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For 50 years, a Pepto Bismol-pink tower has loomed large over the Lakewood shopping center marking the spot of the legendary Casa Bonita. The tower is something of a beacon, calling to longtime fans and would-be diners with the promise of mariachi music, cliff divers, crispy sopapillas and the kind of fun that inspires childlike joy. Next week will mark the 50th anniversary the day that Oklahoma City entrepreneur Bill Waugh opened Denver’s Casa Bonita in a former Joslin’s department store. The restaurant was part of a…

A Denver distillery is relocating operations to the suburbs, and when it does it will close its taproom and restaurant in the city. Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, which opened in the River North Arts District in 2018, will soon break ground on a brand new production facility located at 1303 Empire Rd. in Louisville. According to an announcement Wednesday, the new spot will enable the company to bring its distillery and barrel-aging program under one roof and to provide a new drink-centric destination for locals.…

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems). I was born on St. Patrick’s Day, which is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because people tend to remember to wish me a good day. In fact, you’d be surprised how many birthday cards you can find for people born on specific holidays. It’s a curse because it also…

A new THC-infused seltzer is now available in Colorado and, in a departure from cannabis norms, locals don’t need to go to a dispensary to purchase it. That’s because Cann seltzers are made with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) extracted from hemp rather than from marijuana. In Colorado, marijuana can only be sold by heavily regulated dispensaries or recreational pot shops. But since hemp isn’t a federally controlled substance, products derived from it can be sold anywhere. In January, Cann launched one of…

Ana Fanakra sat in her bakery on the 16th Street Mall on what turned out to be its last day in business, Feb. 3, waiting for customers. But not many came, and she decided to close up early. “We had really low sales that day,” she said. “We hadn’t even made $100 yet, which was a very accurate picture of what the last couple of months looked like for us.” The next day, she decided to call it quits, closing both the original location of Ana’s Norwegian Bakeri, which opened in Centennial in June 2021, and the downtown bakery,…

Coloradans looking for excellent whiskey don’t need to look far. That’s according to the judges at the Whisky Magazine Awards, who recently honored several local distilleries in its nationwide competition. Laws Whiskey House’s Four Grain Bourbon Cask Strength was named the best single-barrel bourbon (non-Kentucky) at the 2024 Whisky Magazine Awards.(Provided by Laws Whiskey House) Six Colorado spirits makers earned accolades in categories such as best finished bourbon made outside of Kentucky and best single-cask,…

There are a plethora of highly anticipated restaurants making their debut in Denver this year, but if you can’t wait that long to satisfy your appetite, Yelp is here to help. On Tuesday, the restaurant review platform released its annual list of the top 100 places to eat in the U.S. in 2024, which includes three spots in Denver and one in Lafayette. It’s the 11th time Yelp has curated the list by analyzing user submissions and ranking them based on review ratings and volumes, alongside community input. The top spot in…

If there’s one thing that Coloradans and visitors to the state share, it’s the sometimes crazy experience of driving on Interstate 70 between Denver and the mountains. So those who frequent the winding highway have assuredly come across the i70Things Instagram page, whether to check road conditions or have a few laughs at the expense of fellow motorists. Denver’s Alejandro Brown started the wildly popular Instagram account in December 2019 while sitting in traffic on the interstate and watching the winter madness from the…

Ten years after it first opened as part of the Oskar Blues Brewery’s group of “fooderies,” CHUBurger has returned to Longmont in a slightly different form. The fast-casual burger spot has opened in a permanent mobile kitchen at 3rd Shot Pickleball, 20 S. Bowen St., which Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis debuted in November with business partner Adam Kahn. Katechis has been an avid pickleball player for the past year. “CHUBurger never deserved to close down in the first place,” said Mike Gleason in a statement; Gleason is…

In a one-two move in Denver’s southern suburbs, Grist Brew Co. said Wednesday it will close its 12-year-old Highlands Ranch taphouse, at 9150 Commerce Center Circle, at the end of the year, while Littleton’s Living the Dream Brewing will take Grist’s place in January. Living the Dream is also moving into the small bar that Grist had been operating inside the Sterling Center, a building at 8155 Piney River Ave. that serves residents of Littleton’s Sterling Ranch neighborhood. That change will take place on Dec. 29. Grist…