The "I want to move to Denver" trip report
 

I would go but to quote my kids "No,thank you. Bye,bye Mom." At Coskier's suggestion I called Pug Ryan's to find out if the Tiki Bar was open. No such luck; but the hostess was so friendly about it that we decided to stop at Pug's for lunch on our way up to Breck. The food was ok but considering that we were the only ones in the restaurant, I thought the service was incredibly bad. How hard is it to remember to refill a soda when you have one table? I look forward to trying the Tiki bar when the weather is warmer. After settling in at the Marriott, we went on one of the guided hikes on the Burro Trail. A pretty trail that I would like to explore more of someday. Snow was covering the peaks and falling around us as we hiked. Gorgeous! I'm glad I paid attention to the Fodorite warnings and had warm clothes. Also appreciated Coskiers heads up about the 2 for 1 coupon at Cafe Alpine. We had a great meal there.
The drive down to Denver the next day brought us through a big snowstorm at Loveland pass. One hour later we were in mid 60 degree weather in Denver. A must do stop at REI and check in at the Brown. The Brown is a gorgeous hotel with great service. I didn't, however, notice the stained glass ceiling until the last night when at 5 am we were waiting out a fire alarm in the lobby. (That's happened to me 4 times so I'm used to it) Dinners were at Sambuca Jazz Cafe (fantastic), Rio Grande (nice setting, ok mex), and Panzano (good food, lovely restaurant, spotty service) Thank you for everyone's recs. I will be returning!!

Hey Birdie, Did you see any of the ghosts at the Brown?

No but maybe that's why the fire alarm was tripped twice. Our room was gorgeous and happened to be the only one with two bathrooms.

Birdie, glad you had a nice time. Sorry to hear about the service at Pugs, typically it is pretty good. Come back in summer for the Tiki Bar, it is one of my favorite places!

Birdie,

Thanks for the report! Isn't it strange how when a restaurant is full you can get good service, but when it's empty you get bad or none?

Sorry you went to Rio Grande--I'll never understand the popularity of that place. Did someone recommend it to you as having good mexican food? Also, did you eat in any of the restaurants at The Brown? Just curious as to how they are these days.

AL ((d))

We only had lunches in the Tavern which were great and drinks in the lobby. We did do Sun. Brunch in the dining room last summer when we were staying in the Comfort across the street. The Brunch had a nice array of lovely and different dishes. Pricey, of course. I went to Rio Grande based on comments on this board. I love margaritas but found Rio's to be not much better than any others'. I can't say it was a waste of an evening. It was a gorgeous night and we had fun watching the mating rituals of the gen X'ers around us. I do heartily recommend Sambuca's. How can you top a good steak or seafood, great wine, and great music?

Birdie,

Thanks for responding. Glad you enjoyed Sambuca's and Panzano's. Sambuca's is actually a chain out of (Houston? Atlanta?) but they've done a nice job with it here. Panzano's is still reeling from the loss of their chef Jennifer K-something--who's opening her own place soon.

Again, thanks for the report.

AL ((d))