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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…

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,…

Deion Sanders still doesn’t have a defensive coordinator. He also doesn’t technically have his gifted Colorado dream house … yet. In a viral video posted by Deion Sanders Jr.’s Well Off Media channel last weekend, the CU football coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer was shown around a home worth $7.2 million between Boulder and Golden near Highway 93. Multiple outlets reported that the property had been purchased by the coach’s sons as a gift to him. However, records indicate it was still listed for purchase as of early…

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…

Richard Clough, Mary Schlangenstein | Bloomberg News (TNS) It was supposed to be the merger from heaven — or at least, from 30,000 feet. But now, the collapse of the $3.8 billion deal between JetBlue Airways Corp. and Spirit Airlines Inc. over antitrust concerns leaves the two carriers adrift, upending the low-cost travel sector and tarnishing the legacy of JetBlue’s swashbuckling CEO as he heads for the exits. A federal judge’s decision to scuttle the buyout means JetBlue will continue to be relegated to second-tier…

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…