Casa Bonita in Denver, CO

I had never heard of Casa Bonita in Denver. Before going, I was discussing my upcoming trip with someone who had just returned from Colorado. I was told that Casa Bonita is a horrible restaurant that I must visit. Horrible and must visit aren't two phrases that often go together with restaurants, so I made up my mind that I must go!

Located in the corner of a strip mall, you enter and order your food at a counter. It is handed to you almost immediately, which I'm assuming means everything is pretty much pre-made. You are then brought to your table. This leads you into an open area overlooking cliffs, waterfalls filling a pool down below, a town, and more. I see some definite inspiration for Epcot's Mexico Pavilion in Casa Bonita.

Chips and salsa were included in the meal, like most Mexican restaurants.

I had the Chile Rellenos Platter for my main course. I was honestly expecting crazy priced bad food, but the prices here were equivalent to other Mexican restaurants and the food was tasty enough. The platter came with two chile rellenos, rice, refried beans, guacamole, and sour cream. The serving size was very large and definitely filled me up.

Two Sapodillas were served for dessert with a bottle of honey for a topping. I was stuffed at this point, but I ate them along with my other food very slowly to stall. Stalling is important here because those cliffs and waterfalls in the center of Casa Bonita aren't just pretty decorations. Corny shows happen every fifteen minutes on the cliffs.

While I was eating, there was fire juggling, a cowboy gunfight, and a show with a guy in a gorilla suit. Every one of these bits ended in somebody diving off a cliff into the pool below. It was all extremely corny, but much more enjoyable to watch than some other themed restaurants like this that I've visited (like the Jeckyll and Hyde Club).

After I was done eating, I wandered around the restaurant for a while. I ventured into El Mercado, which was Casa Bonita's gift shop.

I also ventured into Black Bart's Cave. This dark, winding cave took me past pirates, paper mache monsters, buried treasure, and all sorts of cool stuff. It reminded me of something from Orlando's old Mystery Fun House.

I am totally glad I listened to the advise to visit Casa Bonita. This was probably the best Mexican restaurant I've visited that was described to me as horrible!

Colorado Pizza (Anthony's Pizza & Pasta in Golden, Pizza Alley in Denver, and Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs)

Somehow I ended up trying too much pizza while I was in Colorado. I wasn't planning on having so much pizza, but the opportunities seemed to arise. What I did find out, from my limited sample size, is that the Denver area of Colorado has some very respectable pizza. I can't say this about other cities that I've had multiple pizza data points with (ie- Atlanta).

Anthony's Pizza & Pasta (Golden, CO)

My first pizza experience was in the town of Golden at a restaurant called Anthony's Pizza & Pasta. Golden is a suburb of Denver which seems like they want to be historic while the majority of the buildings in downtown looked very new. Anthony's was located in one of these very new looking buildings. I ordered a slice of cheese. It was a large slice with nice thin crust. It was pretty tasty. Not the best slice ever, but it was still good.

Pizza Alley (Denver, CO)

Pizza Alley was in Dever's Highland Park neighborhood. I stumbled upon this place as I was looking for dinner while finding out that restaurants in Colorado close very early. I was later told this is because of Colorado's outdated liquor laws that only allow alcohol to be served to 11 pm. Not sure why this causes a whole lot of restaurants to close at 8:30 pm or how accurate this was. Pizza Alley closed at 9 and they said I had plenty of time to eat there if I was only getting slices when I arrived at 8:45. My slice of cheese and white pizza weren't served until 9:10, and I was pretty much shoed out the door as soon as they were delivered to my table. I have a feeling someone forgot to put them in the oven. The pizza was good. Like Anthony's, this was thin NY style pizza. The slices were big enough to hang over the edges of paper plates. Both were good, but I preferred the very garlic heavy white pizza.

Beau Jo's (Idaho Springs, CO)

My third pizza experience in Colorado was at Beau Jo's in Idaho Springs. Unlike Golden, Idaho Springs seemed like all the buildings were actually old and historic. I wasn't planning on pizza for a third time in a four day trip, but when I noticed their sign was touting Colorado Style Pizza, I decided I must give it a try. I had never heard of Colorado having their own regional style of pizza, so I was curious.

On the menu, Beau Jo's gave options for what fell into the category of Colorado style pizza. They gave the option of Mountain Pies or Prairie Pies. They were sold by weight, ranging from 1 pound to 5 pound pies. According to my waiter, the Mountain Pies were the more unique pizzas, while the Prairie Pies were pretty much a typical pizza. I picked one of their Moutain Pies called the Yukon. It was topped with sauce, Canadian bacon, artichoke hearts, roma tomatoes, mozzarella, and provolone. The pie had an interesting twisted crust. It was definitely similar to a deep dish pizza with the crust holding the mass of toppings in. Unlike a Chicago style deep dish pizza, I don't think this was cooked in a pan. This Yukon pizza was the most interesting pizza I had in Colorado, but it was also my least favorite. The sauce reminded me of Lunchables pizza sauce. I'm not exactly sure how I remember how this sauce taste since I don't ever remember eating many of these. I wasn't a big fan. The tomatoes and artichoke hearts were soggy which made all of the juices pool over the slices of Canadian bacon. This meant a wave of liquid rolled off of the meat every time I picked up a slice, bringing the cheese with it. 

My first experience with a Colorado Style pizza didn't impress me, but at least I can say I've tried this type of pizza!

Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs in Denver, CO

I went on a trip to the Denver area for a few days recently. One of my first dining experiences in Denver was at a restaurant called Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs.

Before I visited Denver, this was one of the restaurants that I got a recommendation to try. Biker Jim's doesn't serve your standard hot dog. The dogs that they serve contain exotic meats. They had reindeer dogs. There were jack-a-lope dogs. The hot dog that I tried was the Rattlesnake and Pheasant. The sausage was filled with two meats that I had never tried before. Pheasant, a wild game bird, combined with venomous reptiles. How could I resist trying something like that!?

I had my dog topped with The Desert. This was harissa roasted cactus, Malaysian curry jam scallions, cilantro, with fried and grilled onions. For the sausage itself, the pheasant and rattlesnake combination had a very poultry-like flavor and consistency. If I didn't know what I had ordered, I'd assume this was a standard chicken or turkey sausage. It makes sense with the pheasant, but rattlesnake was an unknown. I guess rattlesnake tastes like chicken? The toppings really made the hot dog. I think if it was only the sausage, I'd be disappointed with Biker Jim's (besides the thrill of eating venomous snake). The cactus was delicious, and along side the other toppings, provided a delicious flavor combination.

Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs was probably one of the most unique hot dog restaurants I've been to. It was a very nice introduction to food in Colorado...