SBRRP installment 8: Tacos Aya Yay

Many of you already know and love this place, as is evidenced by its appearance in fifth place on this list of "the best Mexican restaurants in the US, according to Yelp" (based on a Yelp algorithm that ranks user reviews). We had not been there before, but we knew it would get very busy around dinnertime, so we went at 5 p.m. on Sunday night and happened to hit a relatively quiet moment (though as we arrived, someone was leaving with a huge takeout order). There isn't a lot of seating inside, and it is all counter seating along the walls and front windows. We managed to find two chairs next to Freddy and Tyler (whom we were meeting for the first time) and had a nice chat with them about the food here as well as the general Lafayette/Boulder County restaurant scene. Freddy, who works in the restaurant business himself, said Tacos Aya Yay is his local favorite and noted that the line is sometimes out the door.

Although I initially thought that I should order tacos, I ended up trying the taco torta with chicken instead--this is a torta with the addition of beans and possibly some other ingredients. It was delicious, with tender shredded chicken, cheese, and very nice flavors. G had a burrito with asada and chorizo and liked it very much too. We washed the food down with horchata and considered ordering more after we finished, but we were too full, so we will have to go back. I'm sorry I didn't photograph the menu because the online versions I found (on sites that post menu photos) are out-of-date, and I don't think there is an official online menu--but it has all the standard taqueria options plus some. Freddy and Tyler both said the barbacoa is one of their favorites, so that is on my list for next time.

It was hard to photograph the food, as all the good stuff was inside the bun.

I couldn't really show all the deliciousness inside the burrito either. But G said it was excellent. 

I took away half so I could show the inside of the torta.

The inside space, with counter seating along the walls. There are a few more seats around the corner to the left and along the front window.

From the outside

SBRRP installment 7: The Simple Greek

The SBRRP has been on a brief hiatus while I was away on a European adventure, but I am picking it up promptly upon my return. This time, we visited the Simple Greek! Originally, I was going to omit franchises, but some friends who are fond of this place argued that I should include it because it is the only one in Colorado, and I decided it wouldn't hurt to check it out. There is a fine line between this kind of place and a fast-food chain, but the distinction is more or less clear in my own mind, so here it is!

You order at the counter, and you select a "base" (pita or rice), a protein (traditional [lamb/beef] gyro, chicken gyro, grilled steak, grilled chicken, and a couple of other possibly vegetarian options that I failed to note), and various sauces and toppings. There is also a selection of sides and a few dessert options. G had a pita with traditional gyro and topped it with the "salad" (a mix of cucumber, tomato, and red onion), some garbanzo beans, and tzatziki sauce. He also had a side of Greek fries, meaning French fries topped with crumbled feta. I had a rice bowl with traditional gyro and topped it with the salad, the Lemonis potatoes and green beans, some additional cucumber, a few kalamata olives, and tzatziki. I also added a couple of dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with seasoned rice), which are served cold. 

When I first posted this on Facebook, I avoided expressing an opinion, but I will add here that I thought the food was just OK. It wasn't very warm, and the gyro was a bit dry.

When we first arrived on this chilly Tuesday evening, we were the only customers, but several others came in while we were eating. The Simple Greek is on South Boulder Road across from Sprouts.

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

SBRRP installment 2: Tandoori Kitchen

Back when the Asian buffet was in this location, I included it and Udon Kaisha in the Public Road Restaurant Project because they are right next to other restaurants with PR addresses. However, since this is now a different restaurant, and it is technically on SBR, I included it in this round. It still has the same furniture and general ambience (although the wall art now has an Indian theme), but it is the first Indian restaurant in Lafayette in my memory, and I've lived here since 1989 (let me know if I'm wrong)! I had been here for dinner once before, but it was a while ago. I'd like to try the lunch buffet sometime.

We went for dinner on Sunday night with a couple of friends. When we arrived, I asked the woman who seated us what the best things on the menu are. She said if I liked creamy, it would be tikka masala or chettinad, and if I liked spicy, I should try vindaloo. Since I do like creamy sauces, and I frequently order tikka masala, I decided to try chettinad ("south Indian kerala-style curry cooked with coconut milk, curry leaves and spices") with chicken, which was very good and very yellow--lots of turmeric! G ordered tikka masala with lamb, and our dining companions both got saag, one with lamb and one with tofu. We each had our own little dish of rice. We divided an appetizer order of two vegetable samosas among the four of us--they are not that large, but we wanted room for our entrees. And we got two orders of naan: regular (delicious) and kabuli (I did not taste this one). The staff were nice, and it was reasonably warm inside, considering that it was about 20 degrees and snowing.

We braved the snow! (It wasn't really snowing very hard.)

I tried a Taj Mahal beer, a basic lager. Otherwise, we stuck with water and hot chai tea.

Vegetable samosas. We cut one in half to show the filling. They were nice and hot and flaky.

Clockwise from top left: lamb tikka masala, lamb saag, tofu saag, and chicken chettinad (south indian kerala-style curry cooked with coconut milk, curry leaves and spices). I liked the curry leaves. The whole dish was good.

We each got our own dish of basmati rice.

Kabuli naan. I forgot to photograph the regular naan before we started eating it.

Inside Tandoori Kitchen. There are booths along the walls.

SBRRP installment 1: Dillinger's

A couple of years ago, G and I did a Public Road Restaurant Project that involved dining at every restaurant on Public Road (all 21 of them at that time). This winter, we will try all of the other restaurants in Lafayette, which together total up to a lower number than those on Public Road. We are starting with the South Boulder Road Restaurant Project. Since we are excluding fast-food restaurants and franchises (not because we don't like them but because everyone pretty much knows what the food is like in these places), our list for the SBRRP is quite short, as fast-food eateries abound in that part of town. We put the names into a jar and drew the first one tonight: Dillinger's!

Dillinger's has been in this spot on the southeast corner of SBR and Centaur Village Drive since 1991, but we had never been there even though we've lived here longer than that--we are Old Towners who tend to stick to our neighborhood, so this is helping us branch out. A friend told me she didn't think they served food! Well, this is not true, as you can see from their name, where "food" even comes before "spirits." We liked the colorful, cozy interior and the friendly staff. The menu is mostly typical bar food, but many of the dishes are made fresh, and we thought the food was tasty. G had a burger and fries and said the burger was very good. I tried the fish and chips, which came with a side salad that was fairly basic but fresh tasting. The fish was crisp and tender, the fries were good, and the prices were reasonable. We washed it down with Alaskan Amber (on tap) and finished off with churros and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The World Series and other sporting events were on TV, and there are pool tables in the back, but it was pretty quiet on a Tuesday night between 6:30 and 8 p.m.

I forgot to take my own photo outside, so this is a low-res one from the Yellow Pages website

My fish & chips. I'm sure the cod starts out frozen, but it was tender with a crisp crust, and we all know it's really just a vehicle for the tartar sauce. 

The colorful interior reminded us of other bars we like. 

Alaskan Amber beer! We couldn't pass that up. 

Side salad--basic but fresh tasting

G's burger and fries. He said the burger was delicious.

The order of churros came with two churros and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, so this is half of the order after we split it up.