Tom's Home Cookin'

When in the mood for some good old fashion comfort food Tom's Home Cookin' is the place to fill your tummy with traditional southern inspired food. When I say fill, I do mean you will walk out of there with your stomach stretching. This is not the place for a light lunch with a client. This is the place where you sit down like your back home on Thanksgiving and eat until you can't eat any more. Languishing in a happy food coma for the rest of the afternoon.

Once inside after waiting in line, which can be tough on a 15° day, you get your first glimpse of the food to be had laying in steam pans waiting to be spooned in to your styrofoam container. I know, its high class with the styrofoam containers and all but they're trying to keep it simple and get you through the line as fast as possible. It doesn't make me happy that a ton of these polystyrene containers are going through the door here and can't be recycled but apparently there are no easy solutions for them at this point.

Usually there are about 7 main entrees to choose from and all come with a choice of two sides and plain or jalepeno cornbread. They offer dessert too but getting through all your food will take all the stomach you have. Greeted by a jovial "Whata ya have?" you'll have your choices spooned up and in your hand in seconds. Coming in at just under $10 its the best dollar per pound meal in town.

Since you can get any combination of main and sides I will give you the skinny on some of the items below. The main choices are often the same daily with a few seasonal changes.

From the main selections:

The Fried Chicken is a good place to start since its so hard to find good fried chicken in Denver. Tom's does it right giving you a selection of two pieces deep fried in breaded golden deliciousness. The chicken is never dried out but can sometimes be a little crusty on the coating.

The BBQ Pork Spare Ribs are a short set of four ribs slow cooked and tender. They slide off the bone easy and are smothered in semi-sweet BBQ sauce but the upper part of the rib section was too chewey for me and I wish I had more of the rib meat.

The Fried Catfish is a good alternative to the usual items found around Denver. How can you go wrong deep frying anything? The catfish is usually good except for a couple of times when it dries out sitting in the steam pan for too long.

Now for the sides:

The Mash Potatos & Gravy seem like an obvious choice when you look for comfort food. The potatos are a good consistency, not too starchy and the brown gravy is a nice compliment to them reminding me of some good ol' truck stop diners in the midwest.

The Mac & Cheese is creamy pile of macaroni hitting the spot on a cold winter's day. Good and cheesy it will probably stop your heart in its tracks.

The Peach Cobbler is a nice treat for a side. You get a crunchy sweet crust with warm peaches underneath bathing in a thick syrup. A fine way to end your lunch.

The cornbread is all right and is often a littel too dry for me. It lacks some of the sweetness that most of us love in our cornbread. The jalepeno version gives it a little more taste but is still not the reason why you come here.

Tom's Home Cookin' serves up a heavy feast for lunch and you can satisfy your comfort food craving with plenty of choices no matter what you crave. if you like a sweet at the end of your meal skip the regular dessert and get the peach cobbler for one of the sides. There's is so much food on your plate it makes a nice dessert at the end and it will keep your stomach from exploding.

They're open for lunch only, so you best get there early if you want to make sure your favorite dish doesn't run out.

The Hornet

Always a scene, Broadway has long been a great place for night life, shopping and dining and The Hornet , with its big windows, is a always great place to sit and watch the colorful locals while enjoying a cocktail. Because of its convenient location next to the Myan theater it also seems like the perfect place for a bite before a movie.

Despite being surrounded by the hipsters of the Baker District , I was shocked to hear the lady at the table next to me, dressed in lime colored sweats and hat, order an extra side of Ranch Dressing for her fries. Ranch dressing? Really people? Its not the wonder condiment to be used on everything from fries to pizza. It’s a dressing. Use it on a salad if you have to but don't throw it all over your food like the end of a porn movie. Disgusting.

After settling my stomach with a Great Divide Titan IPA I asked the waitress what the best dishes were. Very helpful, she showed me some of the more popular plates and also demonstrated a good knowledge of the wine selection.

When the Shells and Cheddar with lobster, bacon and cream plate arrived I found the pasta cooked well but the cheese covered shells first hid any sign of the tasty proteins I was waiting for. Digging further, I finally pulled up some lobster like a long awaited pod on the Deadliest Catch and just as disappointing as the show, the lobster brought nothing to the dish and was lost in the cheesy sea. When the lobster did show up it was often because of its fishy taste which revealed its sub-par quality. This is a worthwhile plate at higher end restaurants but not for the Hornet. Using a low grade lobster brings it down and you ask “Why bother?”.

The Zorba plate, ordered for its exotic sounding name and Colorado lamb, was a promising looking plate and I'm always looking for food made with local ingredients. Served in a pita with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, feta chees and cumin yogurt, it looked like an appetizing plate. The lamb was coked well but lacked the memorable flavors of a mediterranean dish. Besides the much needed spices the rest of the ingredients were lack luster and offered little help to the pita.

Served on the side were the sweet potato fries. Finally something I could get my mouth around. The fries were cooked just right and tasted great. Although they got cold fast I enjoyed them and would recommend you try it as your chosen side. I would bypass the chipotle ketchup that is served with it as it overpowers the fries and leaves them screaming for attention under the smoky flavor.

The Hornet is a great place to meet friends for drinks but don't expect much from the kitchen. I do appreciate those who strive for originality but I give thanks to those who know where to draw the line at what they can do well.

Zaidy’s Deli

If you were to ask anyone in Denver for a Jewish Kosher-style deli they all would point you to Zaidy’s Deli  on the corner of 1st & Adams in Cherry Creek. Having been here for 17 years they have become an institution of Denver and the place to go when sick and in need of some home made Matzo Ball soup.

In need of culinary medication, the Chicken Matzo Ball soup sounded like the perfect food cure for a head cold. Indeed any soup will give you the warmth you need when feeling down but the Matzo ball soup takes it to another level of comfort like watching a movie while wrapped up in a Snuggie on a cold day. The Matzo ball tasted good and had the right consistency but the broth needed just a bit of work. Finding the balance between salty and seasoned is always a battle for soup and they seemed to stay on the safe side. Staying away for the salty side is better in my opinion anyways but they could have taken this a bit further on the seasoning.

Missing from my take out order was the choice of bread usually served with this soup. Don't you hate when they miss something on a take out order?

One of the other well known dishes at Zaidy’s is the Latke Reuben sandwich. If your idea of a good reuben is a pile of meat then your in the right place. Served between two potato latkes lies a stack of sliced meat (either corned beef or pastrami or both), sauerkraut, swiss cheese and a side of russian dressing to wash it all down. The ability to restrain use of cheese is nice as most delis equate cheese to good and therefore pile it on. The sauerkraut is there more filler than taste and didn’t really seem to stand up to the meatfest on the sandwich. The meatfest however stood on its own like a hero and tasted great. Certainly a great sandwich and a must try.

Ordered as an extra, I also had a potato Kinish because who doesn't love a good Kinish. Unfortunately, the hockey puck I tried to bite in to was a big disappointment and must have been sitting there all day. People, if it's not good, don't serve it. Better to be disappointed by running out of a dish than to lose a tooth eating one.

If your looking for the warm feeling of comfort food, Zaidie's delivers comfort like Mom used to. There's also a second deli in LoDo which makes a good lunch spot for the downtown crowd.

The Butcher Block Cafe

Walking in to The Butcher Block Cafe on 38th & Brighton would be the last thing on your mind when passing by. Everything abut its low-key truck stop demeanor tells you to go somewhere else. Well, being the adventurous type I am, I occasionally will walk in to about anyplace in hopes of finding a hidden dining treasure. The only treasures here are the ones for sale along the walls of the place. Yep, at the Butcher Block Cafe you can get yourself a burger and shop the garage sale scattered about on different shelves. Truly an experience.

The signature Block Buster Burger comes with a large 1/2 pound burger sitting on a 6 inch bun toped with lettuce, tomato and onion. Along side comes a healthy portion of fries. For $6.50 you are getting a meal but don't expect a colorful experience like you get on the walls of garage sale items. The burger is average to good but a bit too much bun for the meat to handle. You should go for the double 1/4 pounder instead so you can get a smaller bun. The slightly under cooked fries are thin cut and pale. A bit too mushy for my taste.

The special of the day was meatloaf in brown gravy served with the soup of the day. The Bean soup was good for a diner but resembled a bowl of refried beans. The meatloaf was about what you get in a Swanson dinner, average and meant to fill your belly.

Supposedly known for their great cinnamon rolls, it had to be experienced. Served warm with a heart-stopping amount of melted butter it was an impressive looking roll. A bite in to it reveals the texture of cake and the taste of banana bread. Not the most memorable experience but not a terrible treat.

If you happen to be passing by and in the mood for a burger and a yard sale, stop in and take a look at the sale selection. If you are looking for a hidden treasure of a great burger, drive elsewhere.