Tiffany "Ladyhawk" N.'s Profile

I ordered one slice of pie at the window and was startled when it was over $4, but then the slice arrived and I remembered that these slices are as big as two slices of pizza anywhere else. Just thought I'd put a price disclaimer out there in case anyone else gets mildly started like I did, because the size and the taste make this slice worth the dinero.

First of all, Madison Street is very, very family friendly. This can be good or bad, depending on what you are looking for, but I think it's good to set expectation for what you might find at a restaurant. And here they have fun things like sidewalk chalk and games for your younger family members to enjoy during dinner.

Secondly, it's not a huge place so if you go with a group you might want to go on a not-so-busy night or call ahead to see if you can get a table saved.

As for my dining experience here, I really enjoyed it. Nick and I ordered a wide variety of items so I could do my favorite dinner activity - sampling. I was able to try the cheese plate (3 types of cheese, crackers, and a homemade spread from cranberries), wings (spicy, but not overly so), a chop salad (big enough to have as a meal on its own, especially if you add shrimp or chicken as you can), and truffled aioli fries (impossible to go wrong here in my opinion.)

They have a good cocktail menu, too which I eyed enviously, but couldn't partake in. However, I definitely see myself coming back to enjoy one of those libations this summer time on the lovely party.

I really like having Aqua Lounge as a neighborhood bar. There are a few reasons for this, but first and foremost it's because the service here is so amazingly friendly. They never hover, but always magically appear when you need something. It's awesome.

I also enjoy their Geeks Who Drink trivia. This isn't one of the super serious locations for trivia. People here are having a good time instead of a cutthroat competition, which is more my speed. And while Aqua Lounge doesn't have food for trivia night they put out some snack for anyone playing to partake in, things like chips and sandwiches, which is a really cool thing to do.

There is a parking lot just next to it so you don't have to worry about parking in the streets. And when you are looking for this place you have to look for the sign for Mozart's because that is the most prominent sign for this building. Rest assured though it is in fact Aqua Lounge.

It seems they have plenty of fun events each night, even a live piano player on the weekend and so while I'm out of the drinking pool for now I still enjoy spending time there with friends and the friendly company in the bar.

Gallop Cafe is definitely more of a cafe and less of a coffee shop. It's also more of a cafe and less of a restaurant. So, those are some things to consider when going here. In fact, it brings to mind the idea of a European cafe where people linger over conversations and coffee and small plates.

There are a handful of smaller tables (2-4 tops) and some seats at the "bar." They have quite a few tasty bites, including quiche of the day (yummy), baked goods, and sandwiches. And they have a full bar where they make the giant-est Bloody Marys in addition to coffee drinks.

It had been a while since I had been to Gallop, but after my recent visit for tea and lunch I have to make it a point to not let so much time pass before I go here again.

Having a restaurant in walking distance is always a plus no matter where you're living. For Sir Nicholas and I the Cherry Tomato is one of those restaurants these days and it's quite nice to have a place that feels so family-oriented nearby. While I'm not a huge fan of eating Italian out there are a couple of dishes here that I've ordered and really enjoyed, but usually it's the ravioli of the day that I order and end up loving so I recommend getting that.

The service has always been interesting. It's not that I think they are ignoring us specifically, it's that I think they are ignoring everyone to a slight degree on purpose because the meal's here aren't rushed. Sort of like true European style. You have time to sit down, seriously consider the drink menu, the food menu and the surroundings often before you are greeted. You also have plenty of time to devour bread with olive oil and vinegar before a drink that you might have ordered graces your table. That's okay though because you also have water delivered right when you get there so you are by no means parched. You have time to savor your meal, enjoying bite after bite in a leisurely way. And although it's something we don't get to experience very often in American dining, it's not a bad thing at all.

Beyond my recommended ravioli of the day I've also enjoyed the salads, the gnocchi, and the risotto. All in all the food has always been satisfying. However, if I didn't live in the neighborhood I'm not sure I'd make special trips to eat here. But, then again I'm not a big fan of eating Italian out like I said in the beginning.

I'm kind of surprised that this King Soopers has such a low rating honestly. While it's definitely not the nicest or best King Soopers I've been to in Denver the staff is super, super friendly and even on a dreaded Saturday morning grocery shopping trip they managed to keep the lines down to a minimum thanks to lots of self-checkouts and a plethora of open lines with cashiers. I think I was second in the line I joined around noon on a Saturday, even though the store was seriously packed.

They also feature a gas station and a drive-thru pharmacy at this location which is pretty cool. And while I was there it seemed like a very neighborly place as folks in the aisles kept running into other people they knew and saying hello, inquiring about families and so on.

As for the negatives - yes it is crowded, but we are in a grocery store wasteland over here and there are many folks that have to go here as it's the only one for a while. Apparently getting into the gas station leaves something to be desired. And the store layout is a little strange to me. But, truly I would much rather go to this King Soopers than the one on 14th any day of the week.

Sir Nicholas and I bought a pretty old home (it's over 100 years, barely, but there) and it was originally a one story brick craftsman styled home. Apparently some time in the 70s the owner needed more room because they had a lot of children (13 according to the owners we bought the home from) and so they dug out the basement and made a brand new floor. While this expanded the house by almost double I'm fairly certain there weren't bothersome things like building permits or regulations back them because one of the rooms was dug out of a crawl space and the dirt was simple put behind dry wall. Now I know next to nothing about construction, but I do know dry wall isn't made to hold a lot of water and it certainly isn't very sustainable against water, which happens to find it's way into the dirt under homes on occasion. So, when Nick and I bought this home it was with the concession that the drywall get torn down and replaced with a concrete retaining wall and that is where Park Range Construction comes into this story.

Nick and I called multiple construction companies for quotes on this project and the professionalism ranged from people who never showed, showed up and never sent us quotes and people who showed up on time and sent us quotes in a timely manner. Park Range was in this third bucket. And not only were they prompt and polite they also bid this job at the most reasonable price (in comparison to one other company the bid was several thousand dollars less. Yes, thousands.) And not only that they said they could start the soonest and be done the quickest. So we hired them.

At the end of the day what we had them do wasn't pretty - it's a concrete wall for crying out loud, so aesthetics aren't worth mentioning but the workers that came everyday were so polite and did a really great job. Not to mention that the downstairs was completely covered in dirt, dust and muck due to all the construction and they cleaned up after it all in a way that left me very impressed. The finished the job in the quoted time for the quoted price and I really don't think you can ask for much more than that.

Why not 5 stars then? I think there was a couple of mis-communications around progress and when workers would show up. For example, after pouring concrete you have to let it sit for a day so no one came the day after they poured the concrete. No big deal, but since they were coming at 7, which means I was waking up way early it would have been nice to know I could have slept a little longer that day. And I think a foreman was supposed to do a final walk through with us. One was here when we did a walk through, but he stayed outside rather than coming down with us which wasn't exactly what we thought would happen, but worked out okay anyway. So, neither thing was a big deal, but they did leave me with a little confusion at times throughout the process which can maybe be avoided in the future.

I'm afraid I might get booed out of Denver for this review, but here goes nothing...

I've never been to a rodeo before going to the one in Denver this year. I think the only thing I knew that happened at a rodeo was bull riding and I was okay with watching this event happen even though I was a little concerned that perhaps the cowboys might get injured by angry bulls. I mean, it's not like it's a secret that riding a worked-up bull *might* be dangerous, right? But, I wasn't prepared for how sad I would feel watching events that many people find extremely endearing, like mutton busting. In theory this sounds cute - put a bunch of small kids in helmets and pads, put them on a sheep and tell them to hang on for dear life... let the comedy ensue. But, to make the sheep run they have to give it a target which is another sheep that is quite obviously severely distressed about being separated from the pack and pulled into the middle of a large, overly bright arena by a muzzle. I mean maybe they could put one or two other sheep out there to keep the first one company and make him a little comforted? I don't know, but it was hard to watch. Also, when the kids fall off, 9 times out of 10 they are getting sheep-stomped which is also hard to watch. Another sad sight? Calf roping. Poor trussed-up little cows. Honestly it was even hard for me to watch the barrel racing when the horses were doing more barreling into the barrels and less of the racing. So, the moral of the story is that even though I'm no vegetarian and it may not be animal cruelty I don't know that I can appreciate hog-tieing animals for sport.

Another downer, and as someone else said, the stock show food is just like fair food that the National Western Complex sells at any other event, which in a word, is gross. So, eating before you go is highly recommended.

As a disclaimer for this event I will say that if you have been to, and enjoyed, a rodeo in your past then this one is apparently quite fun and you will most likely enjoy it. At least according to all my friends who have been going for years and took me to this year's event.

Seriously. How adorable is this place? I want to buy everything in it, from the actual food that they sell to the kitchen utensils and items they also sell and maybe even just the stuff they use to display items for sale. But, I wasn't at So Perfect Eats for a shopping spree I was there for lunch and I'm happy to say it did not disappoint in the slightest.

The menu is pretty big considering the size of the space and it consists mostly of soup, salads, and sandwiches with a few other items thrown in for fun like mac 'n cheese and all the delicious sweet treats. They have specials each day that feature soups, salads, and some sort of comfort food. To drink they have an assortment of coffees and teas (hot or iced) as well as sodas and water. And they sell plenty of baked goods and appetizer trays to go.

On my recent lunch outing I was having a hard time deciding what to get because so many things sounded good, but ultimately I went with a cup of white bean chicken chili (served with a cute little cheesey muffin) and a Perfect Pear salad (baby spinach, dried cherries, gorgonzola, grilled chicken, fresh pear, and toasted pinenuts.) It was definitely too much food for me to eat in one sitting, but it was all quite delicious.

I also ordered an iced sugar cookie and while it was beautiful the cookie itself was a little too crisp for my tastes. I like them soft and chewy when we're talking sugar cookies. However, since that was the only part of my lunch that I wasn't 100% into I'm definitely going to be back and I recommend you check it out, too next time you're in the area.

Spinelli's is truly a neighborhood market and I'm so glad to have it near my new home. There is a small selection of a wide variety of things from fresh fruit and ice cream to ready-made sandwiches and prepared meals so if you're in a pinch or just looking for lunch, chances are they'll have something for you.

All sandwiches come with a pickle and your choice of salad of the day (think macaroni or potato, not green stuff) or a piece of fruit and a pickle. The fruit and the pickles sit right on the counter where you order your sandwich so if you want that you can just pick it out yourself. An in-the-know tip for y'all - you can order your sandwiches ahead of time and then when you are ready just saunter on in to the back and tell them your name. Your sandwich will be ready and waiting and you'll be in and out in no time at all.

On a recent trip I also decided to pick up a pineapple and as I was checking out the lady helping me told me that they have a policy on fruits like pineapples - since there's no way to guarantee the inside hasn't gone bad if I got home and realized it had gone bad I could just come back and get a new one, no need to return the old, rotten one. I thought that was pretty dang cool and just reinforce my desire to want to support this cute little shop.

There is one table, just one, for sitting there and eating in. But, I recommend getting your sandwiches to go to be safe. If it's a nice day out you could always take it to the small park across the street or over to City Park and soak up some Vitamin D.