Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill

I don't care if it's a fast-casual, cheap chain restaurant; I love Garbanzo.

I love the fact that I always walk in there starving and I immediately get handed a warm, freshly fried falafel to sample. I love that they pile my plate high with enough food for two meals for less than $10. I love that I can mix everything together on my plate to form a hummus-heavy pile of Mediterranean goodness.

Garbanzo locations have shot up around the Denver area like delicious weeds. I've eaten at four of their Front Range locations, all in the south suburbs. 

Garbanzo has a Chipotle-style setup where you select the shape and style of your entree, and customize it to your liking. Customers can choose from a plate, a pita, or a laffa (think Middle Eastern burrito). I always go with the plate since I seem to get more food that way, and they provide a pita on the side. Plus, I can grab a lid for the plate and eat the remainder of my giant meal later.

My standby is normally the Steak Shwarma plate ($6.99).  I order it with plenty of hummus, a generous helping of veggie salad, red cabbage, a dolma, and a little bit of tzatziki sauce. It's very filling, and as long as I can take it easy on the hummus, it's generally low-calorie as well.

Recently, Garbanzo has added steak and chicken kabobs to their menu. I tried a Chicken Kabob Plate ($8.99) at my last visit, with the usual fixings plus some Mediterranean rice.

Chicken Kabob Plate

The chicken was marinated and perfectly cooked. It was skewered alongside green and red bell peppers and red onions, which added a sweetness and crunchiness.

My biggest complaint about Garbanzo? The restaurants post nutritional stats and ingredients online, which is great, but it reveals the fact that they include preservatives in their hummus, falafel, and many of their sauces. I would expect a place that prides itself on freshness to avoid such additives.

Garbanzo is a Colorado-based chain, with locations across the Front Range. It's not terribly authentic, but it's tasty, fast, and cheap.



Everyday Dining

(8 of 10)

Pros: Cheap, fast, delicious
Cons: Not terribly authentic, preservatives in some foods

Website:
http://www.eatgarbanzo.com/

Avery Tap Takeover at Parry's Pizzeria

File this one under: all my favorite things in one place.

We'll be there. At 11 am.

For more information: http://www.parryspizza.com/parrysbar/

Parry's Pizzeria & Bar, Revisited

We were flattered to be invited to the soft opening of Parry's Pizzeria & Bar in January, and thrilled to discover that a great pizza-and-craft-beer joint was opening so close to our house.

Since then, we've made a couple more visits to Parry's for dinner, and also had some unsuccessful tries when we've turned around and headed elsewhere due to a very long wait.

Parry's has quickly become an extraordinarily popular Highlands Ranch restaurant and bar. That's no surprise, as Highlands Ranch is always hurting for non-chain, unique restaurants. Parry's particularly stands out for its selection of over 50 beers on tap, including many well-regarded local and national craft beers.

Parry's location at a giant Highlands Ranch strip mall is normally packed with a waiting area full of families and couples. If you can get past the crowds, however, an impressive beer menu and pizza selection await.

We've eaten in both the main dining area and near the bar. Unfortunately, their bar area is entirely too small. Only a handful of chairs are available, surrounded by a few nearby tables where you'll have to elbow away the remaining crowds of bar-area patrons who have nowhere to sit or stand.

But where else in the south suburbs can you get Russian River's Damnation and Dogfish Head Midas Touch (oh and an Odell IPA for Mrs. Oyster) on tap?

At a visit in February, we tried their Little Italys ($6) appetizer, which comprised of "round mounds of beef packed in bread crumbs, then delicately fried" (in other words, fried meatballs).

Little Italys

They were a little rubbery and lacking in flavor. As an appetizer choice, we much preferred the hot wings from our first visit.

Also at our initial dinner at Parry's, we ordered - and loved - their Summer of 2010 pizza. At a later visit, we tried the Five Boroughs ($20 for 18"), which was topped with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives and red onions.

Five Boroughs Pizza

The Five Boroughs was very average, it lacked punch and tasted like a pizza from anywhere. Since then, we've stuck to the Summer of 2010 and haven't left disappointed.

Parry's couldn't have chosen a better location for their pizzeria and bar. The restaurant feels a little like Mellow Mushroom, although Parry's has inferior pizza but a better beer selection and better wings. It's certainly worth a visit for anyone in the south suburbs who loves pizza and beer.


Casual Dining

(7 of 10)

Pros: Outstanding beer list, good pizza
Cons: Very long waits, some food is just average

Website:
http://www.parryspizza.com/parrysbar/

Parry's Pizzeria & Bar

My husband loves pizza, he loves beer, and he loves locally-owned restaurants that are conveniently close to our house (not always an easy thing to find in Highlands Ranch). To his absolute joy, he recently noticed "Coming Soon" signs at a shopping area near our house for Parry's Pizzeria & Bar, which advertised over 50 draft handles.

Since then, Mr.Oyster has been ridiculously excited for the restaurant to open. He has repeatedly craned his neck while driving past to see how close Parry's might be to serving thirsty, hungry patrons. He has speculated as to what beers they might offer, and how good their pizza might be.

So we were very excited to attend Parry's "Friends and Family" grand opening this past Thursday at their Highlands Ranch location.

Parry's already has two other south-suburban locations, one in Parker and one in Castle Rock. I haven't been to either of those spots, but apparently they are smaller and are less beer-centric than the new Highlands Ranch location.

We arrived to a packed and lively Parry's Pizzeria & Bar. The restaurant has a definite sports bar feel to it. There's a large, separated bar room directly in front of the main entrance, where the famous 50 taps are showcased. The main dining area is also spacious, with seating in brick booths and flat-screen TVs everywhere.

Their extensive beer list included many local Colorado favorites, and other well known-beers from across the country. I ordered a White Rascal from Avery Brewing Company, and my husband enjoyed a Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat followed by a Rotator IPA.

We talked to their manager briefly about Parry's beer selection, and they certainly offer (or plan to offer) a wide variety of well-known local and national beers. There aren't many places in the south suburbs with such a sophisticated beer menu, so they will stand out from other restaurants with their beers alone.

As for our food choices, we started off with an order of their Buffalo Wings:

Buffalo Wings

Yes, that's steam coming off the top. The wings required a little bit of a wait, but they arrived at our table piping hot and fresh out of the fryer. The wings were very large, and were coated in a thick, spicy wing sauce which I thought had the perfect amount of heat for a "hot" wing.

We also ordered their "Summer of 2010" pizza, which contained pepperoni, Fontanini Italian sausage, jalapenos, and pepperocinis.

Summer of 2010 Pizza

I loved this pizza. It was cooked perfectly, and generously covered with cheese and toppings. The pepperocinis and jalapenos tasted freshly chopped, and added a pleasant heat to the pizza. The Italian sausage was extremely thinly sliced and well seasoned.

For dessert, our meal ended with a cannoli:

Cannoli

This was the only thing from Parry's I wasn't crazy about. I didn't get much of a ricotta taste from the filling, and it hadn't been piped into the center of the cannoli very well, leaving much of the cannoli shell vacant.

Parry's is likely to be a crowd-pleaser in Highlands Ranch, by keeping patrons entertained with sports, pizza, and beer, while also being a completely acceptable place to bring kids.

The staff was extremely gracious and seemed very enthusiastic about the new restaurant. Parry's apparently has large expansion plans in the works, and I'm sure they'll be extremely successful.


Casual Dining

Website:
http://www.parryspizza.com/

Pierre Michel French Bakery

Hidden just under my nose after all these years in the suburbs is Pierre Michel, an organic French bakery located in Highlands Ranch.

Pierre Michel lies in a very small space at the end of a Highlands Ranch strip mall, and stands out from its neighbors by not being a chain restaurant. This same shopping area houses an IHOP, Panera and Starbucks for those looking for breakfast fare.

Despite the generic surroundings, the interior of Pierre Michel was quaint and very cozy, with brightly colored tablecloths and fresh flowers at each table.

Diners order at a counter when they walk in, before taking a seat at one of only a few tables and waiting for their order to be served. Pierre Michel seats only about 20 people, and was nearly at capacity during the Saturday of our visit. It seems to be a welcome respite for those looking for a break from the standard suburban chain options in the area.

Pierre Michel offered a wide variety of delicious-looking French pastries on display, but we passed them up in favor of a more substantial meal.

I started off with a very tasty Cafe au Lait:

Cafe au Lait

My husband ordered the French toast:

French Toast

This simple presentation of French toast included homemade blackberry jam on the side. The jam was very pleasant; it was fresh and had just the right about of sweetness. Unfortunately, the French toast tasted bland and a bit soggy, and was just disappointing overall.

The French toast order included a side of eggs:

Scrambled Eggs

These were sort of half-scrambled and had a slightly runny yolk component. They were simple and very fresh, with a touch of salt and pepper on top for flavor.

I ordered the intriguing-sounding Omelette Sandwich, which included French baguette bread with a ham and cheese omelette cooked inside.

Ham and Cheese Omelette Sandwich - As Served

No, I didn't eat a giant loaf of bread for breakfast; let's take a look at the innards:

Ham and Cheese Omelette Sandwich

Whoever decided to stuff an omelette inside of French bread is a genius. It was good. The freshly-made bread, in particular, was excellent. It was coated with butter on the inside, and had a soft center and crunchy exterior. The eggs had a similar texture to my husband's scrambled eggs, with ham and cheese generously mixed in.

The downside of the omelette: Like Le Central near Capitol Hill, Pierre Michel aims to serve authentic French food, but its portions seem much more authentically American. I'm pretty sure this baguette-omelette hybrid would've fed a French family of four. For an entire day. Even with some help from my husband, I was able to finish off only half of it.

Service was friendly and attentive but slow. It was also fairly hot inside the restaurant.

We paid $21 for our meal, which is a decent price considering how much food we received and the fact that the restaurant is 100% organic.

This family-run operation completely shuts down on Sundays, so Saturday is the only day to visit on weekends.

We're interested in another visit to try some of the French pastries. While I loved my omelette sandwich, the portion was far too big for a French restaurant, and the French toast was forgettable.


Everyday Dining

(6 of 10)



Pros: Loved omelette sandwich, authentic French food in Highlands Ranch, good prices for being organic
Cons: Some portions too big, slow service, disappointing French toast


Website:
http://www.pierremichel.org

Indulge Wine Bar

Allow me to begin this post about Indulge Wine Bar with a quote about the restaurant, taken directly from their website:

Indulge Wine Bar is a unique wine, tapas and dessert restaurant located in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Indulge, you deserve it.

Indulge is only unique because it has the wine list, atmosphere, and menu of a trendy downtown wine bar, but it's way, way deep in the Highlands Ranch suburbs. Other than that, however, it's not really that unique. It's got the same feel as Cru, or the Wine Loft, or Trios Enoteca,or just about any other wine bar you've ever been to. 

From the outside, you'd never guess you're about to walk into a swanky little wine bar. Indulge is in a small strip mall-ish cluster of buildings, right next to a Noodles and Company, Corner Bakery, and Bernie's Hot Dogs. And it's across the street from a monstrous Home Depot. So if you want a fancy dining experience, and you don't want to leave the 'burbs, Indulge is your place. 

Indulge Bar and Wine Cellar Area

We'd been to Indulge once before this particular visit, and had liked it enough to make a return trip. In fact, this time we had some out-of-town family that we wanted to introduce to Indulge.

The menu has standard entree portions, as well as a wide selection of tapas and small plates. We opted to share a number of the smaller dishes.

The Yucatan Ahi Guacamole ($10.5) comprises, quoting directly from the menu: A+ sashimi-grade ahi tuna tartar over house-made guacamole with toasted black sesame seeds, ponzu sauce and house-made chips. 

Yucatan Ahi Tuna Guacamole

This is basically a large blob of guacamole with small chunks of ahi tuna atop.  It's delicious, but I wish the tuna-to-guacamole ratio was higher.

We also tried the Blue Suede Shoes Flatbread Pizza ($12), which, again quoting directly from the menu, contains Grilled chicken, BBQ sauce, whole milk mozzarella, and shaved leek. Finished with a drizzle of Indulge’s house-made buttermilk ranch dressing.

Blue Suede Shoes Flatbread

This pizza was rich and very tasty, but the barbeque sauce was more like honey mustard sauce, and was a little too sweet for my liking.

Next was the Andouille Mac and Cheese ($12.5).

Andouille Mac and Cheese

This was also good, but I couldn't help but notice that the cavatappi noodles seemed suspiciously similar to those at Noodles and Company just a stone's throw away. Also, the $12.5 price tag was awfully steep for cheesy pasta with a few thin slices of sausage. 

Our dinner companions also had the hummus plate ($10.5), which comes with red pepper hummus served warm.

Red Pepper Hummus with Flatbread

We didn't try any, but they enjoyed it.

Overall, the food on this visit wasn't as good as what I remember from our last experience. 

And the wine? Ehhh...well, I don't drink wine. All I know about wine is that it tastes bad and beer is far superior. Yes, I am reviewing a wine bar without consuming any wine, and without any basic knowledge of wine at all.  

Maybe if I were a wine lover, I'd be a little more enthusiastic about Indulge. As it stands, the food is decent but overpriced, and even if you are looking for a nice wine bar without heading downtown, I prefer the Wine Loft at Landmark (there's also Cru at Park Meadows but I've never been).  


Casual Dining 

(6 of 10)


Pros: Good service, great place for wine lovers
Cons: Food is nothing to get excited about, too expensive 


Website:
http://www.indulgewinebar.com/