Recently, Lara and I spent a few
days in Colorado for a belated honeymoon. Using Denver as our base of
operations, we took in plenty from that city as well as from Boulder and
Colorado Springs. Here is the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Celestial Seasonings
Located at
4600 Sleepytime Drive in Boulder, Celestial Seasonings is a tea factory that
offers free tours and samples seven days a week.
For anyone
with even the slightest interest in tea, Celestial Seasonings is a must. The
free tour is well-organized, efficiently run, and far from dull. You’ll get to
witness different aspects of the tea making process, and one whiff of the mint
storage room will clear your sinuses. The staff are courteous and knowledgeable
as well as prone to making terrible puns. In addition, prior to the start of
the tour, you can sample any variety of tea that Celestial has to offer. Even
the gift shop impressed by providing a wide selection (that extends well beyond
teas) without the expected upcharges.
The tour
does have a few restrictions – you have to sit through an introductory film,
wear a hair net, and cannot take pictures – but they are very minor
inconveniences. For a free, fun, and fulfilling diversion, Celestial Seasonings
is tea-riffic.
9/10
Rueben's Burger Bistro
Located at
1800 Broadway in Boulder, Rueben’s Burger Bistro specializes in burgers but
also offers apps, sandwiches, salads, tacos, shakes, and a few Belgian entrees.
There is a full bar, and a Belgian beer on special each day. Wines, cocktails,
and starters are half off during happy hour, and there are discounts on weekends.
With its
convenient location and unique theme – a Belgian cycling motif – Rueben’s is an
easy lure. The large beer selection (42 taps and more than 100 Belgian beers
available) and potential for decadence (stuffed burgers, spiked milkshakes, and
loaded mac and cheese are on the menu) only serve to enhance the appeal.
However, the high pricing leaves very little room for error.
For our
first visit, I opted for the Vuelta (mozzarella and pancetta stuffed burger
topped with onion straws, lettuce, pickles, and ponzu aioli) and fries while my
wife tried the Break Away (burger topped with roasted beets, pepper jack,
pancetta, and avocado ranch) and sweet potato fries. In both cases, the burgers
were juicy and the fries were crisp. While the Vuelta was rather salty, the
beets in the Break Away offered a bit of sweetness to balance out the pancetta.
The fries came with a choice of dipping sauce, and the roasted garlic aioli
proved to be a fine accompaniment.
The food
was enjoyable, and our server, Zakk, offered helpful food and drink
recommendations, but as mentioned, the pricing here is a reach. Burgers (with a
side of fries – other sides are extra) start at $11 for the Training Wheels
(lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion) and top out at $16 for the Cyclocross
(similar to the Vuelta but with pork belly and bacon in place of onion straws
and pickles). By way of comparison, our go-to burger place at home (Hop’s
Burger Bar in Greensboro, ranked as one of the best in the country) tops out at
$11.
All told,
Rueben’s is a good lunch spot for anyone wandering the Pearl Street Mall, and
the burgers and beers offered are fairly satisfying, but be prepared to overpay
for the experience.
8/10
The Rackhouse
Located at
2875 Blake Street in Denver, The Rackhouse serves as the tasting room for C
Squared Ciders and Bierstadt Lagers. The establishment offers sandwiches, apps,
a few entrees, and mac and cheese combinations as well as a full bar.
Housed in
a former book binding warehouse in Denver’s River North Art District, the
Rackhouse isn’t the easiest place to locate. The restaurant is located on the
second floor (cider production occupies much of the first), a fact that some
signage would do well to illuminate. Once you find the place, however, the
industrial décor stands out: the tables have (decorative) electric switches,
and you can get a view of giant barrels down below.
The menu
here is somewhat limited, but even with relatively few choices (and Bierstadt
unavailable while the next batch was in production), we still found some
appealing options. A starter of mac and cheese (you can also get this as an
entrée with a different meat, veggie, or seafood each day) was excellent. The
six-cheese recipe was creamy and gooey, and it paired well with the pork dust
topping. My wife also enjoyed her Not Bacon LT, which featured mushrooms, fried
green tomato, and lemon ricotta on brioche: the lemon notes were an unusual but
welcome addition. I went with the Turducken, which combined roast turkey,
seared duck breast, and chicken spread on brioche. Though the sandwich
successfully evoked Thanksgiving, it sounded better on paper than it actually
tasted. Leaving off the accompanying cranberry chutney made it rather dry, and
it took an addition of (very good) house-made mustard to impart some needed
flavor. Among the available ciders, there is something to suit every palate
from dry to semi-sweet to infused with aromatics. The ciders are bereft of
added sugars and preservatives and have a clean, refreshing flavor.
Service at
The Rackhouse was fairly speedy, and the pricing ($5 for our cup-sized mac and
cheese starter, $9 and $12 respectively for our sandwiches) was toward the high
end of fair. Overall, The Rackhouse as a unique look, efficient service, and a
killer mac and cheese, but it needs more consistency, more signs, and perhaps
more options.
7.75/10
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