By Cassidy Ritter, Special to Denverite
It’s easy to get caught up in the same routine, visiting the same old familiar restaurants and navigating fan-favorite trails, be it hiking or skiing.
In an effort to mix it up, Denverite is launching an Off the Beaten Path series.
This monthly series will highlight hidden gems in the Denver metro, new businesses worth checking out, fun places to get some fresh air and unique events.
Have suggestions for the next round-up? Drop us a line.
Hidden gem
A white one-story building adorned with split logs and a bright red door inconspicuously sits along South Delaware Street, across from the light rail stop at Evans Station.
Behind the red door is Riot BBQ, a restaurant serving Texas-style barbecue with a Mexican twist.
Riot BBQ, at 2180 S. Delaware St. in South Denver, opened earlier this year after AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q closed amid a staffing dispute and tax issues with the owner Jared Leonard.
The new eatery is the brainchild of chef Manny Barella and pitmaster Patrick Klaiber. Barella competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef” in 2024 and was named a James Beard semifinalist in 2022. Self-taught pitmaster Klaiber helped his former team at AJ’s earn a Bib Gourmand designation from the Michelin Guide in 2023.
Dishes at Riot BBQ include brisket, pulled pork, smoked pork ribs al pastor, brisket tacos, matcha slaw and banana pudding, in addition to other meats and sides. The counter-service restaurant opens at 11 a.m. Wednesday through Monday and closes when the food is sold out. (Riot BBQ is closed on Tuesdays.)
Riot BBQ was one of five finalists for a Newcomer Restaurant of the Year award given out by the Colorado Restaurant Association.
3 new businesses to check out
A new coffee and cocktail establishment with a cozy, mid-century modern design and living room vibe has landed in Denver’s Ballpark District.
Blend.Co, which stands for coffee, cocktails, community and Colorado, opened at 2246 Larimer St. on Sept. 12.
“We fell in love with the community,” co-owner Haley Featherston said. “We fell in love with the idea of having such a large space that we could give back to the community by being a coffee shop and being a cocktail bar, but [also] being a place that people are able to come and go, no matter if they’re working through a to-do list or they’re meeting up with friends or planning a happy hour or a special celebration.”
Blend.Co offers cocktails, beer, wine, drip coffee, cold brew, pastries, appetizers and sandwiches. It also has a 2,000-square-foot, dog-friendly patio and frequently hosts community-focused events.
For now, Blend.Co opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. But Featherston and co-owner Suzy Ayotte have big plans for the 5,000-square-foot space.
Come late November, Blend.Co will open at 7 a.m. as a coffee shop and begin serving espresso drinks. A speakeasy-style lounge, called The Cellar, will also open in the back of the building later this month.
“It’s kind of like a mullet,” Featherston said of the building. “We’re business in the front; the party’s in the back, because you have absolutely no clue that we’re two stories or huge from our front cafe. It’s all hidden.”
If you’re looking for a family-friendly outing or a unique date night, consider visiting the Claw Den, a claw arcade at 250 Broadway, Unit 100B, in Denver.
Claw Den opened in early September and features more than 50 claw arcade machines. Prizes range from stuffed animals to popular Labubu dolls and Pop Mart figurines. Winners can keep the plushies they win or trade them in for larger prizes.
Owner Jay Chen told Denver7 that his wife came up with the idea to open a claw arcade in Denver.
“This kind of business was popular like 10 years ago in Asia, but in America it just popped up in the last few years,” he told the news station.
Claw Den is open from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from noon to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
There’s a new bar focused on food, mezcal and music in the Highland neighborhood.
Malinche Audiobar opened on Oct. 10 at 1541 Platte St. With about 38 seats inside, the nearly 800-square-foot space feels intimate and unique. The walls are covered in a textured stucco, four mezcales are suspended above the bar in handcrafted damajuanas and framed tarps hang from the ceiling. There’s no back bar either — what you see is what you get.
The sound system in the space is top-notch, too, says owner and Chef Jose Avila, who also owns the Mexican restaurant La Diabla in the Ballpark District.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re at in the space, you’re going to hear the same clarity, the same high definition,” he said.
Avila wanted to open a mezcaleria, but said he didn’t think Denver needed another bar specializing in mezcal unless there was something truly different about the place. So, he paired agave-based spirits from Mexico with his love of music and Japanese listening bars.
Avila hopes to draw in foodies with the Japanese- and Mexican-inspired menu, “mezcal heads” with Malinche Audiobar’s cocktail offerings and audiophiles with the sound system.
Malinche Audiobar is open daily from 4-10 p.m. Reservations are recommended.
Get outside
Enjoy the crisp fall weather by taking a walk or having a picnic at Park Hill Park, Denver’s newest and fourth-largest park.
To most visitors, the 155-acre park at 4141 E. 35th Ave. in northeast Denver isn’t much to brag about, but it has a storied history.
It sits on the former Park Hill Golf Course site, which operated as a golf course from the 1930s to 2018. After failed redevelopment plans, being closed off to the public for years and a land swap agreement between Denver and a private developer, the land is finally in the city’s hands. It reopened as a public park in late October.
The park is open from sunup to sundown for passive uses like walking or running. Right now it’s pretty empty, besides a few trails and mature trees, but plans for the park’s future propose playgrounds, rock climbing, zip lining and community events.
The design and renovations are expected to take several years and cost an untold amount of money. Although a timeline for upgrades hasn’t been announced, the city is one step closer to these renovations. On Nov. 4, Denver voters approved a $175 million bond for parks and recreation projects, with $70 million funding the first phase of construction for Park Hill Park.
Add to the calendar
The second-annual Mile High Holidays Drone Show will light up the Denver sky from Nov. 21 through Dec. 31.
The free 10- to 15-minute drone show kicks off at 7 p.m. each night with at least a dozen animations made up of 600 drones. Most nights, holiday-themed characters and iconic Denver landmarks will be on display. But some nights, Denver’s sports teams will be the stars of the show.
“Each night will bring a new visual experience to life,” according to Visit Denver, which is putting on the show with Denver-based Brightflight Drone Shows.
The best places to catch the show include the Tivoli Quad on the Auraria Campus, Sculpture Park at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the rooftop of Le Méridien Denver Downtown and Peaks Lounge, an indoor rooftop at the Hyatt Regency near the Colorado Convention Center.
