Piece o PanCake

A new pancake house arrived in town: IHOP on over to The Original Pancake House when I get chance, just make sure you get there before 2pm.  This is a franchise out of Portland, Oregon.  Huge portions and known for their pricey but awesome bacon.  Above we have blueberry pancakes, one of about 20 varieties offered.  Located in the hot SE corner of FoCo tucked behind Peleton on Harmony.

Bann Me Anyday

This Thai place is in SE FoCo, another restaurant in the hot Front Range Village off Harmony.  This is actually the second location, another is downtown near campus.  Above we have Panang Curry once more, my favorite try at any Thai place. Accompanied by an order of pot stickers and coconut rice.  Bann or บ้าน means home. Welcome home!

Alfredo Burrito

Another local burrito place in FoCo, Cafe Mexicali has been around over 10 years now. Actually a small chain today with 3 NoCo locations. The mid-town place on College in FoCo is popular for lunch, so get there early before the line goes out the door. What makes this place? Only place in town that make fresh tortillas right before your eyes.  Unique homemade sauces, savory meats, large portions, smothered.  Always use a knife and fork here. Recommend this combo: Sweet Pork with their unique Creamy Habanero Sauce. Yum!

Out of Africa

I don't often get to eat African food, but this place is fun.  Ras-Ka is in is FoCo on Laurel, a small Ethiopian place right across from NE CSU campus. The atmosphere is unique and homey: the owner and chef greets you, seats you, takes your order, and servers you.  Kinda feels like you are guests in her living room.  Above we have African Chicken with a tasty vegetarian side, and the strange, spongy bread called injera. Fun!

Not Italian!

Please don't take me out to an Italian place. 

Why? Pizza and pasta don't motivate me to drive over there.  Just not that into it anymore.  Americans are over-Italianized in their food choices already.  How many frozen pizzas are in your freezer right now?  Fast, easy, tastes OK.  Frozen lasagna is pretty good, most places are serving frozen anyway.  Spaghetti sauce out of jar at home comes pretty close to restaurant quality. I grew up eating SpaghettiOs and raviolis from a can.  Not real food there, but Chef Boyardee has helped cure me from all other Italian chefs.  How many ways can you make a noodle, then add a sauce over it?  Bored already. 

I lived in South Jersey for almost 3 years.  This also led to my cure.  It seemed every restaurant there was Italian.  Every time we went out to eat, it was pasta or pizza.  (And the rumor was, you could get a no-paperwork, high-interest loan at most of them.) So keep the Olives out of my Garden. Send the Spaghetti back to the Factory.  Capeesh?

Eyes for Eggs

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Another local non-dinner venue is the Egg & I, started about 30 years ago in FoCo.  It is a franchise success story, now with 92 locations all over the USA.  Up above we have their wild mushroom frittata, part of their new seasonal menus, this was the Fall menu. Good stuff. But what is a frittata anyway? I guess you could call it an open-face Italian omelette, or, a not-folded-over omelette. 

Young's at Heart

Young's Cafe has been in FoCo for over 30 years, it is still here because it is the best Vietnamese place around, or even the best Asian food, period.  Up above is a curry rice noodle bowl with duck off the lunch menu.  Really good stuff.  They have the best service, also.  They could use a better location, though.  Tucked behind Red Lobster in an older strip mall, it is not easy to find, and even harder to park there.  But if you find it, and park OK, it is well worth getting over there.

Cheapest Lunch in Town

At $2.65, the pizza combo above, with an extra slice, is hard to beat for value. No fancy bistro here, just Sam's Club in store cafe.  So if you are shopping, or just get stuck there for a few hours waiting on tires ... quick, cheap, not bad.

Torched in FoCo

This new taco joint just opened a week ago in FoCo, near the renovated Foothills Mall on College.  Another growing chain, Torchy's Tacos started as a food truck in Austin, Texas.  The menu is very simple: 14 artistically named tacos.  Up above we have Baja Shrimp, Dirty Sanchez (veggie) and Mr. Orange (salmon).  The line was out the door, since folks in FoCo love to try new places.  But the wait is not very long. This basically feels like food truck eats in a brick & mortar restaurant. Trendy and fun.  Really weird sodas on tap: do not expect Coke or Pepsi products, they are all corn free and interesting.  They also have a large covered patio.  Seems most of the new places in town offer roof-top or patio dining.  My favorite taco so far was the Dirty one.