By Cassidy Ritter
From a fun pasta shop to an indoor ski, snowboard and skate adventure center, there are so many special spots to explore in the Denver metro.
In this edition of “Off the Beaten Path,” Denverites will learn about new restaurants and businesses to visit, why filmmakers will descend upon Boulder this month, a new place to bird watch and more.
Have suggestions for the next round-up? Let us know.
Hidden gem
Adjacent to a wine bar and vacant Sears store in Centennial is an indoor adventure park with artificial ski and snowboard slopes, jumps, trampolines and a skate park.
Snöbahn Action Sports Center, which has locations in Centennial and Thornton, offers year-round fun for those seeking adventure. There’s also a cafe serving snacks, coffee, beer and wine.
“It was always the goal to make skiing and snowboarding more accessible,” founder Sadler Merrill told us.
So, he brought the slopes to the Denver metro and opened Snöbahn in Centennial in 2016.
“I absolutely love skiing and snowboarding,” said Merrill, a Colorado native who was part of the University of Colorado’s freestyle ski team. “I see the impact it has on people’s lives. I think it’s really an enriching experience and brings people to the outdoors.”
Snöbahn isn’t just for kids or people learning to snowboard or ski. It’s also a place for people wanting to master the sport, train with an expert, enhance their skills and learn new tricks before hitting the snow-covered slopes.
Snöbahn offers group and private lessons taught by trained ski and snowboard coaches on its indoor slopes, which are best described as giant treadmills. It also offers unlimited monthly lesson passes, four-packs, day passes (which should be reserved at least a week in advance for weekend slots) and summer camps.
“We can get as much done in 30 minutes as a half-day lesson at the resort,” Merrill said. “It’s accelerated learning. It’s the most efficient way to learn to ski or snowboard.”
Snöbahn has a 15,000-square-foot location in Centennial and a 38,000-square-foot space in Thornton, which opened in 2024. The company also has financial backing from Olympic skier Bode Miller and snowboarding legend Shaun White.
The Centennial location, at 6955 S. York St, Unit 404, is open Monday to Friday from noon to 8 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Thornton location, at 14200 Lincoln St., is open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Three new places to try
The creator behind sandwich shop Odie B’s has a new venture — one in pasta. Cliff Blauvelt and his wife, Cara Blauvelt, opened Boombots Pasta Shop in Sunnyside in November. (They also opened a second Odie B’s in the River North Art District recently.)
Boombots’ menu features five pasta dishes — including a dirty martini bucatini and cavatelli stroganoff — five small plates and three desserts.
“We’re not an Italian restaurant,” Cara said. “We’re a pasta shop, and we just want to have fun with pasta.”
“We just want to be unique and different and bring fun to food and to Denver,” Cliff added.
Even the name is playful and unique. Boombots is slang for “idiots.”
Boombots, at 2647 W. 38th Ave., is next to the original Odie B. The two restaurants share a kitchen, with Odie B’s operating during breakfast and lunch and Boombots taking over in the evenings. The arrangement saved the Blauvelts about $500,000 as they opened Boombots.
Boombots is open daily from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Reservations are recommended, though walk-ins are welcome. Parties are limited to six people.
Sitting at 45,000 square feet (plus a huge outdoor area), Moodswing is Denver’s newest pickleball and “eatertainment” venue.
Moodswing was founded by Justin Riley, the co-founder of Improper City, Colton Cartwright and Giovanni Leone. The venue opened in early January at 3625 E. 48th Ave. in the city’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood after a two-year buildout.
The business features six indoor pickleball courts, six outdoor courts and a 17,000-square-foot bar, restaurant, coffee shop and co-working space. There’s also a stage and a 16-foot LED wall.
But don’t forget about Moodswing’s food and drink offerings. With food ranging from meatballs, wings and brick-oven pizza to garlic focaccia, mozzarella sticks, salads and cannolis, there’s plenty to choose from. Moodswing also has a hefty beverage menu with cocktails, beer, wine, nonalcoholic drinks and Queen City Collective coffee.
Moodswing plans to add a golf simulator and cornhole later this year.
“It’s the ultimate community space,” Cartwright said. “You can have a whole day [here] and not interact with pickleball whatsoever.”
Moodswing is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Pickleball court rentals range from $20 to $30 an hour and include balls and four paddles.
Mexican restaurant Qué Rico, which began as a food truck in 2020, opened its sixth location late last year inside Junction Food & Drink, a food hall near Interstate 25 and Colorado Boulevard.
“We decided to open at Junction because it felt like a place that supports growing businesses like ours,” said Javier Hernandez, co-owner of Qué Rico. “We liked the idea of being part of a community where families, friends and coworkers can all come together and try global flavors.”
The Junction location brings the same authentic Mexican food Qué Rico has become known for, including its Quesabirria. The eatery also sells carnitas and al pastor tacos for $1 each on Wednesdays at all of its locations, Hernandez said.
“We understand the economy is tough right now,” he said. “Everyone deserves to treat themselves to a good taco.”
Qué Rico’s newest spot is open Sundays to Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Get outside
Central Park wildlife refuge Bluff Lake Nature Center recently reopened, following $8.5 million worth of improvements.
The 123-acre preserve and education center, at 11255 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., features a trail around Bluff Lake and is home to several animals and native plants. Newly added amenities include indoor and outdoor learning spaces, an accessibility ramp and an administrative building for the nonprofit that runs the site.
The nature center is open daily from sunrise to sunset and is a great place to bird watch, take a stroll or volunteer.
Bluff Lake Nature Center frequently hosts events, too, such as family nature adventure days, mindfulness walks and bird walks. Most events required advance registration.
Add to the calendar
Foodies, this one is for you.
The fourth annual Mile High Asian Food Week is back April 26-May 3. More than 73 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-owned restaurants, food trucks, beverage shops and pop-ups will participate this year.
Participating businesses across the Denver metro will offer discounts or special menu items. Examples include a Korean cereal latte and a strawberry milk latte at Lilac Coffee and Bo Kho tacos, a Vietnamese take on quesabirria tacos, from Tum Yumz food truck.
In conjunction with its 40th anniversary, Kokoro will offer 40% off the bill when guests mention MHAFW.
Kicking off MHAFW, Tea Street in Parker will host a children’s book reading on April 26 from 1-4 p.m. with tea from the business and food from Yuan Wonton.
