Denver Restaurant Week

February and March in Colorado can always be pretty darn boring.  Football is over, the weather is bad, Fishing hasn't started, it gets dark early... the list could go on and on.  However isn't it clever that in the middle of the boringness comes Denver Restaurant Week.  Brad and I always try to take advantage of the good $52.80 price for a couple and enjoy at least 1 new restaurant and old favorites.  This year we went to 3 great restaurants and had a good time at all of them and enjoyed some wonderful food.

Cafe Brazil  

Cafe Brazil is a very bright and colorful restaurant in a fun area called the Highlands.  The food here was traditional South American cuisine.  It was very bold and flavorful.  We went for a dear friends birthday party and there were 7 people in our party and all of us had nothing but great things to say about the food and the ambiance.  The 5280 menu they offered was great and featured their most traditional dishes.  I got the...

Haystack Mountain queso de mano browned on the griddle, served with palisade peach chutney, Marinated red beet dressed with grape seed oil and cider vinegar, and 10-ounce Medium Rare dry aged Black Angus Top sirloin with a jalapeno shoyu marinade along side of fresh field greens with tarragon dressing.  

Brad got the...

Prato Rustico (Queso fresco, marinated grilled eggplant and Spanish piquillo peppers), Red cabbage salad with sesame seeds, smoked goat cheese and mango vinaigrette, and Marinated double cut spring lamb chops with yogurt cucumber red onion salsa along side cherub tomato and fennel salad.

Brad's Lamb was AMAZING.  We never really eat lamb but this was the best.  We highly recommend putting this restaurant on your list of new places to try in the Denver area.

Fogo de Chao

Fogo de Chao is every meat lovers dream.  Our great friend Maggie had gone to the same restaurant in Kansas City, MO and insisted we all try it out for restaurant week.  They advertise themselves to be an "Authentic Brazilian Steak House" and offer an excellent salad bar and traditional Brazilian side dishes.  You definitely need to fast before going and plan to spend at least 2-3 hours there as you will want to eat in parts.  We started off at the salad bar which had so many amazing choices including the largest asparagus I have ever seen.   After the salad bar you have a sign for them to stop or go when it comes to the meat.  If your sign is in the go position then they shower you with all the meat you could ever want.  There are over 10 meat choices and they will continue to put them on your plate until you have to be rolled out of the restaurant.  Also they come along and serve delishes side dishes.  We definitely didn't walk out of there with an appetite!!!  It was very good and you can enjoy it in many city's other then Denver.

Rioja

Rioja is Mediterranean ingredients influenced by local products.  The have amazing combinations of platters that always come together to taste amazing.  The atmosphere is very nice and it is located on the famous Larimier Street in Denver.  We even saw local news celebrities while dining.  Brad and I have been here 2 other times for other occasions and had nothing but the greatest experience and food.  I really enjoy their beet salad and their yummy desserts.  The also give you sugared mint leaves when you leave, I love the flavor and how light the mint leaves are.  This is a great place to visit before a show or game.  I HIGHLY recommend Rioja to anyone in the Denver area.  

Thank you to Tammy my sister in law for getting near imposable reservations so we could all enjoy the great experience of great food together.  

Already looking forward to next year an the new Restaurants to try!!!