It’s sad to see a restaurant that has been open for so long close. I realize that the current economy is rough on restaurants right now but I always hate to see a place that I used to enjoy close.
Like I reported in a previous post, the Cherokee Bar and Grill seemed to be going downhill for some time and the bottom line is that people are being choosier about where they are going to spend their money. This should be a lesson for other restaurants out there.
You need to make sure that you are offering quality food at descent prices to keep customers coming in. And you need to keep the restaurant clean and tidy. All too many places let things slip during tough times.
Located at 1201 Cherokee Street in Denver the Cherokee Bar and Grill was here before the area became the Golden Triangle and home to dozens of expensive condo communities and apartments.
It seems to me that the Cherokee is a little the worse for wear after all these years. The restaurant needs a good cleaning and to have its’ menu revamped. While there are a lot of good items on the menu there are also a lot of items that just aren’t worth the cost.
The brunch is also sort of disappointing with a limited menu. While this used to be a good neighborhood spot to eat in it seems that time has not been too kind. This is balanced to a certain extent by the fact that the servers are always right on the ball.
There are only a few places that I keep menus at home for delivery when I am too lazy or busy to go somewhere. I-Sushi is one of these. Located at (303) 747-6776 801 Santa Fe Dr in Denver this place serves good food at a reasonable price.
The restaurant just opened this year and is a clean quiet space just off 8th Avenue on Santa Fe. I have always loved how colorful this area is with it’s combination of Mexican restaurants, small stores, and art studios. I-Sushi is the first Japanese restaurant in the area and well worth the drive.
I always order the lunch bento box because of the combination of different food including fresh fish, california rolls, miso soup, salad, and shumai. The wait staff is always polite without being intrusive and serves the food quickly.
Takis, located at 341 East Colfax is just on the edge of the downtown but still within easy walking distance. This Japanese restaurant has always been one of my favorite places to go to get Japanese food.
The atmosphere is a bit grungy but the food is almost always good, fast and fresh. In the last couple of years they have started to serve sushi but the bulk of their food is cooked. One of my favorites is the Chicken Curry. They also have daily specials that include fresh fish.
One of the best parts of this place has always been the pricing. You can get a lot of food for a reasonable price. They do a lot of business for lunch and dinner so you know the food is fresh and doesn;t sit around like some other places.
I recently wrote a post about Zocalo located at 11th and Broadway in Denver. Up till this last night I have been pretty happy but my meal there tonight was pretty bad.
Let me say first that as a person who has worked in restaurants I tend to be pretty forgiving. Yet tonight was just sad.
I went with a freind for a meal at 5PM. They were busy but we were happy to wait since they usually serve pretty good food. Tonight though the service was slow, they brought one of the meals wrong, and the french fries were burnt and hard. Not crunchy, just hard.
The worst though was that it took us almost a half an hour to get our check. I’ve talked before about how important I think customer loyalty cards are in making customers return. The loyalty cards that Zocalo uses are pretty simple. You buy six meals and you get one for free. The wait people sign the numbers from one to six until the card is filled.
In the past we had always had one credit for each meal that we bought. Tonight I noticed that the waitress, even though we had bought two meals, had only marked one credit. When I asked why she said that it was only one credit per card. I explained that in the past it had been one credit per meal but she insisted that it was only one per card.
Needless to say my loyalty card isn’t going to get much use for a while. I won’t write them off because I understand that even the best places can have a bad night. But having this change after going through several loyalty cards where it was one credit per meal and the quality of the meal and service were much better it was aggravating and this loyalty card is going to the back of my wallet.
Just had lunch today, on cinco de mayo, in a local Mexican restaurant that I have been meaning to try. Located at 12 East 11th Avenue just off of Broadway and a little south of the downtown, Zacalo bills itself as a local restaurant and bar it is pretty nice. The parking on the street is always full but the hastle of finding parking or walking there is worth the food.
The salsa that comes with the chips has just the right nip but if you want hotter you can always try the Chili con Queso. The service was a trifle slow but the waiter was hustling around doing the best that he could. The food was fresh and tasty. Give it a try and you won’t be disapointed.
Recently another new restaurant opened on the 16th Street Mall. Obento is a small Japanese eatery that has eat in or carry out specials. They serve soup, salad, sushi, and bowls of Japanese specialties.
My favorite though is the Bento Box. If you’ve never tasted a Bento Box before you need to stop and try it out. A Bento Box consists of a main entree like Teriyaki Chicken, Unagi, or Curry Chicken among others. The box is divided into several compartments. One contains the entree, another a salad, while the third and fourth have other taste treats. These sides change from day to day but are always fresh and healthy.
Located at 709 16th St. this is a great place for a quick, healthy, and economical lunch.
I love loyalty programs. I love going to those places where they offer you a card that accumulates points towards a free lunch. To me they just scream that the restaurant wants you to come back, that they appreciate having you as a customer. One of my favorite is Tokyo Joes.
Sure, I would guess that they can be a pain in the behind to administer, and they do cost a little bit of money, but they work. In this day and age where everything is computerized there is no reason not to have these cards. Sure, some of the higher end places would look down their nose at them but I don’t mind.
I still watch for coupons for those expensive places like the Broker Restaurant and have no problem with using them. Things just cost too much to miss out on these savings. I have a freind that carries a box with the latest coupons from a variety of places. He is in sales so is constantly taking people out to eat and those coupons save him a bundle.
And the cards pay for the restaurant too. What does every restaurant, no matter how fancy or how big really want? Return customers! In my wallet right now I have no less than eight cards to different restaurants that I regularly visit. Whenever I am deciding where to go for lunch I always think about where I can go and whip out my card. It’s like saying to the other customers, “hey, I’m special.”
And nothing beats the feeling of having a full card and getting a free lunch. Plus, a lot of the places send you regular e-mails with offers over e-mail.
How do I choose a great place for lunch? It depends upon the day and my mood. There are also a lot of times when I’m broke and need to find a place that costs as little as possible so each day is different.
That being said, one of my favorite things if I have the time is to people watch. Especially on the 16th St Mall there are so many different types of people. Everything from business tycoons to street people, secretaries to visitors to Denver. Whenever there is a big convention at the Convention Center there are always a lot of visitors that crowd the mall and it’s fun to see what catches their eye. Its sort of like seeing Denver through fresh eyes.
Being a small businessman myself, I always prefer to go to places that are owner operated rather than the big chains. But I also want good value for my dollar and places like Tokyo Joes has that in spades. Unless I am with someone else or having a late lunch I also tend to avoid the restaurants like Chili’s that get so crowded during the lunch hour.
But I also want to make sure that the places where I eat are clean. Denver posts recent inspections online. Take it with a grain of salt because any place can have a bad day but if you must have the information the link above is where to go.
Still, by and large most restaurants are clean and try to give good value. So there are a lot of great places to lunch in downtown Denver.
I love lunch. In fact one of the best things about it is finding new places that I can try. And downtown Denver has hundreds of places where they serve great lunches at reasonable prices. Sure, there are the normal franchise’s that serve the same stuff at every location. But there are also great little owner operated cafes that serve unique and tasty variations.
That is why I decided to create this website – lunch downtown denver – to showcase my favorites. Even among the franchises there are those where the staff and crew are just better than at other locations. Where they are kept clean, the food served quickly, and the staff freindly.
Everyday I am looking for ideas for lunch, looking for those gems that stand out. And if I can find them with a coupon that saves me some money all the better. From boxed lunches to menu lunches they are all fair game as I scour for a good lunch downtown denver, that will satisfy my hunger. There are even a lot of great carts that serve good food at a discount price. Make sure that you try a Sabrett hot dog at least once and you’ll be hooked too!
If I can find a healthy lunch all the better. But doesn’t your mouth just start watering soemtimes for a juicy hamburger, crisp french fries, and an ice cold soda? Or somedays all I can think about is getting an Oyako Bowl from Tokyo Joes heaping with rice, dark chicken that has been cooked with egg and Oyako Broth.
Downtown Denver has it all. Even some of the best mexican in the city. All within walking distance of the 16th Street Mall, the Denver Convention Center, and all the downtown hotels. Whether you are visiting or working downtown, you can find everything from great sandwiches to lunch boxes with everything that you need.
So make sure that you bookmark this site, lunchdowntowndenver.com, to check back for reviews and special offers.
