in excess calories and the restaurants would need to make sure that they buy chicken breast with the skin left on.

Final verdict; I will definitely return both with my wife for lunch/dinner and for business lunches. This is a perfect business lunch locale!

Overall Rating: 4
Food Rating: 4
Cost: $$-$$$

1600 Glenarm Place, Suite 140
Denver, CO 80202
http://www.earls.ca/

Jack-N-Grill, Denver, CO

Jack-N-Grill……what can I say. It is one of those perfect holes in the walls Mexican restaurants in the Hispanic neighborhood that you know immediately upon walking through the door that you will be in for a treat. It is usually a very authentic treat, but for some, the general grittiness and sort of worn/dirty feeling of those places is not the experience they want or eat in. Unfortunately that is your loss and not mine:) The place is divided into to two dining rooms; the bar with some higher bar tables and the main dining room where you can see the chefs in action. “A seat yourself” kind of service is completely compensated with a very humble and happy staff; a staff that I believe are all family members or at least friends of the family.

So how did I find this place???? I watched Man vs. Food on the Discovery channel and they have an item on their menu that has drawn many to this place to test their manly and/or womanly hood. It is the giant 7lb breakfast burrito which in short contains 1lb of potatoes, 1lb of cheese, 1 lb of ham, 12 eggs and more. The topping is the standard of any smothered burrito in this joint; Green Chile, Red Chile or Christmas (half green and half red).

What did I eat….well of course I opted for the giant burrito smothered Christmas style. As soon as it was ordered the heads started turning almost as they all overheard my order and now wanted to see the freak show I was going to put on. I knew this is something I had to try but not sure what to expect. I also had a side bet going with a co-worker for this challenge. As the server served me the burrito she gave me the instructions: 1. Take all the time you want 2. You are not allowed to go to the bathroom 3. No help from anyone 4. Finish it and your picture goes on the wall of fame.

She also gave me her personal advice….Eat as fast as you can otherwise your stomach will start to understand what you are doing to it. After that a few “Good Lucks” were shouted at me from the bar but it didn’t do too much for my confidence. After 15 minutes I was knocked out by the burrito. I had eaten a mere 1/3 of the monster and I had nowhere else to go. My stomach was at a breaking point, my mouth was watering kind of like it does after a bad shot of Jose Cuervo and all I could think of was to get this plate away from my view and give me the check. As you can understand I lost this battle and will never try it again.

Beyond that I also tried their guacamole which was out of this world and the plates of food, including Tacos, Enchiladas and Cocidos looked amazing. This is a place I will return to during my next visit to Denver and make my regular Mexican place once moving there….can’t wait to take someone else there..

Overall Rating: 4
Food Rating: 5
Cost: $$ (when including a traditional cerveza or margarita)

2524 N. Federal
Denver, Co 80211
http://jackngrill.com/

Chy Thai Cuisine - Boulder, CO

As I was driving up to Boulder from Denver with the beautiful rolling hills and the snowcapped Rockies in the background I started thinking about Thai food. Don’t ask me why but the scenery made me crave Thai and it made me wonder if I could ever find a Thai restaurant in Boulder. Frustrating…..but to my surprise Boulder is quite the food Mecca with any type of food experience you could think of and there was no shortage on Asian restaurants. Driving towards the office building where I had a meeting planned I saw this Thai place nestled in what looked like a strip mall with a big banner screamin’ lunch special for $7.95. At first thoughts you know this may not be the quality of food you would look for but with a lack of time to continue the search I elected to stop.

Upon entering the restaurant you immediately feel like you walked into a Chipotles but instead of Burrito rolling staff you had wok searing staff. The place was quite modern in décor and felt really clean in style. The waiter was very friendly as she was already catering to the local lunch crowd and started me off with a glass of tap water which by the way was excellent. Maybe it has to do with the location in the Rockies but the water had a very crisp clean taste to it. I immediately proceeded to ask for the lunch special. There were two options available; Jungle Curry and Drunken Noodles. As I am a big fan of spice I opted for the Jungle Curry which is very similar to a classic Red Curry but no coconut milk is used for the broth increasing its kick a bit. About 5 minutes into waiting I was served a nice broth and an egg roll with a side of sweet chili dipping sauce. What a pleasant surprise because normally this is always something you pay extra for. Following the appetizer my Jungle Curry was served. It was a healthy serving with my choice of meat which in this case was pork. The options were beef, chicken, pork or tofu. Another great option that normally you would have to pay extra for was the availability of either white rice or brown rice and since I am trying to be healthier I chose brown rice.

All in all this was a great quick lunch place at a great price with friendly staff and high quality food. It was the perfect healthy and tasty fast food alternative to the Burger King down the road. I would highly recommend it if you are looking to spend less then $10 for a great lunch.

Overall Rating: 5
Food Rating: 4
Cost: $

2720 Canyon Blvd
Boulder Colorado 80302
http://www.chythaicuisine.com/