Denver Restaurant Week is one of my favorite times of the year.
It originated as 5280 week, where Denver restaurants create a multi-course meal that can vary from their usual menu at the price of $52.80 for two people. These were the good ol’ days, unfortunately the prices have gone up significantly since then.
Restaurants now have the option to charge either 25, 35, or 45 dollars a person. Despite that, it gives me an excuse to have a night out and explore new restaurants, so I always partake.
These are my thoughts on the three restaurants we tried this year:
El Five
The Ambiance
El Five is a new restaurant in LoHi. It’s owned by Justin Cucci, so you know it’s good. The theme is “Tapas of Gibraltar,” with influences from all over the Mediterranean.
The atmosphere here is perfect. Located on the fifth floor of a building just next to its sister restaurant, Linger, there are incredible views of downtown and the mountains from a gorgeous patio.
I am positive that come summer the patio will be packed, but luckily the cold weather allowed me to capture some shots without all the people.
The inside boasts huge windows so you can still catch the view, Mediterranean style art is plastered over the walls, and bar seating allows you to watch the chefs prepare the tantalizing dishes.
the Food
I honestly think I would visit El Five just for the decor, but the food is incredible too. The Denver Restaurant Week menu included four courses: Pintxos Tasting, Tapas, Platos Principales, and Dulces.
The Pintxos Tasting included Jamon Iberico & Queso, Tortilla Espanola, and Smoked Mussels & Olive Mignonette. You get all three, in mouth-watering, bite sized portions.
For tapas, I ordered the Crispy Cauliflower Yufka, which was my favorite part of the meal. The rich Mediterranean flavors of the Yufka were well-balanced with the more acidic Cumin Rouille. The Avocado Fattoush seemed a little unnecessary but was still delicious.
Luke ordered the Shrimp and Calamari a la Plancha, which was also amazing.
For the main course, I ordered the Moroccan Lamb Sausage, which was very rich, with lamb, feta, fava beans, pea tendrils and mint placed on a layer of hummus, but it was amazing.
Luke ordered the Green Sofrito Paella, which was a vegetarian take on traditional Paella. This was quite large, so we got to take some home.
We shared one of the each of the desserts, the Kunefe and the Chocolate Semolina Cake. Neither were the highlight of the meal, but both were very good depending on if you prefer chocolate dessert or not. The cake was not overly rich and had an intriguing texture due to the semolina flour.
The Drinks
The drinks here are great. They make the best sangria I have had so far, and Luke ordered a Pineapple Mint Collins that was very refreshing.
Price range
$30 and Under
Highlights
This place has the whole package, great food, drinks, and views.
Would I go Back?
Yes, already planning to go back for my birthday so I can sip sangria and share a large plate of paella with Luke.
Avelina
The AMBIANCE
Avelina is located in LoDo, with a nice front patio, and a separated bar area and dining room. The kitchen is in the back of the restaurant, open and white, inviting you to look inside.
There were many waiters here and any number of them would bring your food from the kitchen, which made the area fairly high traffic. Our waiter was very attentive and knowledgeable about the dishes, providing very detailed explanations of several things on the menu.
Avelina did not have their normal menu during Denver Restaurant Week, although several items were pulled from their normal menu to create the Restaurant Week menu.
The Food
The menu was made up of three courses, First, Second, and Third. This did not include any dessert. There were available bottles of wine to pair with your meal.
For the first course, the Crispy Brussels Sprouts were recommended, so Luke went with that and I decided on the Roasted Squash Salad. Although it was good, the Brussels Sprouts were much better and I had minor regret that I didn’t order them.
The second course for me was the Colorado Lamb Meatballs with caramelized onions, shiitake mushrooms, parmesan broth and sun-dried tomato gremolata. The three small meatballs were good, as well as the broth, but the shiitake mushrooms were my favorite.
For the main course, I did the Lobster Agnolotti because the waiter described it so deliciously. It was a fairly small dish, although it was lobster so I shouldn’t have been surprised. The lobster was inside the agnolotti, a pasta similar to a ravioli. The ginger broth that it was in was a little sweet and anymore of it probably would have been overpowering.
Luke did the seared salmon with farro fried rice, baby turnips, brussels, and squash. It was very good, a better sized portion that the agnolotti.
We noticed when looking at the menu that they reused a lot of items. Luke had Brussels sprouts both as his appetizer and with his entrée.
The Drinks
The drinks were not very good, in my opinion. Luke ordered the Aviation, which had creme de violette, maraschino liqueur and gin. I usually like gin and creme de violette, but I didn’t enjoy this cocktail. I ordered the Pear Vanilla Side-Car, which I also really didn’t enjoy. The Cider Mule was good, but seemed overpriced.
Price Range
$30 and Under
Highlights
The Brussels Sprouts.
Would I go Back?
Probably not. Although it was good, Avelina did not wow me in a way that made me feel like I need to go back. It also seemed pretty pricey for not a lot of food.
Venice Ristorante & Wine Bar
The ambiance
Venice Ristorante is right across from Union Station in Downtown Denver. It’s a fairly large restaurant, also with a patio, bar area, and dining room. It is themed after Venice, Italy, although I don’t think it does a great job of imitating that atmosphere.
For Denver Restaurant Week they had a three course meal including appetizer, entrée and dessert. They also had their regular menu and a tablet that they used as their wine list. Although I appreciate that the tablet simplifies things, it did not embody the quaint and cozy demeanor of a wine bar you might find in Italy. The normal menu was also huge, so I had some trouble reading through the whole thing.
The Food
For the first course, I ordered the Calamaretti e Zucchine Fritte. The plate was mostly fried zucchini, with fried calamari rings and tentacles throughout over a tomato based sauce. It was fairly good, although the rings were a little chewy.
For the entrée, I ordered the Tagliatelle Bolognese, which was a mistake. It was okay, but definitely something that could have been made at home. The other entrées included a vegetarian ravioli, salmon, chicken and veal scaloppine.
The dessert was my favorite part, as they had a Nutella Crepe that was pretty good.
The Drinks
Although I didn’t like the format of the wine list, it was extensive and provided a lot of affordable options ($7 and up).
Price Range
$30 and Under
Highlights
Dessert.
Would I go back?
No. While I probably wouldn’t go back to Avelina, Venice Wine Bar was last on my list out of the three restaurants. The food was nothing special and much too expensive for its quality. A plate of pasta for dinner is normally around 20 bucks, which is too much in my opinion. If I were to go back, it would likely just be for wine.
The Winner
The obvious winner in my opinion was El Five. The food was amazing, the atmosphere unbeatable, and the drinks were great.
Would you participate in Denver Restaurant Week?
Looking for more restaurants to try in Denver? Check out 8 Denver Restaurants that You Need to Try.
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