Residents of The Springs: What are your favorite restaurants? (Denver: appointed, houses)

[misscassandra]

I searched the forums and didn't find a dedicated thread to the best restaurants in The Springs, so here goes.

I'm a California foodie looking to move to The Springs -- we'll be visiting in Spring to seal the deal, but I feel pretty darn sure about it. We want out of California to buy our first home, and with the states my bf says are acceptable, I choose Colorado and specifically The Springs (Washington and Oregon do not get nearly enough sun for this girl, and AZ and NM are just too hot)

I love everything -- American steakhouses, country restaurants, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc., etc., etc. Yum. Any recommendations or memories of past restaurant experiences are very welcome. This forum is the best!

Can you tell I haven't made breakfast yet?

[Mike from back east]

For starters, look in the Index under FOOD, for hundreds of prior comments on all sorts of food. Search Tool will find many postings with keywords: Mexican, game, Italian, wild, seafood, pizza, French, meatballs, sushi, Asian, Korean, steak, bison, boar, rabbit, Thai, Indian, kabob, etc.

[misscassandra]

uh huh, that's working nicely. thanks much! looooads of restaurants in COS.

I've got breakfast now so I feel better too.

[lalahartma]

Sorry to say, that as a foodie you may be disappointed with the Springs. But fear not, you can always make the trek up north when you need more options. )

[misscassandra]

Thanks for the tip, lala. My bf will not want to drive up to Denver in the snow, but we'll surely head up when the Giants play the Rockies and such, so I'd love to check out some restaurants there...Denver is what you meant, right?

I know I'm probably beatin a dead horse here, AND going on a tangent...but, is the produce really that much more expensive? I mean, since there aren't an abundance of ethnic restauants, I can cook some stuff myself. I love cooking and we eat a LOT of produce here. Fresh veggies, salads (bbq chicken salad with italian vinaigrette is a fave of ours), and tons of fruit. Will we miss out on that when we come to COS?

As Californians, we refuse to pay more than $1.50 for an avocado or a bag of onions, no more than a dollar for a bag of carrots, head of lettuce, bunch of celery, 5 limes, or 3 lemons. I have a feeling we've been spoiled and those days will be over soon.

[Maynerd]

Originally Posted by lalahartma

Sorry to say, that as a foodie you may be disappointed with the Springs. But fear not, you can always make the trek up north when you need more options. )

The biggest disappointment for foodies in the Springs is the lack of support for many outstanding independent restaurants. Palapa's Surfside and Plate World Cuisine come immediately to mind. Too many people go to Chili's or Olive Garden again and again, and won't pay the little bit extra for outstanding food.

But there are plenty of local options for foodies without needing to drive to Denver: Blue Star, NOSH, Peppertree, The Famous, anything at the Broadmoor, Craftwood, Mona Lisa, Briarhurst, Walter's Bistro, Paraviccini's, Jake & Telly's, Sakura Sushi. There's a lot of very good restaurants to pick from. Sadly, most of our fair city thinks Red Lobster is fine dining.

[misscassandra]

Originally Posted by Maynerd

The biggest disappointment for foodies in the Springs is the lack of support for many outstanding independent restaurants. Palapa's Surfside and Plate World Cuisine come immediately to mind. Too many people go to Chili's or Olive Garden again and again, and won't pay the little bit extra for outstanding food.

But there are plenty of local options for foodies without needing to drive to Denver: Blue Star, NOSH, Peppertree, The Famous, anything at the Broadmoor, Craftwood, Mona Lisa, Briarhurst, Walter's Bistro, Paraviccini's, Jake & Telly's, Sakura Sushi. There's a lot of very good restaurants to pick from. Sadly, most of our fair city thinks Red Lobster is fine dining.

Chili's?? Olive Garden??

No way. Not with my good hard earned money.

Thanks, Maynerd! I've read about a few of these on Yelp, and we will def check out Nosh while we're there in October (5th, 6th and 7th). Now you've given me a great list to go off, so I have some googling to do.

I heard about Sakura Sushi, and as a HUGE sushi fan (well, I'm not big, but my love for sushi sure is) I'll be sure to check em all out and give reviews on every place I eat. Get ready, city-data, when I move there in a year, I will be sharing my California-girl perspective on COS with the world. New blog too, maybe? We'll see.

[chilaili]

I've only been to COS a couple of times but I really liked Gertrude's on W Colorado Avenue. Also, the "English" pub at the Broadmoor is pretty good.

[misscassandra]

Originally Posted by chilaili

I've only been to COS a couple of times but I really liked Gertrude's on W Colorado Avenue. Also, the "English" pub at the Broadmoor is pretty good.

oh man i'm going to make such a long list of recommended places...i may even get all nerd about it and organize a map with recommended eateries/pubs/etc...

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by misscassandra

oh man i'm going to make such a long list of recommended places...i may even get all nerd about it and organize a map with recommended eateries/pubs/etc...

You do that too ?