Los Cabos II, a delicious Peruvian restaurant in downtown Denver.

They are well known for their weekday lunchtime buffets, where you get to sample just about everything. They do an upscale version of the buffet on Sundays.

This particular night I was there for dinner.

The front dish is their Lomo Saltado, with a Pisco Sour Peruvian cocktail. I don’t recall the name of the other dish, but it had a fantastic cilantro sauce!

Ad from 1959

Not a brewery or a brew pub, Brewery Bar II is a blue-collar, Denver-native, Mexican restaurant with one of the city’s best examples of Colorado green chili.

It is called Brewery Bar II, as the original Brewery Bar was located in the Tivoli Brewery. It moved in 1974 to this spot on Kalamath. The Lundstrom Family has since opened two more locations, one in Highlands Ranch and another in Aurora.

Their green chili is spicy hot and incredibly delicious. At the full bar, I notice that many customers prefer beer, so it may not be well known that Brewery Bar makes one of the best margaritas in town. If you have enough people, get a pitcher and it is served “ice on the side”!

I usually go for the #6, which is a chile relleno and a cheese enchilada. The next step up is the #1 which has a burrito in place of the enchilada, but the #6 is plenty of food for me, as you can see above.

Although the address I find listed for El Paraiso says “Denver”, I believe this restaurant is actually located in the city of Lakeside. Yes, Lakeside is actually a small city, and El Paraiso resides on the west side between a bank and Lake Rhoda. In the summer the Lakeside train rides up right alongside El Paraiso’s parking lot.

El Paraiso has a great colorful sprawling stucco and tile interior, extensively decorated to reflect “Paradise” impicit in the name.

The 4 sided fireplace of El Paraiso.

This has to be one of the best Mexican restaurants in the Denver area. It has one of those massive menus filled with accurate photos of the dishes you can order. They specialize in meats and seafood, and most meals have a decent amount of heat and spice.

This visit, I went with Tacos De Alambre so I could try their homemade corn tortillas. El Pariaso’s De Alambre includes bacon, so I was a little extra happy about that. Look at that delicious plate.

The key dish served at this El Pariaso is the Parrillada (Spanish for “mixed grill”). A Parrillada is a giant hibachi style dish piled high with a massive variety of food. They have single person or family sized versions, but both are massive and more than one person can deal with.

I have eaten here a few times, but have yet to order one of these. But I plan on returning soon and when I do, I will be posting a photo of the Parrillada I order, here.

1959 Denver ad

With recent attention given to this place by reviews in Westword, Pho 95 is rapidly getting the reputation as one of the best places to eat in Denver. Pho is a delicious form of Vietnamese soup.

Located on S. Federal which is one of the most diverse streets in town. There are uncountable tiny restaurants in aging strip malls. This street is one of the best places to go to eat Asian and Mexican food.

Don’t be put off by appearances. As I toured some relatives through Denver, I drove them through this area thinking they would be impressed by the sheer variety of ethnic restaurants. They said “Don’t worry, every city has bad parts of town”. I guessed they missed my point.

The Pho at Pho 95 is absolutely incredible, not overly salty. When eating Pho, you start with the bowl in the picture above and add items to suit. The key is knowing just how much heat to add, using sliced green chilis and other items at your disposal.