by Kerstan Szczepanski
Dining
A Higher State of Food
Guard and Grace (1801 California Street) is a multiple first place finisher at Denver’s Rare Steak Fest. In Tripadvisor’s Top 10 fine dining experiences in Denver, the restaurant is known for the power lunch as well as dinner. For a meaty meal, try the Colorado Bison Tartare. And while it is a steakhouse, the restaurant’s Alaskan cod is one of its most highly recommended dishes on the menu. Whatever your entree, the au gratin potatoes are a must.
Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs (2148 Larimer St and various stands and carts throughout the city) is one of the plethora of quicker eats in Denver. Quick, affordable, and unusual—from the beef-wrapped-in-bacon hot dog to a little spicy vegan, ostrich, wild boar, elk, rattlesnake and rabbit. Get your exotic eats on at any one of its many locations.
Entertainment
Getting LoDo
If you like theater and have time for a show, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (14th and Curtis streets in downtown Denver) is going to give you more choices than you could ask for. Nine venues with Broadway-caliber Pulitzer prize dramas, comedies and musicals, ranging from newer shows to Broadway revivals, all in a beautiful physical complex to give any theater lover heart flutters. The parking garage at 13th and Arapahoe streets is adjacent to the Colorado Convention Center, so you can go from show to show with ease.
LoDo, short for Lower Downtown, is at the heart of Denver. The historic district, bordered by Cherry Creek/Speer Boulevard, Wewatta Street, 20th Street, and an alley between Market and Larimer streets is chock full of restaurants, shops, bars, clubs and galleries. Dating back to 1858 where the South Platte River and Cherry Creek meet, the area is Denver’s past and present, with Western nineteenth and early twentieth-century architecture. Eat, drink, shop or party; it’s all part of LoDo!
Attractions
Ready to Rock
The 16th Street Mall (16th Street from Wewatta Street to Broadway and 16th Avenue) is a 1.25-mile pedestrian promenade with restaurants, cafes, retail and more. Check out Herb’s Hideout or Live at Jack’s for music, Kealoha BBQ and other eateries for food, and more bars and clubs than you can shake a bbq stick at. The 16th St Mall RTD runs from 5am or 5:30am until 1:19am daily for free transportation up and down the mall.
Meow Wolf has become known for the surreal and psychedelic art of its immersive activations throughout the country, and Meow Wolf Denver’s Convergence Station (1338 1st Street) lives up to that fame. Described as a multiversal transit station, the art installation has HELLOFOOD, a cafe and bar that has served “the Quantum Department of Transportation for 2,500 years!” You can patronize the shops of the C Street metropolis, visit the Ice Cities of Eemia and much more in the dazzlingly inventive complex here in Denver.
Lodging
Sleep Closer to the Stars
Embassy Suites by Hilton Denver (1420 Stout Street) is literally across the street from the CCC Big Blue Bear. The 403-room hotel is a five-minute walk to the 16th Street Mall and just a mile away from Pepsi Center and Coors Field. A centralized location that is within walking distance to more than a hundred restaurants and dozens of attractions; there’s plenty to do while staying at the Embassy Suites.
The Hotel Teatro (1100 14th Street) has 110 rooms. Although the hotel opened in 1998 with 110 rooms, the original building dates back to 1911. Proud of its pet-friendly policy, guests’ pets receive treats, beds and bowls at check-in. Naturally there is a pet relief area on the property. Dine at The Nickel, Teatro’s own the award-winning restaurant before crossing the street for the Denver Center for Performing Arts and its many theaters. Just two blocks from the convention center, this boutique hotel is a must for the theater-going conventioneer.
