CONSTANTLY GROWING WITH SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS, the Belmar Center (Alameda and Wadsworth) in Lakewood, www.belmarcolorado.com, located where the former Villa Italia reigned as queen of the shopping malls for almost three decades, is rocking more and more each day.
The newest additions are Whole Foods (444 S. Wadsworth Blvd, 303/935-5000;
Did I say Whole Foods in the same breath as restaurants? Ubetchabippy. If you haven’t been to this newest and largest Whole Foods store, you’re missing one heck of a dining experience. Tipping is not required. As with all the new Whole Foods stores, there are prepared foods everywhere. There are also many areas where they will cook your selection to order and there’s a place to sit and enjoy. G and I were at the Tamarac store where a couple was sitting at a tiny two-top table devouring fresh lobsters. At the new Belmar store they prepare fresh pastas, salads, sangies, complete dinners and everything in between. G and I took ‘Lil Emma there a few weeks ago for dinner and the chef in the seafood grill department prepared maaavelous dishes for all of us. We had a ball watching. Check out their smoked tuna salad, or their almost famous BBQ brisket.
Baker St. Pub & Grill opened last week to a big crowd and continues to grow daily. Today G and I had lunch there and aside from the kitchen being swamped shortly before we arrived, the food and service were terrific. The fish and chips were as good as we were hoping for.
The one eatery I haven’t been enthralled with at Belmar is the one I expected the most from: Chama. Chef Owner Sean Yontz has been with a half dozen fab restaurants in metro Denver but this one can’t seem to get it together. It’s a gorgeous room and a yummy menu, but the kitchen’s execution and the service are lacking. It’s certainly the most beautiful of all the eateries at Belmar so we’ll be back and see if they get it right, one more time.
Ben & Jerry’s, 7181 W. Alaska Dr, 303/934-2888. Ditto on no customers, and if they closed, the ultra busy restaurant next door, The Oven, can take over their space. Don’t like B & J’s, but since I’ve written tirades about them before no point in doing it again. Suffice to say I don’t like to pay $25 a pound for peanuts and marshmallows.
Elephant Bar Restaurant, 7111 W. Alaska Dr, 303/922-7907. While this has the worst service, they follow Accounting Rule #1: Be Consistent. And their service is consistently bad, altho we had almost good service last week. Still have never seen a manager on the floor, but they’re BBQ pork sangie drives me nuts; it’s sooo good. And the apple blueberry cobbler is 2-die-4. I may get a part-time job there just waiting on me. I’ll work for just the tip.
Jamba Juice, 7161 W. Alaska Dr, 720/974-3216. Eh. Not my cup of tea. But they do a good business. They sell something some folks like. Ain’t been in, don’t plan to.
Lucky Strike Lanes, 415 S. Teller St, 303/935-5793. Home of the Best Damn Bugger in Lakewood, and some truly fine grub. Just make sure they put the bugger on a ciabatta roll. Salads are terrific and the filet mignon on skewers will blow your mind. All the food is terrific and reasonably priced and they have very good service. If you order the chocolate chip cookies you’ll never eat your mother’s again. The place is gorgeous!!
Ted’s Montana Grill, 330 S. Teller St, 303/922-7770. Directly across the street from P.F. Chang’s, but with a huge sign out front, this is one of our favs. While I’m not fond of their buggers – they do a better job on the kid’s buggers than they do on the regular buggers – I luv their salads. Yeah, yeah, salads for the Fox. But the salad with grilled chicken and honey mustard dressing is terrific and almost healthy. The chili will warm your heart as well as make your tummy feel good. The meatloaf is killer.
The Oven Pizza E Vino, 7167 W. Alaska Dr, 303/934-7600. What can you say about the Best Pizza in the World? And I don’t even like pizza. But here I have a double sausage with Portobello mushrooms. This place is packed all nite. And when the nice weather is here and the patio is open, it’s still packed. Limited menu, but all fantastic.
The Press Coffee Company, 7150 W. Alaska Dr, 303/922-0911. Serving gourmet coffee and espresso drinks and pastries in a cozy setting. G and I gave up coffee over a year ago, but go for it. I hear good things about ‘em but ain’t been. Dr. Stan won’t let me try the pastries.
Emogene Café, 433 S. Teller St. They’ll serve sangies, soups and pastries that will knock your socks off. Not cheap, just great. Try the one in Cherry Creek til this one opens allegedly this spring.
Home Restaurant, 7210 W. Alaska Dr. Owned by Super Chef Mark Tarbell, who also owns The Oven at Belmar and Tarbell’s in Phoenix (www.tarbells.com), this upscale, dinner only, fine dining eatery is now slated to open late summer. As opposed to last summer when it was originally going to open. It’s been a long time coming, but certainly is going to be worth the wait. Wonder if they’ll do buggers?
Tacone, 7007 W. Alaska Dr. Classed as Quick-Serve, This Los Angeles-based chain will serve sangies, salads, gourmet wraps and other specialties, all hand-made right before your eyes! Whoopee Doo. Don’t look for me here either.
Cya.
In his real life Jay Fox is a CPA. He offers all kinds of good tax planning advice, financial calculators and the latest in tax news at his website: www.jayfoxcpa.com. He just writes this column for the money.