Author: admin

0

Margarita at Pine Creek

Hello Colorado Springs Are you missing summer yet?

My most recent adventure was to Margarita at Pine Creek. It's located off I-25 and Woodman-ish. You may have seen their sign from the highway?



You may have heard it described as the place with the giant carrots. Now you know why.

Margarita is HUGE and UNIQUE. I couldn't pinpoint how to start or how to describe it, so I decided to just take you through our night in the order we experienced it.

We parked in the gravel parking lot out front an made our way down a walkway. When we got in front of the building, I realized how adorable, eclectic and unique this restaurant really is.





We came into a courtyard and noticed the building is quite a bit larger than it seemed from the road.

You enter on the right in the red building, and you will be seated from there.



We were taken to the back of the restaurant which was how we realized the enormity of it, and the intricacies. They had plenty of little nooks shoved out to the side with various different lighting fixtures. Some of the tables were made of piece of broken glass.



The menu!

The dinner menu had two options. A five course meal for $42 or a three course meal for $35. If you chose the 5 course, you'd get an a before dinner treat, an appetizer, a soup/salad, your dinner, and dessert.

Since there were two of us, we each got the three course. He got the appetizer, soup/salad and the dinner. Then I go the soup/salad the dinner and the dessert. And then we shared. It saved money and we still got to try everything





They also had wine flights.

After we ordered, we decided to explore while they made our food. First, we went down a spiral wooden staircase to what turned out to be a lounge and bar, with decorative sculptures and art.

They have live music down here on Friday nights. You can check out their events page if you're interested





As we wandered, we peeked out the windows to find more. And more. And more.

There are courtyards everywhere, ranging from 5 tables to 25.





Some of the courtyards were filled with people. Others were compeltely empty.



A lot of it seemed like a fairytale.

We came back to bread! And vino! Yum! Warm, with butter.



What more do you need in life?

The wine selection was actually very good. I believe they had 3 or 4 pages, from varying regions, and the people who worked there seemed well versed in the flavor qualities of each of the wines.

The people were very friendly and VERY laid back. I expected a uniform of some sort, or possibly a little dressed up. No way. Khaki shorts and sandals was what our server wore.



For the most part, we loved this restaurant to bits. My fiance didn't love his meal, but he didn't realize he was ordering vegetarian, and he requires meat to be happy But then it came time for our check. And our server was noooowhere to be found. And then when she was to be found, she was moseying haha. I have to believe that it was a fluke. I don't think people would continue coming back if their service was always that slow.

The funny thing was, when she greeted us, she told us it was a slow night and we were going to have all her attention. I do believe her that it was slow. We seemed to be her only table. But she was slow herself, to the point of making me verrrry cranky. We sat staring at our empty table for quite a while after dinner.

That being said, I do think it was a fluke. And I do intend to go back, because my meal was fantastic.

AND I do recommend it. It's a great place for a date, or even a large group of friends. And summer time is truly a great time to go.

Did you know??
Margarita at Pine Creek does movie nights (Friday Nights) during the summers. They show a movie on the side of the building out in one of the courtyards and most people have dinner first and then enjoy the movie together Watch out for that one next summer!!

CHECK OUT THE RESTAURANT HERE

Popularity: 1% [?]

0

Heart of Jerusalem Cafe

The Heart of Jerusalem Cafe is a great lunch stop. It's not fast food, but it's not a slow sit-down meal either.


You order at the counter, and you can grab a seat or take it to go, but it's ready pretty quickly.


The service is wonderful. Often, you're being served by the owners, so they can explain anything you're looking at on the menu. But they seem to take care in hiring people that are always polite and pleasant.

It's set up very much like a cafeteria or Cafe. The tables and chairs are cafeteria tables, and they have booths if you want to be more comfortable.
But they spiced it up by adding authentic touches and decorations. I love the hammered metal pendants that hang over the tables. It's not fancy or ritzy, but it's also never dirty.




The flavor factor is THERE. I've tried the Heart sandwich, the dolmas, the baklava, the falafel and the falafel and beef sandwiches. So I obviously know what I'm talking about, because I eat here WAY too often

My favorite sandwich, although they are all very good, is the heart sandwich. It had chicken and lamb and beef, I believe. But in addition to all these meets, the spices and add-ins are so flavorful and amazing. It's a tad greasy sometimes, but this type of lamb usually is.

A sandwich is $6.99 and you can make it a meal for and extra $4.00. Meal = Sandwich, drink and a choice of rice, fries, falafel, dolmas, or tabouleh.
Note: This is a LOT of food if you get the falafel or the dolmas, and I always take half home with me when I get the meal. Plates are $7.99 and you can add rice for $1.50.
And then they have appetizers and desserts separate if you want them, ranging from $2.99-6.99.

AND they have a kids menu of simple things that you don't have to be brave to try, like cheese quesadillas.

The dolmas are always HOT in the center- Be careful when you bite in But they are also packed with intense flavor. So so good.

Also, the hummus that comes with the falafel is amazing in an indescribable way. It is so creamy but still flavorful and just perfect.

My favorite deal they have is Tea for 2.


It's quite a bit of tea, and a fun way to extend lunch if you're eating with a friend.

Popularity: 1% [?]

0

Balloon Glo in Memorial Park

The Colorado Balloon Classic is a once-a-year event that will turn heads.

Tonight, the Balloon Glo Happens at 8:00 pm in Memorial Park.



It's kid-friendly, date-friendly, and just amazing all-around.
We'll be there, and we'll be tweeting images live from the event if you can't make it!

If you go, be sure to come back and leave your thoughts

Popularity: 1% [?]

0

Denver Spotlight - Cru Wine Bar

Just because we live in the Springs, doesn't mean that we only play in the Springs. We'll be spotlighting Denver activities, not as a main feature, but to give you some options to get out of town when you're feeling cramped in the Springs.

Our first Denver Spotlight is Cru- a Food and Wine Bar, as stated in their name.
I've been twice to the Park Meadows location, which is how I figured you deserve to know the greatness of this place as well. Any place that I'll drive almost an hour to visit is worth sharing

Cru's main focus is their extensive wine collection. I think the fantastic food they serve is just to keep you occupied while sipping on little bits of heaven.

Cru at Park Meadows in Denver

The Park Meadows location has an outdoor patio, and then bar seating and tables inside. There is a wine wall along the back that will make any wino salivate, but it's also decorated in an eclectic- almost bookstore or library feel. The mahogany wood shelves cover wall to wall, floor to ceiling, and a tall rolling ladder allows the top shelf to be reached by librarians bartenders

Cru serves wines by the glass, by the bottle, or by the flight.
A flight is 3 smaller glasses of wine for you to try for the flavor. If you purchase a flight, it comes with a note card which explains the wine, the flavors and the origins.

I got the Latin Affair flight, which consisted of three Malbecs.

They accompany their wine with a superb selection of appetizers, CHEESE FLIGHTS, and other various creative entrees.

The service at Cru is always great at the bar. Their bartenders know about wines and can help you pick a food pairing or just help you decide which flights, glass, or bottle is right for you. Their wait staff in the dining room is wait staff. The second time I went, my server didn't know much and clearly wasn't a wine drinker. Not her fault, I just had to make decisions on my own. I was fine with that, but I can see a novice being frustrated by a lack of information, especially at a wine bar.
The ambiance has the eclectic book store feel I mentioned, with vintage posters on the walls in the seating area. The outside dining area was truly a place I could hang out for long periods of time. It happened to be a perfect night, and the dining area is set away from mall traffic enough that you don't feel like you're at the mall, but close enough for people watching.


Appetizers ranged from $9-14 and could be shared by 2 people.
Cheese flights were $15 or $16, and could easily be shared by 2 or 3 people.
Wine flights and glasses ranged from $11-25 depending on the wines, obviously.
Dinner entrees ranged from $16-22 and pizzas from $12-16. The entrees and pizzas were not the usual way-too-much-food-for-1-person helpings you tend to get at Chili's or wherever.

Cheese flight at Cru.

The flavor factor was 5 out of 5. They know exactly how to cook a meal/appetizer that will taste fantastic with a glass of wine. But they are also skilled in pairing unique flavors. I'd venture to say this could be a great place to have dinner even if you don't drink wine. Gasp! Sinful, I know. But, the food is truly delicious on it's own.

We kept our wine cards that explained our flights. I'm going to try to collect every one I wonder what happens if they change up their flights. I guess I'll have to drink more.

Wine flights and an Ahi Tuna appetizer at Cru

Popularity: 2% [?]

0

The Melting Pot

I went to the melting pot with a bunch of friends for my birthday.



It's in the basement of a building, so immediate reaction was IT'S DARK! But, I do understand the darkness tends to correlate with romance and mood lighting, and it wasn't bat cave dark, so I'll let it go.

We were greeted by our very friendly waiter quickly and things got going!

I checked out the wine cabinet- GLORY!



And then roamed around and explored a bit.

Yes, I do this everywhere. Even on my birthday. It's all for you! Haha



They have small tables of four, and ours was for 12, I think. Since they have those grills in the middle, you can drag tables together to be close to your friends, so I appreciate that they thought of this when designing their restaurant.



Our server came back with our appetizer (a cheddar cheese dip with vegetables, shared among the 10 people who came). And we got to snacking.

And then we finished munching. And he was nowhere to be found. I am ALL FOR giving people their space. Especially a larger group- we obviously were chatty. But the table of 10 next to use arrived after us and left before we even had checks, so I know it didn't have to be THAT long. It got to the point where we were getting bored and hungry between courses.

We had dinners for 2, which were cheaper then each of use buying one ourselves. I think dinner was around $29/person? I know someone was offended that I had asked them to come to Melting pot and spend $100 on my birthday.

TAKE NOTE: Dinner ranges from about $25-32/person. Not too abnormal. You can add an appetizer for about $12-18 and you can add dessert for around $20, BUT dinner for 1 person does not have to be anywhere near $100. So don't let this place scare you too much.



And I can't complain about anything other than the speed of service. The meat was great. The sauces were great. The experience was fun and made for a good venue for that many people to all feel included the whole time.

As you can see above, we pretty much licked the plate clean.

And then dessert, which was on fire.

Literally.



We actually all shared this one dessert. There was a lot of appetizer and a lot of dinner and this was just perfect.

The pace is always slow here, so don't come for a quick bite. But it's not usually 3 hours slow (Yes, that's how long it took us to have 3 courses.) It's a great place for a date because it's an interactive meal and there's a lot of sharing.

I love this place.

Popularity: 3% [?]

0

Pizzeria Rustica

We stopped by this Pizzeria because we heard they had a really cool brick oven that they made all their pizzas fresh in.

The first time we went, they were closed for the winter or something? I can't remember, but it was a long period of time. But we were interested in the oven, so we tried again a few months later.

The window has their logo, which is their brick oven. Go figure!



It appears to have been a home at one point. When you walk in, you'll see a staircase, don't go up it, go around it. The restaurant is on the first floor.

If you look up, there's a chandelier hanging from the high ceilings and photos on all the walls.



And then, inside, there are also paintings. Some are decoration, and some are for sale.



The staff was friendly and we were seated quickly. The restaurant was well-lit, but not bright lit. It was a calming dimness, but not so dark that you feel like batman.

Our server was also very kind. I like to ask a lot of questions (Ooops). She didn't mind and humored me with thought-out answers

We started with a bottle of wine. And boy did they ever have enough wine!





We ordered an appetizer. A Caprese salad for $8.



And then, I roamed the restaurant.

I am always pleased when I don't get dirty looks for snapping pictures. DID YOU KNOW that the Pizzeria Rustica uses organic and locally grown produce? They do.



These are the places in Colorado where they get their ingredients. VERY interesting, right???

I took a picture of the kitchen from the dining room....



...and asked about their brick oven. At which point, I was invited to step into the kitchen and see for myself! Ooo! I love this!

So I did.

And it was a little uneventful. But cool, still. I think I was just expecting it to be beautiful and amazing, and it was merely a brick oven in a kitchen.



I did get to chat with the chefs and that was fun. I was curious as to how they knew when a pizza was done, since they don't have timers, and the fire can change and the distance from the fire can change. He told me about the things they look for in the crust that lets them know it's ready. I totally soaked it all up because I love cooking so much, but I have to imagine other people would find it cool, too.

I don't know why I didn't take pictures of our pizzas, but I didn't.

I got a half-size Margherita, and my fiance got a half size Salsiccia.I added chopped fresh garlic to mine. I love garlic. It was amazing.

Our total bill was $40 for a bottle of wine, an appetizer, and two dinners. I'd call it a success folks. We will definitely go back. And I definitely recommend it.



It came with chocolate-covered coffee beans To cleanse your palette.

Popularity: 3% [?]

0

HuHot Mongolian Grill

My Fiance told me about HuHot after he went there with some coworkers for lunch.



Hu Hot is it is ALL YOU CAN EAT Mongolian.

When you walk in, you grab a table and then you head to the front where you'll get a bowl and start down a line of stations.

Your first station is meet and noodles. The creepy part is the meat is all sliced and frozen and looks weird. But it's still yummy. I wondered if it was sanitary, but I'm assuming the State of Colorado's Health Inspection said it was or they wouldn't be so popular.



They have pork, chicken, beef, seafood, crab, peperoni. I can't even remember. A lot of meat lol.

And 3 or 4 types of noodles to choose from.



Then you skootch on down to the toppings bar. This had veggies, cilantro, water chestnuts.... Keep adding to your bowl!



It's not even over yet!! Then you make your way to a sauces bar.



Yes, you pour the sauces right into your giant bowl of raw/frozen food. They have garlic and ginger and hot and salty. There were soooo many.

Then, you take your bowl of goodness to be cooked! You hand it to a guy who pours your food and sauces out onto a giant circle stove.



There are tip jars on the counters, and I must say, if anyone deserves the tip, it's these guys. They work very fast and you can tell it's very hot.



They keep track of whose food is whose and then they'll give it back to you on a plate. So, if your bowl was overflowing, it will probably fit on the plate just fine.



Depending on what time you go and what day of the week, it may or may not be worth the price.

For LUNCH during the work week- It's $8.49 all you can eat. Amazing, right? But they're busy around lunch, so if you have a short lunch break, just pile your bowl as high as it will go and try not to drop anything. If you have time to dilly dally, then you can get seconds, thirds, whatever your heart desires and your stomach can handle. For DINNER during the week, it goes up a bit, and then DINNER on the weekends it goes up a lot- to $12.95. Then you have to ask yourself how much can you eat?? LOL.

That being said- I don't eat too much and I went when it was $12.95, but I wasn't upset by it. I forced myself to go back for seconds to make it worth my pennies

Popularity: 4% [?]

0

GARBANZO Mediterranean Grill

Garbanzo quickly became one of my FAVORITE places after my first 2 bites.

It's located on Powers and North Carefree by the Super Target. And it's well worth your drive, wherever you are.



When you walk in, you'll probably be confused. It's confusing. Don't feel stupid. The employees are well aware that the options are confusing and will walk you through them. It's probably best described as a Mediterranean take on Panda Express. You pick your base concept, you add some ingredients, and then you accessorize.



At Garbanzo, your base is either a salad, a platter or a wrap. Simple, right? Then you add some goodies- meat, falafel, hummus. It's completely custom, so you can add whatever. And then you accessorize- You can add sauces, grilled eggplant, pickled red things. I have no idea.

Another big thing to understand is you may not know what all of it or any of it is, so be brave I tried one of everything, and I can promise it's all good! The employees also understand that you can't pronounce most of the food. In fact, some of them have t-shirts that say "I just ate something I can't pronounce." While you're adding things to your plate- you'll notice that some of the signs have a price of $0.85 or whatever it happens to be. So be aware if you're adding something to your plate that will add to your price. MOST of the tags do not have one because they're not extra. But I know it catches some people by surprise.

The grilled eggplant is to die for and is sooo worth the price.



After you're done, you can grab a seat there, but I take it to go.

There is SO MUCH food on the platter that I like to set it on my desk at work and nibble for an hour or so. I just can't eat all that food in one sitting.

It's very rich and the flavors are fantastic. There's a lot of garlic, but there are a lot of new flavors that are just too exciting as well. The hummus is amazing and creamy. The garlic sauce mixed with the cilantro sauce is outstanding.



This is my one of everything platter. So I think I paid $8.29? It came with a pita too. And then this bowl is outrageously full. The only thing I think I can identify in this picture is rice. Chicken and steak. Grilled eggplant...

The rest is a delicious mystery.

Popularity: 5% [?]

0

Splash

Holy Shiz. Let me tell you about the greatest place in the whole wide entire world.

Splash.

If you don't live in Colorado Springs, start crying now because your life is an epic failure and you will never experience the night that Jo and I had tonight. Sorry 'bout itttttt. Splash is a place where you go to take an art class and drink wine. It was mostly women tonight, but we were also painting a love poster with a wedding dress, so maybe that makes sense.

They have private rooms or you can do the group paintings. It's a great date idea, or friend idea, or girls night idea, or pre- bachelorette party idea, or birthday party idea. It was awesome!

Before I even tell you about it, know that you must make a reservation. They are open Thursday through Saturday at 6:30 and they fill up. We were on a waiting list and got lucky. So call a week ahead. They have each painting that they do each night on a calendar, so you can pick a night with a cute painting if you want.

Here were some of the examples on what they've painted on other nights.

Okay so Splash. We walk in and sit down at our easels. In the front is a painting of what we'll be making, and a blank canvas. Hmm.



There's a bar where we proceed to buy a bottle of wine.

Here's the bar.



And here's the bottle!



... And Jo.....

Anyway. You grab your seat. Your get your wine. And then you head to the back where they have the paints for that night.



Your brushes are already at your easel.

Our instructions that were painted on the wall said.... "Just get a heaping scoop of white and ochre (poop yellow) and a dash of everything else."

Watch out, because some of these paints projectile squirt like 2 feet Tee hee.

So we all sit down and they tell us a brief story (which I won't spoil for you) and then they get started. It's very step by step. But it's not set in stone. They give their recommendations and explain how they made THEIRS, but you can do whatever the heck you want.

So he tells us the first step is to do this color and that color in this manner. You look around and everyone's doing it different. It's super cool. And every once in a while, he throws in "....and drink some more!" Lol. It was very relaxed and fun.



So we finish the first phase and let things dry for a bit.... and drink some more.... OBVIOUSLY!



These are what ours looked like at the time. It was like a room full of Mark Rothkos. Craziness.

And then we added another layer of colors and drank some more.



And then we starts adding the deets. They help you by saying, use this color, use this brush. But again, it's really up to you.

At the end of the day, his looked like this.



And ours looked like this.



But not all of them looked like this. Some people just went and did their own thing. Black dresses, blue backgrounds. Mountains. TREES!



Anything goes. You can do whatever the eff you want. While drinking wine. Listening to music. And laughing.

And before you leave, you get to sign the wall.



I know you're crying right now. There's really just no way that you're not. It's okay. You can admit it. I expected it and it's totally okay.

BUT, now you either need to go to Splash, or you need to find a place just like it in your town

Stay tuned! I've got a lot more pictures waiting to be turned into posts to tell you all about this wonderful city we live in!

Popularity: 1% [?]

0

Jake and Telly's Wine Dinner #2

I told you I would be attending another. Part of the reason was because it was sooooo fantastic I wanted to marry it. And I also wanted to see if it was a fluke, or if every wine dinner they have is that amazing.

The verdict: Every wine dinner they have is amazing!

The menu consisted of the following... (Stolen right out of the e-mail they sent out)

Jake and Telly are not messing around. They know good food. And good wine. And they know how to pair them PERFECTLY.
Our first course was a shrimp salad and those little shrimps were wrapped in ham, but it was very potent and spiced like a prosciutto. Delish. But you knew that. This course was served with a Zinfandel.

Our second course was a Pulled Pork and Green Chili Soup. It was topped with an avocado mousse. Yes, it was amazing. The soup had a little kick to it and it was perfect because it was served with another Zinfandel, but this Zinfandel also had a bit of spice to it. It was truly amazing how they picked out the most subtle flavors in two Zinfandels and paired them perfectly with their soul mate dishes.

We're not even done, folks. The next glorious course was a Boeuf Wellington. We all know that anything wellington is good, but nobody ever knew that it could be this good. Somehow, the crust was not soggy, every piece had a hot warm center, and every bite was naughty heaven. They served it with asparagus and a scalloped potatoy type dish, but it was better than that. And the red wine demi-glace was the greatest touch.

They served the wellington with an old vine zin. My other favorite when Malbecs aren't being served. It was, of course, perfect.
The follow-on wine was a sweet petite syrah. It was the prefect segway from that tender meaty dinner to the delicate and creamy dessert that they served us afterward.
It was a Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with a raspberry drizzle. It was amazing again.

As I was entering this photo, I remembered the mint infused cream they served alongside it. It was obviously fresh mint leaf, and if you weren't looking for the mint, you might not have noticed it, but it was superb as well.
By the end of the night, I was basically praying to God to turn me in to a cow with 8 stomachs so that I could keep eating and eating.

If this wine dinner were a college exam, it would be the curve-breaking 100%, and all the other kids would be mad at it It's amazing. Save up the $50 plus tax and tip and do it. You won't be mad.

Popularity: 3% [?]