Burger Break

Last week we stopped into Cy's for lunch. Cy's is the real deal, a 1950s drive-in diner serving burgers, fries, shakes and the like. Not fancy schmancy burgers with bleu cheese and caramelized onions or whatever. Just burgers. I don't think their menu has changed since... ever, I guess! Pat had a burger (naturally) and I had a grilled cheese sandwich. So good! I especially love their french fries. Do you have an authentic drive-in diner left in your city? Cy's is a Colorado Springs institution!

Blue on Blue

Sunday gave us blue skies for only a short time, but it was at a lucky moment for me as we arrived at Mo's Diner for a late breakfast to find this classic Ford parked in front. The blue of the car and the little patch of blue sky above it are a near perfect color match.

An Old Friend

No time to venture out with a camera today, too much gardening and yard work to do! (Including helping out an older neighbor with planting grass.) So off to the vault I went. Here's the awesome neon sign of our favorite place to eat in Denver, taken on September 30, 2008. No trip to D-Town is complete without stopping at Pete's for a bite!

Mo's Interior

Ever since I took the picture of Mo's Diner for yesterday's post, I've been hankering to eat there. It's been decades since I set foot in the place, and Pat had never been there at all, but it still had that authentic diner feel that I remember. Oh and the food was awesome! I snapped a couple of pictures while we were there. I think it's high time I became a regular at Mo's again.

Mo's

I was doing a little location scouting for a pinup shoot the other day, and Mo's Diner caught my eye. It would, in fact, be a great location for such a theme because it's the real deal. When I was in college my boyfriend used to take me here sometimes, and he'd insist on waking me up at the crack of dawn for these breakfast outings. It was worth the agony though, because it was truly a breakfast-at-a-diner experience, and you know how much I love diners! This is practically the last surviving old school diner in the city (technically it's in Manitou). I haven't been in there since college. I really need to get in there and experience breakfast at Mo's again soon.

Viva Las Vegas or Bust! (Part 4)

After we left the Grand Canyon, we stopped in Williams, Arizona for a bite to eat at an old diner (the food was delicious). Williams is situated on historic Route 66 and really capitalizes on that fact. There is a ton of great mid-century signage all up and down the main drag. You know how much I love diners and old signs!

Sheldon's Luncheonette

My favorite little diner, the Detz Café, closed down on October 31st. It had been operation for 26 years. I heard that the owners simply wanted to retire. Before it was the Detz, it was the Quality Café and I have great memories of going there in the wee hours and having coffee and late night breakfast with my crazy friends.

The Detz was great. It had a Formica lunch counter and wood paneling on all the walls. All the senior citizens would go there after church on Sundays -- when Pat and I went, we were almost always the youngest people there. The food was wonderful and I loved the servers. Darn it! Where will we go now? Sheldon's Luncheonette, that's where!

Sheldon's is a Colorado Springs institution, having been around for nearly 50 years. It's located on North Nevada, over by the dog track (there's also a second location on 8th Street). I've lived here for decades and I'm ashamed to say I've never eaten at Sheldon's! My mom and I decided to try it out for lunch yesterday and it was delightful. We sat at the counter and I noticed that the server knew every patron's name. That's a good sign. My friend Kirk happened to be there (I always seem to run into Kirk at restaurants!) and he told me that Sheldon's has the best open faced turkey sandwich in the universe. I'm a vegetarian so I opted for grilled cheese, but I did get a peek at someone else's order of the open faced turkey sandwich and it looked delicious!

Pat actually went to high school with the son of the people who started Sheldon's Luncheonette. They had an interesting back story involving a sailboat and New Zealand. I don't know all the details so you'll have to use your imagination. All I know is that it was dumb of me not to go to there before now. And I can't wait to have Sunday morning breakfast at Sheldon's!

The home of Molly Brown

After checking out the Denver Modernism Show on Sunday (see yesterday's post), Pat and I had a bite to eat at Pete's Kitchen, our favorite Denver diner. While we were eating I mentioned that the Molly Brown House had crossed my mind recently, and I understood that it was reasonably close to Pete's. I've always wanted to tour it because I'd heard it was haunted (oooooo!), and of course also because I'm slightly obsessed with Colorado history, as you know! If you don't know who Molly Brown was, here's a one sentence description: Born of humble means, she became wealthy when her husband struck it rich in the gold mines of Leadville, Colorado; she later became famous for surviving the Titanic disaster and was posthumously nicknamed The Unsinkable Molly Brown. If you saw the blockbuster Titanic movie, you may remember that she was portrayed by Kathy Bates.

Anyway, with a little bit of googling we found that the Molly Brown House is mere blocks from Pete's Kitchen, so off we went! It only took a couple of minutes to get there. Since it was late Sunday afternoon, the place was closed, but I was able to get some nice pictures of the exterior. One of these days I'll take the time to actually go in there and take the tour. I'd love to see the interior and learn more of its history.

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Patrons at the counter of Pete's Kitchen, our favorite Denver eatery, captured on the afternoon of March 12th.

Skywatch Friday

No trip to Denver is complete for Pat and me without stopping in to Pete's Kitchen for a bite to eat! We love that place. Sometimes we drive all the way to Denver (about 60 miles) just to go to Pete's. This is the view of Colfax Avenue from the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, looking west. The Satire Lounge is also owned by Pete, and it's another Denver institution.

For more Skywatch Friday pictures from bloggers the world over, click HERE. And on a personal note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful mom! Love you Mama!!!

King's Chef on Costilla

The original King's Chef Diner on West Costilla, in all its crazy lavender castle glory.

Congratulations Mondo Guerra!

As a lifelong fashionista, it only makes sense that I would be addicted to Project Runway. And as a Coloradoan, it only makes sense that I would root for Denverite Mondo Guerra to win the Project Runway All Stars competition that concluded a couple of weeks ago. It was big news in Denver when he won! I was actually in Europe when the finale aired, so I had to watch it on Hulu when I got home. I was cheering at my laptop screen when they announced the winner! Mondo totally deserved the win -- I absolutely looooove his designs. I hope he goes far!

The other night Pat and I were in Denver, eating at our favorite diner, Pete's Kitchen. The place is an institution (I've blogged about it here more than once), and the walls are covered with autographed photos of the many famous athletes and entertainers that have dined there over the years. I found Mondo's autographed Westword cover in the hallway and had to get a snap of it. Darn, I wonder when he was there? I missed it! If I'd been there when Mondo was, I probably would have walked up to him and given him a great big hug.

Now Mondo, if only you'd let this Coloradoan shoot your next collection, my life would be complete!

The Satire Lounge

A couple of days ago Pat and I were in Denver running errands, and we met some friends for a quick dinner at Pete's Kitchen. Right next door to Pete's is the Satire Lounge, which is owned by Pete as well. The Satire has one of the coolest neon signs in all of Denver if you ask me!

The King's Chef Diner

Lately Pat, our friend Joe, and I have gotten into the habit of going to the roller derby on Saturdays when they're in town, and afterward hitting the King's Chef Diner on Nevada and Bijou. The King's Chef opens up around 9:30 or 10:00pm on weekends and stays open all night. We like it right after roller derby because it's just opening up for the night, so it's quiet and you can hold a conversation -- once the bars close at 2:00am it's a very different story!

The King's Chef has EXCELLENT food, some of the best burgers and fries in town, plus giant salads and really great breakfast goodies, like omelets, french toast and pancakes. And if you finish your plate you get a "Clean Plate Club" sticker and a piece of candy. I never finish my plate, but the waitresses (always tattooed and armed with cheeky attitudes) sometimes take pity on me and give me candy anyway. I love that.

If you're ever in the neighborhood you should go there. They have the hottest, most volcanic chili I have ever tasted! It's insane! My brother loves it but it's way too hot for me. I'm such a wimp.

Pete's Kitchen

Behold, one of my favorite places in the world, Pete's Kitchen! This is hands down the best diner in the universe, and it's open 24 hours. Pat and I are longtime customers. We love it and go there as often as we can -- unfortunately not often enough, since it's in Denver. In operation since the 1940's, Pete's is an institution! My favorite is the gyros sandwich (or the Kitchen's baked potato, depending on my mood), and Pat's a faithful fan of their gigantic breakfast burritos. Yum!

Tiny restaurant -vs- minivan

On the northeast corner of Cimarron and Sierra Madre sits a diner that's been there for generations. It's just about the size of a Winnebago -- maybe three or four people can fit in there max. The place is an institution. For a long time it was known as the Chuck Stop but something tragic happened there a couple of years ago (I think the owner died right there on the job -- I can't quite remember now). Anyway, since then it's been operating as Mr. B's Barbecue. This building is miniscule and it's really cute and vintage, the real deal. I've always wanted to check it out but now it seems like I may not ever have the chance! That's because earlier this month, a lady in a minivan somehow managed to crash into it, knocking it off its foundation (yes it's that tiny!) and effectively destroying the place.

I was curious so I dropped by there the other day to have a look. It's in pretty sad shape! I guess the minivan won. I suppose the good news with tiny buildings is that it's not as expensive to fix damage from marauding minivans as it would be with a more elaborate structure. If they ever get this place back up and running again, I'm definitely going to follow through and have a sandwich there.