Tom’s Diner & Le Peep, Denver, Colorado

Le Peep
999 18th St. * Major Cross Streets: 18th and Champa * Shopping Center: Denver Place Building * Denver, Colorado * Phone: 303-244-0360 * lepeep.com
It’s a chain, but it’s wholesome and has good food and service. They claim “fresh. simple. elegant”. Well it is a little more elegant than most diners, but it’s a diner. The food was fresh. The orange juice tasty. “The Gypsy” skillet dish was delicious. It was a good breakfast. Located two streets down from Denver’s infamous 16th street Mall, it had a good location and satisfied our palettes for brekkie. Rating 4 stars out of 5.

Tom’s Diner
601 E. Colfax Ave. * Denver, CO * 80203 * 303-861-7493
Apparently one of Denver’s legendary dives, this diner certainly isn’t as crowded as Denver Diner for after clubbing fare. According to Westword, it’s the “absolute best spot for watching Denver’s insomniac-freak community while eating decent diner grub.” Which i do have to agree with … located across from Bender’s and down the street from Cafe Netherworld, the food wasn’t bad. The waiter was friendly, and we had a good time sobering up at the location. So if you’re out partying and you wanna stumble from the clubs … this place has it all. Rating 4.2 stars out of 5.

Mexican Wave, Beijing

Mexican Wave

Dongdaqiao Lu opposite the Silk Market
200m north of Gui You Department Store,

东大桥路贵友大厦往北200米路东
秀水街斜对面

Inside Mexican Wave feels just like a mexican place at home, with live music and ads for Mexican beer on the walls. And their menu is pretty extensive, with typical dishes like enchiladas and burritos as well as less-Mexican options like burgers and jamabalaya, and of course, pizza. (Why does every Western-ish restaurant offer pizza?) Our waitress spoke decent English, and she was helpful about getting our difficult customer fed.

The appetizers we tried, stuffed jalepenos and chicken taquitos, were amazing. The only way the appetizers could have been improved is by offering a sampler plate to combine all of the options.

The margaritas were fantastic as well. Let’s be honest here, margaritas and guacamole are the best things about Mexican restuarant! There are all kinds of flavored margaritas, and there’s also a selection of beers and cocktails in case you don’t share my love for the margarita.

Sadly, the entrees were second-rate, flavourless versions of typical dishes, which came all with “Spanish rice,” a sticky rice compote with bits of tomato, potato and the ubiquitious corn, as well as “refried beans,” a black bean puree. Very disappointing, especially after the fantastic starters.

Cleanest bathrooms since the Vegetarian and Tea place. Plus there was a cool Aztec-looking design on the wall.

I’d go there again, mostly for the margaritas but also to try some of the appetizers we didn’t get to sample. I doubt that I’d ever go back for a full meal, it’s on a street with a lot of other little eateries, so bland food just isn’t enough to bring me back. Still, I’d recommend dropping in for munchies, drinks and live music.