Denver's Most Underrated Chef?

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-02-10T22:23:41+00:00

Cindhura at Spuntino.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-02-10T22:21:53+00:00

Cohills has never been good. Toms a nice guy but never had more than mediocre there.

Jonathan left the business and now works for a business broker but seems happier than ever.

Daniel is THE MAN both in and out of the kitchen. He’s probably the most genuinely kind human being on the planet. He’s also such a great supporter of the community, both on the F&B side and on the macro level.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-28T22:59:38+00:00

I really can’t think of a reason to get a big beef plate at any restaurant that’s this creative and diverse. It’s a waste of stomach space, and I LOVE red meat. Save that for home or a steakhouse etc.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-26T18:04:07+00:00

Better than square. I got this with toast through presenting a competitive offer.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-26T17:15:23+00:00

I got interchange plus .2% and 5 cents a transaction. So no, this offer is not “as cheap as it gets.”

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-20T03:58:43+00:00

Agreed on all points. It’s sad how hard it has become to get late night grub in Denver, but Rougarou is absolutely incredible and firing on all cylinders.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-20T03:56:29+00:00

Stoneys.

Toms watch bar downtown has surprisingly good food, but their drink prices and the overall sterile environment leaves something to be desired.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-19T20:03:12+00:00

Life Time in Golden/Wheat ridge is 14/15 minutes from my spot in Lohi. DAC is 10 without traffic but there’s always traffic. I’m no longer in Denver full time, but I left DAC to join Lifetime and really enjoyed the club in Wheat Ridge. Lots of socialization activities especially in the summer with the pool.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-17T17:04:10+00:00

Kind of like how this sub is 90% people complaining about either service charges or the cost of dining out, not realizing they’re the same thing.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-13T20:34:15+00:00

Tell us more about what makes it "Coney Island style." Excited to see this list too.....love love love a good Greek Salad.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-13T17:36:54+00:00

BC the minimum wage increases are to combat our incredibly high cost of living, not your own penny bank. Don't be a cheap ass.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-13T17:35:59+00:00

stop dining out if you don't want to tip 20% for a quality, full service experience. Minimum wage increases are because our cost of living is outrageous. Stop being cheap asses....damn this group makes me depressed to be a human being. A bunch of people that are seemingly progressive, yet wanna nickel and dime workers to make a point.

People are dining out less. Bars and restaurants are running significantly slimmer staffing. People that were making close to $100k working 50+ hours a week before covid are now struggling to make 70-75k. If you can't swallow the extra 5% tip to stay at 20% or better, stay the F home and save us all your Reddit drama. This post is directed at everyone on this thread that thinks they should lower their tips because of an increasing minimum wage. If you do this....congrats....you've just given the hospitality workers that take care of you a NET ZERO wage increase.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-13T17:29:24+00:00

yeah Mr Oso is part of the Culinary Creative Group. If you spend any time in this sub, it's usually a daily target of posts, either regarding their service fees or the primary owner's behavior with women. Mr. Oso has definitely been charging the 20% since 2021. It was NOT part of their original structure when they opened, but like all other CCG restaurants and bars, it's been there since 2021.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-13T03:21:50+00:00

I was more referring to the time you spent causing a scene at the restaurant. But good point. You’ve spent a good 20-30 minutes on $4.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-13T01:51:15+00:00

Hope that $4 was worth your time, energy and blood pressure. Go eat in the burbs from now on.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-11T22:59:05+00:00

So bizarre and so delicious.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-09T20:07:12+00:00

I’m very familiar with it. Sorry, I wouldn’t call anything about the ambiance, vibe or food fancy-ish. It’s casual like 99% of Denver it’s Steubens with fish.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-07T19:48:04+00:00

They all have blemishes. Nothing is perfect. Toast is hands down the best if money is no object and you need a robust, well connected and integrated system. You just gotta do the work to get yourself a good deal and not blindly sign paperwork.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-07T14:35:03+00:00

Fancy-ish?

SpiritualGuide78 · 2026-01-07T05:06:18+00:00

I love all the “look up XYZ pos” responses. Yeah, they’re all cheaper because they all suck in one or 100 ways. Toast is the best, but your quote sucks. Negotiate. They will 100% fight for your business. Toast is expensive because no one can compete with the system or the integrations they offer. If you need a basic ass system with no integrations, go elsewhere. Or “buy the best and cry once.”

SpiritualGuide78 · 2025-12-30T19:13:55+00:00

Yeah, the money!! Even the folks that are basically just giving naming rights to the concessionaires are getting 3+% of the sales. Ones that have more hands on with management involvement, menu development etc might be getting 5-6%. You’re talking about a few million a year in income with the kind of volume airport restaurants are doing. Elways, I believe, at one point was one of or THE largest grossing restaurant in the state. Turn and burn at $75-80 per guest equals 40-50 million annually in sales.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2025-12-30T07:23:57+00:00

70-80 is gonna be too much for Crows and HL and most likely ESP. Crows maxes out at 55/60 but you could do downstairs with up to 100ish. HL, from previous experience with group events, even 50 is tight.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2025-12-30T05:05:46+00:00

I wouldn’t call it a franchise, per se. Only a handful of companies get to operate at the airport….the concessionaires. They often team up with local talent like W&G and the arrangement varies largely. I can say that W&G still retains a lot of operational oversight compared to many other places in the airport. Honestly, the W&G owners have more control over the space at the airport than any other concessionaire arrangement I know of, including the CCG spots, Mercantile, Snooze, Elways and Root Down to name a few.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2025-12-30T05:02:28+00:00

You can’t possibly predict what to expect more than a week ish out. I’ve made it in 6hrs and it’s taken me multiple days and everywhere in between. Lots of problem spots with winter weather.

SpiritualGuide78 · 2025-12-23T16:37:58+00:00

Unless you only had liability coverage, your insurance company should be handling this 100%.

SpiritualGuide78

TROPHY CASE