Underrated food in Colorado??????? (Denver, Pueblo: house, camp, restaurants)

[jim9251]

Denver Denver Denver...there ARE other places in Colorado besides Denver. I've found lots of great places on the western slope for food. Great home cooking, some of the best mexican food I've ever eaten, all with friendly staff and good prices too. These are places the locals know about and frequent, not the plastic chains or tourist traps. Plus you don't have to worry about being car jacked here.

[GreenScoutII]

Oh man, you guys are making me homesick!

Like some of you here, I too am a native of Colorado. I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, lived five years in the Denver-Metro area, and then lived a few years in Pueblo county before work took us away to Houston, Tx.

I have to agree with the OP that there is a lot of great food in Colorado which doesn't get the recognition it deserves....

Here are some of my favorites:

Bean Bandit in Colorado Springs. OK, the name of the place is kind of cheesy, but my family has enjoyed that establishment for more than 40 years now. Good food at reasonable prices and the owner, Marge Vasquez, is one of the most genuinely nice people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. It's nothing fancy, but I can't recommend it enough.

Amanda's Fonda also in Colorado Springs. Very good and very popular as well. Good luck getting in there on a Friday or Saturday night. Great food and reasonable prices.

In Pueblo there are almost too many to list. I like to go to Papa Jose's downtown for their lunch specials. They have a thing called Taco Colorado that I can't get enough of. In fact, my old boss will periodically text me to let me know he's going there just to make me jealous.

I really liked Giacomo's (sp?) out on highway 50. Great Italian food. I understand they closed it down though. Too bad.

There is a little Pizzeria out on highway 50 on the south side of the highway called East Coast Pizza. Without hesitation I will pronounce that as the best pizza available in Colorado. That particular restaurant is owned by an Italian immigrant who really knows how pizza should be made.

Dew Drop inn has good, if unusual pizza as well. They have a sort of sweet bread crust that some folks don't care for, but I thought it was pretty good.

For sandwiches, most folks swear by Pass Key. Not to pronounce blasphemy against an establishment which Pueblo holds dear, but it's not the end all, be all of sandwiches. It's good but not the best. For a truly outstanding sausage sandwich, I like Mauro's out on business 50 just across from the county high school. I don't know if it's possible for a guy's stomach to have an orgasm, but their "Fuggetaboutit" sandwich with green chilie will make it happen if it can be done...

Canyon City has a great Italian restaurant as well. Merlino's Belvedere. Only been there a couple of times, but I found the food and the service to be exemplary.

For the record, having spent some years in rural Pueblo county where Pueblo chilies are grown and having family in NM where Hatch clilies are available fresh, I have to say I prefer the Pueblo chilies.

Like I said, I'm starting to get homesick. Hungry too....

Ugh... I've had enough of Texas. I want to come on back home.....

[el borracho]

Green chile this green chile that ,smother this smother that ,Each food needs to stand on it's own (rice beans meat etc etc) and not get drowned in green chile
"it's not a burrito if you have to eat it with a fork"

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

I disagree with Vegas on Mexican food and agrre with the OP.

Thanks OP, btw, for the well thought out and constructed post.

I'd like any ot yous to go to Martinez Cafe on Adams and Polk and eat the Polk Street Special... except for Vegas and Sunsprit. They can go to Mc Donalds.

We've got a new roach Coach called El Burro Bronco on about Hudson and East Fourth st that's fantastic.

Pics coming soon.

dog ... That was pretty uncalled for.

I've spent way too many years eating real Mexican food in Mexico, served by families to know that the gooey gloppy cheesey garbage served here masquerading as Mexican food simply isn't ...

and had the benefit of living in San Diego with a live-in housekeeper/cook who came up weekly from her home in Tijuana with groceries from Mexico, or time with families with a Mexican spouse who cooked their home area regional foods ...

As others mention, green sauce is a Colorado item, not a Mexican item. You can enjoy it in it's own right, but don't call it Mexican food, it's not.

FWIW, Taco John's started up here in Cheyenne ... which still doesn't make it Mexican food, either, because Juan opened the place. Where else do you find those little puffs of carbs called "potato ole's" with their huge glycemic index rush?

FWIW, I don't eat in chain fast food restaurants serving food-like substances, either, such as MickeyD's, Burger King, etc ....

[CO.Native.SW]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

dog ... That was pretty uncalled for.

I've spent way too many years eating real Mexican food in Mexico, served by families to know that the gooey gloppy cheesey garbage served here masquerading as Mexican food simply isn't ...

and had the benefit of living in San Diego with a live-in housekeeper/cook who came up weekly from her home in Tijuana with groceries from Mexico, or time with families with a Mexican spouse who cooked their home area regional foods ...

FWIW, I don't eat in chain fast food restaurants serving food-like substances, either, such as MickeyD's ....

Personally, I was never comparing the mexican food in the United States to the mexican food in Mexico, as its much different usually. However, there are still many places in this region with mexican foods similar to that of Mexico itself. However, the normal Mexican American foods like Tex-Mex, New-Mex, Cali-Mex, etc. are food from Mexicans in America, not mexico itself. So obviously there's going to be a difference with the food in America and the food in Mexico. There two completely different countries.

[Mike from back east]

E-Z does it, please.

Thank you.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by el borracho

Green chile this green chile that ,smother this smother that ,Each food needs to stand on it's own (rice beans meat etc etc) and not get drowned in green chile
"it's not a burrito if you have to eat it with a fork"

I disagree. IMO, the sauce almost always makes the meal (if I still cooked for a living I'd be a sous chef). As for the green chile sauce debate, I've come to the conclusion that there is a Colorado style, and it can be delicious, but it's usually not done very well. A good Colorado-style green chile sauce IS somewhat thinner then its northern New Mexico cousin but it shouldn't be watery or glutinous.

[el borracho]

Xeric: Thats what I'm talking about if the sauce makes the meal , than how good is
Meal to begin with ,Ive been to several places and order unsmotherd plates and I'm usually disappointed on how bland and tasteless the food is. I'll say it again each item needs to stand on it's own and not have to be drowned in some gooey gloppy cheesey garbage

[xeric]

Originally Posted by el borracho

Xeric: Thats what I'm talking about if the sauce makes the meal , than how good is
Meal to begin with ,Ive been to several places and order unsmotherd plates and I'm usually disappointed on how bland and tasteless the food is. I'll say it again each item needs to stand on it's own and not have to be drowned in some gooey gloppy cheesey garbage

But would you eat just plain pasta or steamed rice with nothing on top of it? Good ingredients are great but to me it's not enough to make for a memorable meal. We'd probably also agree about the poor quality of so much of the "Mexican" fare, but I would argue that all that cheap cheese is also used to mask the fact that the green chile sauce isn't very flavorful.

[el borracho]

Xeric: were talking Mexican food not Italian but i do put sauce on my pasta,and i agree with you on the
poor quality of the mexican fare here. Whens the last time you had mexican rice with onions,cilantro,carrots,celery,tomatoes, garlic, and spices or borracho beans (google it) in a denver restaurant