Blue Cow Eatery

It was really hot, so we stopped for ice cream on the way out of that area at Blue Cow Eatery, a very local place with friendly servers. I had a vanilla milkshake and Kathy has a chocolate malt. Both were prety good, and the menu looked pretty neat too, if anyone is every up in Morrison, CO, hehe.

Mr. Sushi

Lunch at Mr. Sushi in Littleton. Emmanuel swears that it’s the best sushi ever. While the pieces of fish are quite large, it’s not the best place ever in Jonathan’s or my opinions. There were probably 12 or so of us at lunch, and I was the only one not to order miso soup or sunomono salad, so my entrée came first. I got the shrimp yakisoba, which was a semi-spicy stir-fried dish with noodles and veggies. It was pretty good. JB got the chicken teriyaki, and we split a Philly Roll (cream cheese and salmon). The teriyaki sauce was great, and I added some to my rice (which somehow came as a side to my noodle dish, LoL). I tried some of Kathy’s Ace roll but it had tempura in it so I wasn’t a huge fan. Andy had some great-looking eel, and Vanessa got a SkyDiver roll… with tuna, salmon, crab, and a ton of stuff.

Emmanuel and the boat

my shrimp yakisoba

JB's chicken teriyaki and sunomono salad

Casa Bonita

We met up with everyone to head to Casa Bonita for dinner and entertainment.

While it’s a pretty cool place, we timed it poorly. We didn’t arrive until after 8pm, and apparently nobody called to find out that they closed at 9pm that night. This meant that by the time we finished eating, the shows were all over and we didn’t have much time to walk through the attractions. The place is gigantic, and seats like 1100 people. There are cliff divers, mariachis, and gunmen (all of which we saw) among the events taking place. We missed out on the puppet shows, fire jugglers, a gorilla (which we briefly saw but not really), magicians, and dancers. There are also mines and caves to tour, plus various other things to explore. It’s really designed for kids, but is pretty fun.

Advice: you have to purchase a dinner, but the food is pretty bad. So get the cheapest thing, since you won’t eat it anyway. Save the room for the sopapillas, which are free and all-you-can-eat, and DELICIOUS. We went with the fajitas, since they have the best reviews… but they weren’t worth even half the price (and they were about $18!). Cheap-tasting and salty. Bleh. And the tortillas were in a Ziploc.

Noodles & Company

Thursday afternoon the group was free from all other activities, so we re-commenced being tourists. We ate lunch at Noodles & Company, which was pretty average. I had the Pesto Cavatappi, which was spiral noodles and pesto sauce with parmesan-crusted chicken, tomatoes, and garlic (hold the mushrooms). Jonathan had the macaroni and cheese with chicken, also average.

Phantom Canyon Brewery

One dinner, a group of like 25 people headed to Phantom Canyon Brewery, which had some of the weirdest combinations I have ever encountered. For instance, there was a shrimp and lobster spaghetti in avocado citrus sauce. No lie. The Chipotle Caesar had buffalo shrimp and pita bread in it! Anyway, I ordered the chicken quesadillas, which were served with sour cream, mild salsa, and salsa verde, so they were fabulous (and among the thickest quesadillas I had ever seen!). Jonathan had fish and chips, pretty average. But what stole the meal was the appetizer we ordered: three soft pretzels with beer-cheese dip and stoneground mustard. DELICIOUS.

Old Chicago

I ended up eating alone at Old Chicago, since everyone else had work that night. Old Chicago is a pizza/pasta/draft house place, if that makes sense. I got the chicken parmiagiana and it was fabulous. Unfortunately, it took an hour just for me, but I wasn’t really in a hurry so it wasn’t that big of a deal.And I didn't get a chance to eat my leftovers, which was a shame. The next day, I met up with the group for lunch there, and JB and I had pepperoni pizza, which ranked up there with the Top 5 slices I’ve ever had, I’m pretty sure. 

Pikes Peak Donuts

We tried some of the World Famous Pikes Peak donuts. They were nothing special. 

Del Taco

For dinner one night in Denver, we tried out Del Taco, since we keep hearing how much better than Taco Bell it is. NOPE. It was one of the worst meals I’ve EVER eaten, and Jonathan didn’t care much for it, either. I had the classic chicken burrito, which was only lukewarm in a crappy tortilla. The fries were cold and rather soggy, plus they weren’t that well-done anyway. Jonathan had a beef burrito and a chicken soft taco… the taco was gross but the burrito was halfway-decent. Neither of us ever plans on going there again, LoL.

Jim & Nick's BBQ

For lunch we were originally going to do Pizza Hut, for the lunch buffet. We both really love their buffet. Unfortunately, the one near us didn’t have that option. So we decided that we’d be bold and exciting and head to the local Texas de Brazil (it’s a Brazilian steakhouse, and we’ve been to the one in Orlando a few times, and they sent us an email coupon for our anniversary). We get there and it turns out they only serve lunch on FRIDAYS. How bizarre! Since this was near a shopping center, we walked around a bit and stumbled upon another Qdoba. But, we ultimately chose to go to Jim & Nick’s Bar-B-Q, which was next door. They had a good sweet tea, and FANTASTIC nachos. They were out of chicken, so we had pork on ours. They had sour cream, cheese, queso, peppers, tomatoes, salsa, lettuce, and probably more I can’t remember now. It was a steal for $8. Jonathan had the sliced beef sandwich with macaroni and cheese, and I had pulled pork with fries. The fries were so-so, as was the macaroni. The sauces weren’t that exciting (a regular and a hot), and the waiter thought I was crazy for not getting the second half of my sandwich to-go (it was only average and we’re on vacation so fridges aren’t prevalent).

Good Fries at ESPNZone

We stopped to eat at the ESPNZone while we were in Denver. We caught the Magic/Celtics game while we ate. I had a bacon cheeseburger that was decent, but great fries.

Denver Airport: Jimmy's

We were flying from Orlando to San Jose, and the flight was just over four hours to Denver. Once in Denver, we stopped for a casual lunch. We'd both recommend the italiano panini at Jimmy's.