Boulder Restaurants

Avery Bewing is the big boy of Colorado craft beer. Though it was around (just barely) on my 1994 swing through the state, it was not well known until winning a gold medal that very autumn at the Great American Beer Festival. It's been all up since then and we can even get their well-made beers in South Florida now. Despite their success, the remain a quirky affair and was every glad we decided to stop at their tasting room on our way back from Denver, heading towards South Dakota. It was the highlight beer-wise of our 2008 Colorado visit though I guess New Belgium was the most fun.

Avery Brewing is located in an ugly industrial complex on the outskirts of Boulder so the average tourist would never make it out there. With only one night in town, even a beer aficionado like myself didn't make it. But I did take the long way to South Dakota from Denver with a brief re-visit to Boulder only a day after the first for one reason only: Avery Brewing! Once you walk in the door of the tasting room, it's less than ideal location fades. It's a nice roomy, all wood bar with a small bar at which you place your orders. The bartender was very friendly. You get five wooden tokens for free and each one is worth a healthy six-ounce sample. The had many of their noted beers on tap. Since my wife was nice enough to drive the remaining leg of our escape from Colorado, she gave me most of her tasters so I had ten to work with. The bartender was a bit lax on collecting the tokens and I purchased a few extras so had more than my share. Hey, I don't know when I'll ever get back out here again!

At the time, they did not serve any food but I see from their website that they now have some simple items. Since they had no food, the bartender said we could order food from somewhere else for delivery. We opted to sit outside since it was a sunny warm day and broke out the cheese and Wasa bread, the perfect accompaniment to the great beers of Avery. 1) White Rascal-5.6%-Honey hued authentic Belgian style witbier w/ corriander/clove interplay. Nice clean finish. Well done. 2) Ellie's Brown-5.6%-Rich malty brown ale w/ spicy overtones, reminiscent of a Marzen. 3) Old Jubilation-8%-Mahogany Christmas ale, spicy from addition of fine malts rather than spices. Just the right hops to make for an amazingly clean finish for a beer of this strength. 4) Salvation-9%-Golden pale ale in the Duvel mold. Firm malty palate but drying well in semi-bitter finish. All too easy to drink at this strength. 5) Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest-9.5%-cask-Super rich malty fest style lager w/ some spicy notes. Not as crisp & dry as a true Marzen but then again about 4% stronger. A little disappointing, it sounded almost too good to be true.

Favorite Dish: 6) Collaboration-Avery's Belgian Double mixed with Russian River's (noted brewery in Santa Rosa, CA)-Unfiltered amber w/yeasty fruit palate. Semi-dry clean finish. Very nice. 7) The Reverend-10%-Huge malt presence w/ dried fruit & cherry overtones in Avery's attempt at a Quadrupple. Slightly sour semi-dry finish. Not bad for something so ambitious. 8) Liquor Mart Pale Ale-Deep golden Belgian style pale ale with fruit palate and clean fry finish. Bad name for a very good beer. Surprising. 9) Maharaja Imperial IPA-11%-Talk about huge malt. Talk about huge hops. Talk about all too easy to drink for 11%. A Beautiful mix of bready malt and citrusy hops. Clean dry finish. Another winner. 10) IPA-6.5%-Light golden firm hoppy brew well-balanced with Munich malt which imparts some fruitiness. Dry and bitter but not overly so. Very nice. 11)IPA-cask-Softer body but same same lovely interplay of hops and malt as above. 12) Ale to the Chief-dry-hopped-Rich malty toffee overtones w/ equally big hop presence making for a balanced complex ale with along dry finish. Lovely.

We bought some bottles for later too: 13) Out of Bound Stout-Black w/ tan head. Very dry and bitter stout that remains quite drinkable and smooth due to generous malt additions. 14) Hog Heaven-9.2%-Avery's barley-wine is slightly filtered w/ a massive head and citrus hop nose. Huge malt palate but easily balance by equally huge hop additions. 15) The Czar Imperial Stout-11.7%-Black opaque w/ dense tan head and dried fruit/anise nose. Full-bodied massive stout w/ roasty malt palate and bittersweet finish. Fairly dry considering how the strength.

We paid $21 for our extra beers and bottles to go plus tip. This is a great stop. Just make sure you have a designated driver or if staying in town, take a taxi! Thanks, D. :)

The Walnut Brewery was not on the agenda of my return visit to Boulder in 2008. Though it must have been good enough in 1994 to prod me into buying one of their t-shirts, it did not look overly promising when I check out their website prior to returning. It looked to have gone a bit upscale and corporate and with only one night in town, I figured Mountain Sun would do the trick. While walking around town after having dinner at Mountain Sun, we just happened to walk right by the Walnut Brewery and my wife nicely agreed to going in for just one beer. It was a very nice place but as I had envisioned, a bit corporate and upscale. We sat at the bar since we were not intending on eating.

Favorite Dish: Once we saw the menu, we realized were not exactly stuffed from our burgers at Mountain Sun so decided to split the special of the day: pork loin over mashed potatoes with green beans. Though pricier than Mountain Sun, it was heavenly and we probably could have eaten a whole one each despite having already eaten. Hiking and camping in freezing temperatures burns a lot of calories I guess!

The beers were surprising good. 1) Oktoberfest-Rich malty fest beer w/ some spicy notes. Not too sweet and semi-dry finish. 2) Devil's Thumb-Black w/ thin tan head. Roasty bitterness w/ some chocolate notes. 3) 1123 IPA-cask-Light golden w/ thin creamy head and soft mouthfeel. Dry and slightly bitter. Easy drinking session beer.

We paid $28 for three pints, the one meal and tip.

Mountain Sun was one of the brewpubs from my 1994 first visit to Colorado that I wanted to return to most. It ranked second after Wynkoop in Denver for that honor. I remember it being this incredibly cool place, with a big oval bar, great friendly bartenders and locals that welcomed you like you had been coming there for ages. I was a little perplexed to walk into a narrow long restaurant with a very small bar all the way at the rear. It was packed, that much was familiar but grabbing a stool at the bar looked entirely out of the question so we queued up for a table. Once we got one of those, everything else fell into place. It was still this alternative-looking place but now it seemed to be more a restaurant and it had lost much of its charm for me. It was none-the-less a nice place to celebrate our successful stint at Rocky Mountain National Park.

After five days of camping, we were both dying for some meat. Beef being the choice, we both opted for the Bacon Cheese Burger ($6.95)-1/3 lbs of all natural, antibiotics/steroid free Colorado beef topped with cheddar, a few nice strips of bacon (not sure if this was so natural!), tomato and lettuce. It came with corn chips but we paid the extra buck to get their fresh cut french fries. They were well worth it and the burgers were top notch. They seemed a bit small but maybe we were just hungry from all the hiking!

Favorite Dish: The beers were good but nothing really special. I guess back in 1994, this was one of the first places I visited and to be honest, the overall quality of craft beer back then was not as good as it is today. At any rate, the they went down well. 1) Annapurna Amber-nitro-Unfiltered amber w/ creamy head and mouthfeel. Great mix of hops & malt. Nothing out of the ordinary but well made and easy to drink. 2) Colorado Kind Ale-Dark amber w/ run of the mill hops/malt mix. Would have been better if waiter had brought this before above as I had ordered it! 3) Isadore Java Porter-Black w/ thin tan head and coffee nose. Bitter chocolate palate and semi-dry bitter finish. Nice. 4) Old School Dry Irish Stout-nitro-Black w/ creamy tan head. A real Guinness clone with sourish malt interplayed well with roasty bitterness. Not my style but very well made. 5) Illusion Dweller IPA-nitro-Unfiltered amber. A very clean dry hoppy beer made smoother by intro serve. Decent malt presence. Probably the best of the non-dark beers. Stick to the porter if that's what you normally drink.

Sixteen ounce pints were $3.50. Eight once glasses are a whopping $2.75! Happy Hour 4-6.

We paid $45 for dinner, beers, and tip.

A great little sushi restaurant in the heart of artsy Boulder, Colorado where one can reasonably have an amazing amount of unlimited sushi for a reasonable price. Its one of my favorite places in Colorado. Lunch special is 13.95 and the dinner special is $18.95. As with any all-you-can-eat Sushi restaurants, you have to eat everything you order or you'll pay extra. They limit how much you can have per order run, but they continuously come back for your next run as you've devoured the first. Covers appetizers, nigiri, and rolls. Edamame, Miso soup, tempura, terriyaki are all appetizer selections. Even high priced special rolls like the Dragon and the Rainbow can be obtained in the price. What an excellent concept, excellent sushi, great service, and an all around fabulous deal. Rating: 5 stars out of 5.

D'Napoli Ristorante was a cozy, cute little Italian restaurant right off of the busy Pearl Street Mall area. It's New York style, so it had the home-cooked feeling and generous servings as well as a pizza menu.

Dinner and drinks will come to $15-$25, depending on whether or not you chose seafood or drank wine. They had a pretty good wine list.

I recommended it for dates and wish something like it would come back to Boulder.

Favorite Dish: For appetizers, I liked the fried calamari! For the main dishes, I usually had the pasta alfredo, but the baked ziti was spectacular as well.

This is my favorite place in Boulder, period. I go there to eat, get drinks, hang out with friends, or relax with a book and a pot of tea. It's gorgeous and spacious - the ambiance is amazing, both indoors and out on the patio right next to the creek. There's ample room to sit down most of the time, and even the inexpensive menu items are mouthwatering. The building was donated to the City of Boulder by its sister city, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Artisans built it by hand using traditional tools, disassembled it, and shipped it to Colorado for reassembly. It is the only structure of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The owners of the restaurant also run several more places in town, and each of them cook using organic produce from a local farm.

Favorite Dish: The Asian Chicken Salad is so good that I'm often afraid to order anything else, ever, because that would mean missing out on the Asian Chicken Salad.

You'll get fine teas here that aren't available most other places, so I like to order off the "specials" section of the tea menu.

This gem in downtown Boulder is a great place to enjoy a fabulous meal! You will feel like you are miles away from Boulder. Always crowded so try to get there early and grab a table at the bar while you wait (you can also eat here if you choose). When the weather is nice, try to get a table outside by the fountain

GREAT HAPPY HOUR

Favorite Dish: The Seafood Paella is incredible, and tastes extremely fresh (you will forget youre in a landlocked state)! Their pizzas are great too. For lighter fare try the tapas plates (the lamb kebobs are great, as is the hummus). Their white wine sangria is a must try as well

The Sink is a great place to grab a burger and sit with friends. This low-ceiling restaurant has a great Boulder vibe with writing and comic paintings all over the walls. This place turns into a relatively fun and low key bar at night-time. Try to grab a table outside when the weather is nice to enjoy you meal even more with the gorgeous scenery!

Restaurant Open 11am-10pm Daily
Bar Open 11am-2am

Favorite Dish: The Sink has GREAT chicken fingers and french fries-you will be craving more for months! The appetizer cheesy bread is a must too