Denver&Boulder, CO

      In my opinion, the BEST Mexican restaurant in Denver is
      the Brewery Bar II.  It is near I-25 and Alameda, the exact
      address is 150 Kalamath.  This is a small, out-of-the-way
      place that has excellent food - I've never had anything that
      wasn't good.  They have odd hours on weekends, so call first
      if you go.  They are also almost always crowded and I don't
      think they take reservations, but am not sure about that.
      This is also a bar and, unfortunately, they don't have the
      best marguritas, but if you like lots of beer, order one of
      their Tiny Tims.

Enjoy, Val

Roberta L. wrote:
>Hi,
>In one week I will be in Denver/Boulder & then Aspen.
>My questions:
>
>  What are good places to eat in those areas also, preferably inexpensiv
>    -moderate? (esp Mexican)

Casa Bonita is absolutely fabulous !!!!
We went there (Somewhere in Denver) a few years ago. It is very deceiving from the outside.  Looks like just another small shopping center store or restaurant. Inside is a tropical wonderland !  Live entertainment of several kinds: Small wondering ensemble plays music and sings (Happy Birthday was strange from them, but the rest was great),  Live Diving into a pool of water, and a small dramatic production as well if I remember correctly.  This could be tied to the diving? Not sure.It's been a while. The food is typical Mexican restaurant selections. It is very good as well. They had these small flags on the end of the tables you are supposed to raise when you need the waiter/waitress.  Pretty neat! All-in-all I would not hesitate to go there again. I said tropical before. Really,it's a lot of large green plants.  There's PLENTY of room for full-size trees INSIDE the place.  Just fascinating! And a souvinir(?) shop to boot!     GO!  SEE!  EAT!!! HAVE FUNN!!!

Roberta L. wrote:
>
> Hi,
> In one week I will be in Denver/Boulder & then Aspen.
> My questions:
>   Where are good places to shop in Denver or Boulder
>   are there any places to get good deli meats or good produce
>   here in PGH we have a "strip" of different types of stores of different
>     nationalities & tastes, is there something like that there?
>
>   What are good places to eat in those areas also, preferably inexpensiv
>     -moderate? (esp Mexican)
>
> we are considereing moving out there so want to get as much info as possible
> Also interested in:
>   What job market out there is like
>   what places are nice to live in
>
> thanks a lot
> bert

The best Mexican food in Denver ( as judged by Westword mag for the last umteenth years ) is the Blue Bonnett restaurant at about 400 So Broadway.  I love the place. Cheap, great food.

In Boulder, try the Rio Grande.  Super Margaritas!  If you are into Pasta, Pasta Jays is fantastic.  Both are off of the Pearl Street mall.

Matt Weiser
[email removed]

Roberta L. wrote:
>Hi,
>In one week I will be in Denver/Boulder & then Aspen.
>My questions:
>  Where are good places to shop in Denver or Boulder
>  are there any places to get good deli meats or good produce
>  here in PGH we have a "strip" of different types of stores of different
>    nationalities & tastes, is there something like that there?

      Well there's a great butcher/deli called European Delights on W. Colfax.
      FBC foods, Alfalfa's and Wild Oats are also good for both meats and
      produce. And there are farmers markets in the summers also.
      For other shopping there is Cherry Creek, both the mall and Cherry
      Creek North across the street where the TAttered Cover (considered
      by many to be the best bookstore in the country) and lots of
      specialty shops are. Larimer Square and 16th Street in Denver, and
      the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.

>
>  What are good places to eat in those areas also, preferably inexpensiv
>    -moderate? (esp Mexican)
      The Denver metro area ( Castle Rock to Fort Collins)  has tons of
restuarants with lots of good moderatly priced ones. For Mexican there's the Bluebonnet Cafe in Denver and the Sonora Inn in Old Town Aravada and for Dynamite green chile there's this little shack just off Pecos and 72nd.

>
>we are considereing moving out there so want to get as much info as possible
>Also interested in:
>  What job market out there is like
>  what places are nice to live in
>
>thanks a lot
>bert

      Job market depends on what area your're in(job field) and where you'd like
to live/work. There are lots of underemployed people here since they are willing to work for less in order to stay here. Boulder tends to be particularly bad about this. Lots of nice places to live. Personally I pick the west side since I like being close to the mountains. But alot of people live in Aurora which I consider living in Kansas :-)

Housing costs are moderate when compared to the West or East coast. Boulder is more expensive because of the University and the growth limitations. Vacancies are only running about 3-5% around here. Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville and Layfayette all have some very nice sub-divisions and aren't too far from Boulder. Nederland is in the mountains and fairly convienent to Boulder. I live in Westminster and am roughly half-way between downtown Denver and Boulder with a 20 minute drive to either.

The metro area is _very_ spread out and lots of people tend to live in an area convienent to where they work to try and avoid rush hour freeways and long commutes, although I know people who live in Evergreen and Nederland and drive into Denver.

The housing market is recovering from the slump and things are picking up but people are moving here in large numbers and discovering that while jobs are available, they don't pay as much or they are overqualified for them since most of the new jobs are in the service sector.

The technical market is somewhat better but it helps to know someone within a company since there is a large degree of mobility(people moving from one company to another) here. Lots of work for contractors.

For a definitive(Denver, Boulder, even some mountain locations) restuarant guide pick up a copy of the Gabby Gourmet while you're here. There's also a great Thai restuarant on South Federal called J's Noodles that's right across the street from Long Binh a great Vietnamese restuarant. If you want more exotic there's 2 Nepalese restuarants in Boulder and an Ethiopian restuarant on highway 93 (also one on Colfax in Denver).  There are also resturant guides available in Boulder(free ones) and the free weekly Westword has a pretty good listing of them too.

Hope this helps.