The Kitchen and Upstairs

Very nice restaurant with a good craft selection. The food is upscale. Nice atmosphere, but feels a bit trendy.

Best place in Boulder for both food and beer. Ray Decker, GM, sommelier and the beer man, is a phenom at arranging a diverse and satisfying beer list. It doesn’t hurt that he is friends with some of the best master brewers out their allowing him an "in" to some of the hard to find beer, both in bottle and on tap. How many places got a pony keg of Pliny the younger? Not many. This is also the place that holds the annual gold medal beer dinner, where master brewers from Russian river, dogfish, port, etc., to share beer and dine on delicious food. Also, who knows what Ray has stashed in his cellar!? Ask the right person the right question and pay the right price you might be drinking a rather rare bootle. To top it off, amazing people!

Great place to drink a rare beer and enjoy exceptional food. The beer list changes periodically and they do a great job of providing many beers that cannot be found elsewhere is Boulder. The food is wonderful and uses only locally grown organic ingredients. Very laid back and trendy, though not pompous, atmosphere. Food is out of this world and Ray Decker is the man!

30th birthday dinner. Roasted half chicken in garlic, butter and herbs with the charcuterie board, one Orval, one Pliny, one glass of wine, the bill was over $70. Not terrible or unexpected but still quite high. Food quality was legitimately superb, freshness of beer stock was impressive though prices do get a little outrageous. Small number of seats at the bar, mostly lounge-style tables with cushions rather than tall-backed chairs. Nice atmosphere, relaxed crowd, jovial, well-dressed, a little bit of snootiness in the air but nothing horrible. The time to go is Sunday between 5:30-10:00pm - tasting hour - with discounted dishes and cheap wine and beer of the day. I think these days I’m there every Sunday night. Two plates of awesome food and two drinks for under $20.

I haven’t eaten here yet, and have only visited twice (left without getting anything the first time due to being too crowded and noisy to even think straight), got a Girardin Gueuze the second time ($21, ouch!). Low-lit semi-swanky ambience, but casual folks might feel uncomfortable. It’s like the polar opposite of Mountain Sun...this is a yuppie place for sure. The beer list is pretty good (plenty of ordinary to semi-geeky stuff, but a few gems like Rocs, Orval, etc.), certainly great for a restaurant, but prices are too expensive for me to go back ($35 for La Folie). BJ’s is where I’ll continue to sip on Orval and Saison Dupont...while it’s a smaller list and only Belgian, it’s a more relaxed atmosphere with far better prices. Last call on the Friday I was there was midnight, so don’t visit tooooo late. Random fact: an ex-employee told me that Will Ferrell has been here.