Last night Kim and I took part in the Uptown Sampler with a few of our friends.  For $20 each we gained entry to fifteen different restaurants in the Uptown neighborhood of Denver where we could sample various food and drink items.  We all met at Jonesy’s EatBar where we had some delicious macaroni and cheese, along with Parmesan fries, various pizzas, and salad. Next we quickly stopped at the Horseshoe Lounge, but quickly left when we realized they had the same food as Jonesy’s. Our next stop was for a wine and beer tasting at a liquor store called Above the Rim.

After those stops we hoped on one of the complimentary buses and to Randolph’s inside the Warwick Hotel. There we had more french fries and chicken skewers, which were really good. I cannot find them on their menu though, so I’m not sure how the chicken was prepared. From there it was back on a bus. We decided to skip over Tavern Uptown, since everyone in our group had been there before. So next on our tour was the Avenue Grill. The only offering here was buffalo chili, which I actually tried, but I found it rather bland. From there it was a quick walk to Hamburger Mary’s, where I opted to skip the hamburgers and eat only the sweet potato fries, and Olivea, where I only tried the potato flat bread.

After those stops we waited for another bus, but after ten minutes or so decided to keep on walking down 17th Street. Our next stop was at Tastes Wine Bar where I only had the humus, but I’m told their meatballs were great. Next, we decided to skip over Las Margaritas and Pasquini’s as we were running out of time. We made a quick stop into Strings, which served my favorite dish of the night, pasta with chicken, mushrooms, and a wonderful spicy tomato cream sauce.

With just five minutes left in the event, we made it into Limon just in time to sample their yucca and plantain chips served with a tasty salsa. We had heard that there were free drinks here, but when we arrived our server told us that we had arrived too late. Though the waitress later stopped by to offer a couple of complimentary Peruvian drinks. We never made it to the Vine Street Pub, which I wanted to check out, but that’s okay as I’m sure we’ll head that way sometime soon. This event was a great way for us to see a ton of restaurants that we have never visited and I’m sure that we’ll be back soon for diner at some of our new favorites.