Ernie's Bar & Pizza

New to the Highland's area is Ernie's Bar & Pizza located just off Federal on 44th Avenue. You may remember the place as Three Sons italian restaurant a while back. If you have a great memory and have been around for longer than a while, you may remember it as the same name Ernies, which was originally established in 1943. The new Ernie's Bar & Pizza has no relation to the old owners from the 40's but they have brought a new style and food selection to the area and brought back just a bit of history.

Ernie's Bar & Pizza has changed the interior quite a bit from Three Sons decor and thankfully the food has changed dramatically as well. If you ever ate at Three Sons I have sympathy for you because it was one of the worse experiences in Denver I have ever had. Ernie's has changed that experience with a new modern look and a dark wood bar atmosphere that is filled with lots of high top seating and a little bit of standard table seating as well. The new bar fits well in to the neighborhood and has a gaming area with a pool table and even a pair of skee ball lanes. I know it seems like I'm playing this up as a bar, which it really is, but the food takes it to another level and I would put its pizza against other restaurants in Denver.

The menu is fairly small but filled with enough options and combination choices that you should be able to try different tastes for at least few visits. To start off with, the Antipasto selection has 38 items to choose from to create your own plate of cheeses, meats and giardiniera. You could try a few combos for an appetizer before a pizza and with so many to choose from you can't go wrong pleasing people. A menu like this is great for trying some exotic sounding items too like the Balsamic Cipollini Onions, which tasted great or the Taleggio cheese which was also fantastic.

The appetizer menu is filled with a lot of the standard Italian items you might be accustomed to seeing in an Italian restaurant. I tried the Calamari as I do in most Italian restaurants and wasn't too thrilled with it. It was a bit doughy and slightly undercooked but not a disaster. It comes served with a spicy tomato sauce and a garlic mayo. Both sauces tasted good and work well with calamari.

The pizza is the real gem here and come in two sizes, a 10" and 20". What's nice about the pizza is the thin crust that is cooked correctly and not soggy or chewy. A lot of places in town try to do the thin crust pizza but don't pull it off. The pizza has a crispy crust and you can top it with some of the 31 toppings available. I tried one of the pre-configured pizzas of prosciutto, oven roasted tomatoes and arugula. This was a fantastic combination and all the ingredients tasted great. The arugula did not look like it sat in a refrigerator for the last few days and the prosciutto crisped up nicely on the pizza.

I would go back again to try some different variations and with as many as there are to choose from I may be going back for a while. Be sure to read about the building's history on the wall by the bathroom. This is the kind of place that makes Denver the real deal.

Brasserie Felix

Walking in to the Brasserie Felix, on the corner of 39th & Tennyson, I was pleasantly surprised by the décor. It doesn't scream Paris like some cheap wannabes, but subtly transforms you from NW Denver and in to a French bistro. Keeping it simple and letting the food do the talking sounds like a good strategy to me.

The waiter was a bit tardy for his first trip to the table but soon made up for it with his candor and good suggestions for wine. Sipping on a nice $12 glass of Pinot Noir, I took in the subtle nature of the place and nibbled on some classic french bread while deciding what to order.

When the waiter brought out the dishes the two top they seated us at was a bit crowded so he quickly stole an empty table next to us and made plenty of room for our dining. A good sign of a professional waiter who is smart and quick to make his customers' experience a good one.

Once on the table, the Les Moules a La Créme et Ricard (which are one pound of P.E.I. mussels with shallots, garlic, Ricard and cream) with frites looked great. The sauce on the mussels was quite nice, a broth of perfect consistency layered with flavors of garlic and Ricard. That experience came to a grinding halt however when the crunching sound in my head alerted me to the sand in my mussels and suddenly made them unappealing. For $15.95 they can afford to clean the mussels. The frites however were just right. Thin, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I could have eaten baskets of those all evening with another glass of Pinot. Maybe three.

The Le Steak Frites (a grilled flatiron steak with fries and lemon tossed baby greens) with the option of a red wine shallot reduction sounded like a French delight when I ordered it and was highly anticipated given my love for a good steak. Correctly cooked and bathing in the reduction sauce with mushrooms, the steak was average with a grainy mushy texture. A big disappointment for $19.95. Next to the poor cut of meat was a wilted side of baby greens. Obviously suffering sun burn from a heat lamp or something while waiting for its lousy partner on the plate. Except for the frites, the dish was a mediocre plate of failed ingredients.

All in all I would go back to Brasserie Felix and try some other menu options as the salads and some of the seafood entrees looked tempting.

Tacos Jalisco

Tacos Jalisco is one of those discreet looking strip mall joints on 38th Avenue filled with 1980's faux mexican decor. Not impressive looking but for those brave enough to walk in, some of the best mexican food in all of Denver.

Not everything in here is the best but there are a few dishes I would put against any in Denver including the green chili. That's right, I said the best green chili in Denver. A merit given away by the local periodicals like a free tasting in Starbucks but taken seriously at Tacos Jalisco.

Tacos Jalisco serves up the standard chips and salsa but takes it a step further with a selection of five salsas to warm up the taste buds. All are great and each offer a different adventure to explore with your basket of chips. Be sure to get the guacamole salsa which goes great with the chicken tacos.

The chili relleno plate smothered in the infamous green chili and served with a side of rice and beans is the best cure for a hangover ever. The rice is a weak link in this dish however and lacks any discernible flavoring expected of mexican food but the rest is sure to bring a smile to your face as well as some heat.

The chicken soft tacos is a favorite made with slow roasted chicken and served on soft corn tortillas topped with pico de gallo. It may seem simple but the flavor is not.

The carnitas plate is also a winner with slow roasted pork shoulder cooked with onions and spices. Served with rice and beans you also get a cup of green chili to satisfy that spicy urge.

The chicken smothered burrito is one not to miss if burritos are your thing. Big and spiced up by the green chili, its a standard for the hungry.

Tacos Jalisco makes up in taste what it lacks in style and after getting their liquor license a few years ago they have sealed the deal for an evening of good food and beverage.

Patrick Carroll’s

I'm not one to usually give any kind of rant on a pub but what I encountered at Patrick Carroll’s on Tennyson really got me thinking.

While watching some football I ordered the Pub Burger to go with the many beers I was drinking. Just your basic straight burger. No bacon, no blue cheese crumbles, just a nice thick piece of meat on a bun for my football watching pleasure.

When the nice waitress brought my burger to the table I noticed what seemed to be the obligitory set of vegtables for your burger, lettuce, tomato and onion. What was really next to my burger was a frilly lettuce leaf, a few strands of onion and a thick pink slice of something they call a tomato.

Now, the burger tasted fine and I might even go so far as to say tasting good but the pink thing on my plate was really disgusting. I couldn't take my eyes off it and I wondered who in their right mind would serve a pink tasteless tomato in the peak of tomato season? I've been enjoying fantastic sweet tomatoes from the garden for the last month and when I saw this round pink eye staring at me on my plate I couldn't comprehend putting that in my mouth.

So, per the usual, I waved the waitress over and told her that who ever orders the food here should be ashamed of serving this in the middle of tomato season. She told me she was from the midwest and understands how depressing the slice looks. She then shrugged and said “Well it's a restaurant.”

I thought to myself, “Hmmm, I seem to know a lot of restaurants in the neighborhood that use fresh ingredients and many that buy local from the farmers here in Colorado.”

I just don’t get it. When did eating at a restaurant or a pub make it all right and even acceptable to be served sub-par food and expect us to pay for it? Going out to eat is expensive and I expect good food when I pay for it. Otherwise why would I pay for it?

I can only assume they use some type of SYSCO food service that brings in ”vegetables” from anywhere in the world at the cheapest price just to fill a space on my plate. Yuck.

People, lets not forget were ordering food when we go out to eat and not a commodity.

LoHi Steakbar

After Northstar split from the corner of 32nd & Tejon many were disappointed in losing a nieghborhood hangout. Well, new comer LoHi Steakbar has taken the space and beef is what's for dinner.

Despite its upscale appearance they remain low key like the neighborhood and serve up lots of red meat at reasonable prices. My $19 cut of Filet Mignon was cooked to perfection and tasted like a great steak should. The Blue Smoke burger was not as exciting as some would say but makes a confident burger. If your date is looking to impress you by eating light she may be disappointed as there are only two salads on the menu. She will however be happy to nibble off your plate since almost every dish gets a heaping pile of crispy frites and are cooked just right.

When the need for meat arises, LoHi delivers.

Highland Tavern

After visiting the Highland Tavern for a while for late night drinks and ping pong matches they informed me they would now be serving food. So I went back to give it a try. I know what your thinking, quit picking on the little guys. Well, to stay true to form I'll give it to you straight.

I sampled a few snack plates to gauge what they had to offer. The Beef Shank Perogie was good and reminiscent of my friend's grandma's perogies she used to make. The cheese tots seemed to be breaded in Penko. Interesting. The Little Fatties are their own version of the popular slider burger but are nothing like the typical frozen version served at most pubs. These guys are the real deal and taste great.

Overall the food is not bad for a tavern and I would eat there again while spinning ping pong balls and beers.

Mary Jane’s Pizza

Mary Jane’s Pizza located on 32nd & Tejon seems like a good idea when you read the hours its open, 11pm - 4:20. That is until you have a slice of pizza. You will be better off going to the grocery store and buying a frozen pizza yourself. That's what they make their pizzas from, frozen ingredients, and it tastes like it. Even under the influence of the implied name of the joint it would still not taste acceptable.