maria_so

Hi All,

I'll be in Denver for a conference in mid April. I'll be staying near the convention center (either hyatt, marriot, or hilton garden) but I also need an extra night (outside of the conference) and want to use my hilton honors rewards for the night. Looking at the hilton website, there are a few that peaks my interest. There's the Hilton Garden on 1400 Welton Street, there's the Hampton Boutique hotel on 1845 Sherman Street (both of these are in downtown). Keeping in mind where the nice restaurants are, which one would you recommend to stay?

Also, we like modern very good food restaurants. Any recommendations on where to take my husband for a nice birthday dinner? Preferably somewhere we can also walk around after?

Many thanks!

maria_so

anyone?

martym

Here are three restaurants that I like in downtown Denver. Good food/nice atmosphere at all of them

Panzano http://www.panzano-denver.com/panchef/index.html

Rioja http://www.riojadenver.com/

Tamayo http://www.modernmexican.com/tamayo/index.htm

The Hampton Boutique Hotel is a few blocks east of the eastern edge of downtown-the hotel at 14th and Welton is a little closer to the action downtown (Lodo etc)

fmpden

My, my, a little impatient ??? Expecting a response in 29 minutes !! Need a definition of "modern very good food" restaurants. Martym's restaurants are good recommendation but modern (imo) is not an adjective I would apply to any of them -- maybe Rioja a little bit.

The Hampton Boutique on Sherman is not in the downtown area or at least how most of the locals would define the downtown area. Is your convention in the Convention Center? If so, stay near the Convention Center -- Hyatt, City Center Marriott, etc. The downtown area with the free mall shuttle is very convenient for walking and eliminates the need for a rental car. he Welton location would be fine.

Since there are 70 bars and restaurants in what we call LoD0 (Lower Downtown) you need to specify your price range, type of food, and what modern means to you before I can give you a recommendation. Martym gave you two Italian and one Mexican. How about an Argentina pizza???

wtm003

I like all of Martym's choices and I'll throw out two more options that have a fun atmosphere and good food.

Zengo (same owner as Tamayo)

www.modernmexican.com/zengodenver/index.htm

Vesta Dipping Grill

www.vestagrill.com

maria_so

Hi All,
fmpden, I wasn't really expecting a quick answer, it was just a way for me to top up the post.

Thanks Martym. I went ahead and booked the hilton on 14th and welton. Thanks for that.

I am booked at Hyatt for the conference but wanted to use my hilton honors points for our extra night in Denver.

Regarding the restaurant, when I say modern, I guess I want something chiq with contemporary food and innovative dishes. Our favorite restaurant, for example, is Joseph's table in Taos NM. http://www.josephstable.com/

The recommendations are good so far. All will be used since I will be there for 6 days + my extra night with my honey so please keep them coming.

Thanks!

maria_so

Oh, and money isn't really a factor although I don't think we would be comfortable at a super expensive stuffy place. We are in our mid 30's so something appropriate would be great. Thanks again!

Lexma90

Here are some other restaurants to consider, none of which are within walking distance of downtown. But if money is no object, then personally, I'd spend that money on a cab.

Barolo Grill - obviously, Italian, not so "chic and contemporary," but quite good northern Italian food with a Piedmont twist.

Fruition - Getting a lot of buzz, modern comfort food, but as I really don't like most "comfort food," we haven't been yet.

Sparrow - Haven't been here, yet, either (we don't get out much).

Mizuna - Another good place, "continental" cuisine, with a menu probably similar to the place you like in Santa Fe.

Luca d'Italia - Not modern either, but also good northern Italian food, pretty authentic.

But if you want a very special experience, rent a car (or take a cab) and go up to Boulder for the evening (in fact, I'd suggest that you spend the night; it's a great town) and have dinner at Frasca. Fabulous, award-winning chef, warm and welcoming staff. The archetype of Colorado - reasonably casual, friendly, but fantastic food. (And not horribly expensive.) VERY popular; I can usually get reservations during the week if I reserve a couple of weeks ahead of time, but they book up fast on the weekends (I think they have a two-month reservation window). When we go out, this I where I almost always choose to go. (There are a bunch of other great restaurants in Boulder as well.) We're big foodies, and have eaten at great places all over the U.S. and Europe, and this restaurant I would rate in the top 10, maybe top 5, of restaurants I've ever eaten at. (For comparison, the French Laundry is on my top five list.)

Enjoy!

maria_so

Thanks Lexma! I will check on Frasca and Boulder and see if I can change the hotel. I got the denver visitor's book in the mail a few min ago and have been looking through it. Boulder indeed looks like a good other option!

maria_so

oh, and we;ll have a car so distance isn't an issue either. We'll have a car for going to Rocky mountain that day, picking it up in the morning.

martym

I second Frasca--wonderful restaurant and you could walk around the Pearl Street Mall after.

Gretchen

Luca and Mizuna have the BEST food and service--just totally outstanding. "Modern"--what's that.

maria_so

ttt

historytraveler

The Sparrow has gone out of business.I like Barolo Grill. It has a surprisingly "modern'
menu and is certainly not your typical Italian restaurant. Frasca, in Boulder, ranks as one of the best restaurants anywhere.
I also like Joseph's Table in Taos.

maria_so

Hi historytraveler. Yes, we found that out when trying to make reservations at sparrow for Sunday night. I was on "wait" for Boulder for Sat night but a free table never came about so we ended up in Rioja .

Here's my trip report below:

Hi All,

Just wanted to thank all of you for your suggestions.

Estes park is a cute little town and I really liked our room at Silver Moon Inn. We had a fireplace in the room and a mini fridge and microwave - right
by the river and next to the little ampitheater they have in the town. We got there about 7:30 and most of the town was closed. We didn't want to drive
anywhere for dinner that night so decided to walk somewhere within walking distance. Well, most of the places the hotel recommended was closed so we
went to the only place opened - the wild rose. Dinner was ok. It tasted like most of the veggies and seafood were frozen products - still, it wasn't bad.

On Saturday, we had breakfast at the Egg and I - which was great! Huge portions and on the way, we saw the elks huddled around at the town center. It was
funny to see them there - tolerating the tourist taking pictures of them and they never left the whole day! We saw them later after RMNP! We walked back to
the hotel after breakfast and bumped into Kirk's Fly Fishing Shop who also rented snow shoes ($10 with poles for each person) so we did that and said we would
pick it up on our way out to RMNP. Got back to the hotel, rested a bit since I was feeling a bit of the altitude sickness.

At RMNP, with furledleader's recommendation, we visited the alluvial fan area, smiled when we saw the "watermelon snow" and thought of furledleader, got up
to where they blocked off the Trail Ridge Road, took pictures and sat amazed at the beauty of the mountains and the all that snow, then we went to bear lake
area and did a hike with snow shoes up to bear lake and nymph lake. At this point, I was really having problems with the altitude sickness (which I turned
out to be quite sentsitive with, to my dismay, I think it's exacerbated by the fact that I have a mild heart murmur to begin with but DH was feeling it a bit
too), so we called off also going to dream lake and emerald lake. It was kind of funny because when the ranger kept saying lake, we were really looking for
a lake - with water! and of course, it on ice under all that snow so we figred it would be the same with the falls ;-) and because I was having issues with
the altitude sickness, we said enough for the day. We ended the day with a nice pint and some pizza at Estes Park Brewery then headed back to Denver.

After checking in at the Marriott, we had made reservations to Rioja for DH's birthday as suggested here at Fodors. I have to say, this was a bit of a
disappointment. First our reservations were for 9:15 and we didn't get our table until about 10:30 and actually, we never did get a dining table but one by
the bar (because one didn't become available and we were getting hungry). The hostess was nice though and arranged for us to have appetisers on the house.
Both were good if not VERY small portions. The pea soup was delicious and the cheese selection was also good but again, very small portions. For dinner,
DH's duck was good (not great) and my lamb was tasteless and it was supposed to have 5 spices. Dessert was good but nothing to call home about. In the end,
they didn't charge me for my entre (I didn't complain but when the waiter saw I didn't even finish a single slice of the lamb, he took it out of the bill).
In the end, I just didn't see this place as spectacular as some people have said.

On Sunday, we again followed furledleader's advice (except the waking up at the crack of dawn - we woke up at 8:15 but was in the car by 8:55 to take I-70
west from Denver, through the Eisenhower tunnel to the town of Frisco through Breckenridge (had lunch at a really cute place in Breckenridge), over Hoosier Pass and down into south park to Fairplay. Then to
Fossil beds (where we did the mini hike) then to Colorado Springs for a pint at Phantom Canyon brewerey, a stroll through downtown, then to the airport to
drop off the car (we skiped valley of the Gods for next time and that we thought it looked alot like what we've seen in Utah).

Back in Denver, we had dinner at Vesta Dipping Grill - LOVELY place and MUCH better than Rioja! We have alot of really good mexican places here in Houston
so we skipped those recommendations. My DH did some mountain biking and mooched around town and found the breweries and really enjoyed himself. On one of
his jaunts, he found a sign for 75cents oyster happy hour at Jax and knowing how much I LOVE seafood so we had happy hour oysters there and then dinner with
the rest of my colleagues at Rialto Cafe - good food, good location. I ended up taking my colleagues back to Jax for dinner and it Was FANTASTIC! Kept
thinking I should've brough DH there for his birthday - that our Vesta - oh well. Jax is a really great place and I would highly recommend it. If I had
known the place sooner, I would've visited more than I did! We had snow on Wednesday and DH and I had sushi (Sonodas - quite good but a hole in the wall type
place - but really, better food than what I expected) then went to the conference party. Fun night.

On my last day, I was by myself by then. I had all day Friday before heading out to the airport. Woke up late (10:30 - had really bad sleep throughout the
time in Denver) and went to Palletes Restaurant at the DAM then spent the afternoon in the museum with my earphones on. What a really beautiful building and
the views from the sculture "garden" was superb.

All in all, I really liked Denver and LOVE the mountains of Colorado. RMNP is breathtaking during winter and would really like to see it during sumer time
too! Thanks again for all your advice, it was really useful. I hope someone gets good ideas or answered question with this trip report too!

maria_so

Oh, I forgot to mention, my colleagues and I went to see a show at Comedy Works on 15th street (hubby went home that morning) and it was a good fun time!

Gretchen

I am seeing now that you had 3 separate threads going about this trip. I would have suggested Elway's for a REALLY special dinner. And glad you found Jax. It is good seafood. Have not heard our kids talk about Rioja. For an absolutely elegant dinner Mizuna or Luce would have been terrific--and not exorbitant. Great food and service.

maria_so

Hi Gretchen. Yes, I had started all of them at different times but thought I would post the report back in all 3.

Will try Mizuna next time - we plan to return to Denver again, visit the mountains, and make a point to actually get a table at Frasca too!

Gretchen

I don't know about Frasca but Luce and Mizuna will be the best you can have--no fooling. And Domo is a dining experience that I have never seen duplicated anywhere. La Centrale for informal French and the best moules this side of Paris.

maria_so

Well, I just heard we may be coming back in September!!! DH may go to a conference there so it will be reversed this time, him at the conference and me mooching around town! I will definitely check out Mizuna and Domo then Gretchen!

I think this time we'll try to do Black Canyon of the Gunnison and do some rafting. Is there rafting still in September? It will be quite cool too because we would just be getting back from Wyoming/South Dakota on the 7th.

I guess I'll know tomorrow but am excited already! Yippeee!