SBRRP installment 6: Acreage

Acreage is an outlier because it is not on South Boulder Road, but it is on the south end of town in an area with no other restaurants. It's at the top of the loop made by Horizon Drive off 120th St. between South Boulder Road and Dillon. I'd been there a couple of times before, but the last time was seven or eight months ago. Acreage is a collaboration between Stem Ciders, which has another taproom in the RiNo area of Denver, and chef Eric Lee. The menu is creative, if a bit pricey (depending on what you are comparing it to), and it changes regularly, probably based on seasonal availability.

It can be very busy on weekend nights, especially when the weather is nice and people can hang out on the nice west-facing deck (with firepits). This past Saturday, it was full but not insanely busy. G was out of town, so my friends Scott and Michelle accompanied me. I got a cider flight (pear, cherry l'acier, banjo, and cranberry cyser). Michelle got a glass of cranberry cyser, and Scott got a glass of Banjo (aged in a whiskey barrel). I thought all four of my ciders were good, and I followed up with a 10-oz glass of pear, which may be my Stem favorite.

Scott and Michelle are vegetarian, so they ordered the veggie burger, the grilled greens, the beets, and a big side of Basque frites that we all shared. The frites were the highlight of the food for me! I was drawn to the mushrooms-on-toast entrée for some unknown reason, so our entire menu sampling was meatless. I did not think the mushrooms on toast was the most successful thing I have tried at Acreage, but that didn't keep me from polishing it off. The mushrooms themselves were delicious, but the lemony flavor of the greens on top didn't quite work for me. However, I like many other food items on the Acreage menu. Did I mention the Basque frites? We also tried two desserts: a lemon cake topped with crème anglaise and poached pears and the cider doughnuts. These were both amazing.

In the background, 10-oz glasses of cranberry cyser and banjo; foreground, a flight of four ciders.

Amazingly delicious Basque frites and beets

Grilled greens. So pretty!

Michelle with her veggie burger

Me with my mushrooms on toast. I was moving some greens to show the big pile of mushrooms. The greens had a lemony dressing.

Michelle tried the hot buttered cider. It was kind of like apple pie filling in a mug.

Lemon cake with creme anglaise and poached pears.

Cider doughnuts with cinnamon sugar and maple ... whatever that stuff is. Topping? Dip? Scott topped it, and I dipped it.

SBRRP installment 5: Mici

I originally planned to exclude Mici because of my no-franchise rule, but I rethought it after a friend pointed out that it is a Colorado-only chain (five Denver/Parker/Highlands Ranch locations plus Lafayette). Then I discovered that it is not actually a franchise, as the original family owns all of the current locations (though they are considering franchising at some point, according to the nice employee who told me a little about it). It is pronounced "Meechy," not "Meesy," and it is in the strip mall just east of Sprouts on South Boulder Road. I had been here once before for lunch right after it opened about a year ago.

It started out very quiet for a Saturday night, but other groups of diners came in after us, including some who were picking up takeout (delivery is also an option within 3.5 miles through the restaurant's own delivery service).

After debating between pasta and pizza, we decided to share a casa salad (gorgonzola, red grapes, candied walnuts, mixed greens, and balsamic vinaigrette) and a Pietro pizza (tomato sauce, family-recipe sausage, pepperoncini, onion, and mozzarella). Note that the restaurant website says their meats contain no preservatives! We liked this pizza very much, and the leftovers reheated well for breakfast this morning. I had a glass of red wine, and G had a soft drink. For dessert, I got the Andes mint gelato, which was also good. We noted the weekday lunch special (M-F, 11-2, choose 2 for $9.29: pizza, pasta, salad, soup) for future reference.

Casa salad with garlic bread

Pietro pizza and Micelli family photo

A pizza-eye view of the front counter

Now a gelato-eye view

Note the kids-eat-free Mondays and bottle-of-wine-with-pizza specials, plus gluten-free options

Pizza good!

Gathering information

SBRRP installment 4: Off-Campus Café

Off-Campus Café is NOT on South Boulder Road, but I had to include a couple of outliers that are on the south end of town and are not near any other restaurants. This place is just south of the medical complex on Campus Drive. It's popular with people who work on the campus, and I have heard others mention it as a favorite breakfast and lunch spot (it closes at 2:30 on weekdays and 2:00 on weekends). We had never been there before, and we decided to go for breakfast, which they serve until 11. We arrived at 10 a.m., which was a nice quiet time on a Friday morning. 

 We were all very pleased with our food. Our dining companion ordered "The Usual Suspect," a traditional Benedict with ham and an English muffin with hash browns on the side. I ordered the "KGB" Benedict, with house-made smoked salmon on potato-leek latkes with chives and hollandaise, topped with roasted pickled beets and with a house-made biscuit on the side. I think the jam might have been house-made too. This was an amazing dish! The latkes stayed crisp even under the eggs. I wonder how they do that? The salmon was tender, and the beets were a nice flavor note. G ordered French toast (maple nutmeg brioche with cinnamon and orange) with a side of bacon. The server told us the brioche is made by a local bakery, and G said it was delicious. We all ate everything on our plates, which is a testimonial to how good it was. We'll be back to try the lunch menu and more breakfast options!

Action shot of G walking in

Traditional Benedict with hash browns

French toast (maple nutmeg brioche) with bacon

"KGB" Benedict: potato latkes, house-made smoked salmon, poached eggs, hollandaise, roasted pickled beets. Amazing! House-made biscuit on the side.

The steam wasn't really pink, but I thought the effect was fun. I liked the round Off-Campus Cafe mugs. 

This says it all--backward.

SBRRP installment 3: Taqueria La Esperanza (CLOSED)

Update January 2023: This place closed after a fire in August 2022. I'm sad because we really liked it.

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Another place we have never been on account of tending to stick to the north side of town. We drew this one out of the jar and then decided whether to go for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, as it is open for all three (8-8 Mon-Fri, 9-7 Sat-Sun). We decided to head over for a late-Saturday-morning breakfast. When we arrived about 10:15, we were the only customers, but several other groups came in right behind us. We liked the diner atmosphere with the checkered floor and the chugging drink mixers on the counter--and there are quite a few tables, as the space is larger than I would have guessed from the outside.

G ordered the enchiladas (cheese) topped with two eggs, and I got the huevos rancheros. Both of our meals came with rice and beans, a little lettuce, and small scoops of sour cream and guacamole, and mine also had chorizo fried with jalapenos and onions. I asked for scrambled eggs, and they were topped with green chile and had a tortilla on the side. We both liked our meals. The green chile was on the mild side with just a little heat, but there is a salsa bar with options ranging from mild to hot if you want to try different flavors and spiciness levels. After photographing the drink mixers, I got a cup of horchata (rice, milk, sugar--maybe cinnamon), and it was tasty. There is a large menu of taco, burrito, torta, and plate options, so we'll be back to try some other options.

Lots of menu choices! I was going to crop this tighter, but then I noticed that you can see me and a couple of other customers in the mirror at the bottom.

The counter

Horchata! Rice, milk, possibly a little cinnamon. I usually avoid sugary drinks but wanted to try one of the aguas frescas.

G's cheese enchiladas with eggs

Huevos rancheros (scrambled)

The salsa bar