Birria with Barbie
La Patrona spins a dozen-plus birria variants; Pho King Wing reopens inside Avenue 19 food hall; Nacho Matrix launches a playful brunch + food & drink events ahead
La Patrona just opened in the former Lemongrass Bistro spot on N. Academy Boulevard around a month ago, expanding from a five-year-old Northglenn (North Denver) location. Owner Keissy Corrales — who comes to check in on us at the conclusion of our meal — tells us she’s originally from Costa Rica, but grew up in the States since she was 10, living in Colorado Springs for a long time before moving to Denver. She’s returned to open this expansion and raise her daughter here.
The restaurant’s design scheme is very much feminine and dollhouse playful, with a faux flower wall, pink LED signs, a beautiful Día de los Muertos mural and plushy black bar stools with gold-colored rivets, pedestals and lion-face door-knocker handles on back. A large stuffed animal white tiger also greets you on the way in, as well as a shot-flight-display inside of a pink porcelain airplane (a little on the nose) lined up at the front bar edge. There’s a guitar-amp-sized speaker playing Latin Trap music at the bar’s far end.
It’s all a very party-esque, TikTok-friendly atmosphere that’s something like Bloom Ultra Lounge meets Sofia’s Antojitos meets Por Favor Tacos & Tragos as far as vibe and offerings go. That includes a special boozy Barbie Drink, “only for baddies,” made with pineapple juice, strawberry, sweetened milk and whipped cream. (They give us an N/A sip of the base mix for us to try and it’s sweet but quite good; possibly a good dessert option, as is a La Borracha Horchata made with strawberry, house horchata, RumChata and rum with a cinnamon whipped cream swirl.)
Corrales tells us La Patrona is known for its dozen-plus birria offerings, and a quick search of their online reviews confirms that. I ask the overall cuisine style, like if it’s regional, and she says it’s Mexico City inspired, and also the way she cooks for her family at home — what they like to eat flavor-profile wise. She sources quality local tortillas (flour and corn) from a Denver bakery for both locations. The menu’s big, including sections for appetizers, all-day-breakfast items (including chilaquiles), tortas, burritos, the birria, a dozen dinner entrées (from molcajete to tacos and rellenos, etc.), caldos (soups) and seafood mains as well.
The drink list includes shareable six packs of Modelo topped in tamarind sauce and food treats (you’ll have to see the photo on the menu) plus the Michelada de camaron con mango, which we get. It’s an enormous schooner filled with beer and house Michelada mix, with bits of mango floating in it, Tajin-rimmed with cucumber and orange wedges and cocktail-platter-style (kinda mushy) shrimp tails, all drizzled with chamoy. (Hoo boy!) We also try a rather sweet Watermelon Dulce cocktail (fairly warned, it was in the name), made with spicy tamarind vodka, tequila, watermelon and citrus, with a housemade pulparindo escarchado syrup (based on the popular tamarind candy) oozing down the glass. Stick to your straws as best you can, because the garnishings are a sticky mess once you accidentally (inevitably) touch them.
For eats we go for the Gordibuenas de Birria and pollo con mole. Indeed La Patrona’s birria is pretty good if a little less spice and chile forward as many renditions. It’s consomé follows form, more beefy, bouillon-y and pot roasty than laced with aromatics. Still, it’s a solidly enjoyable dish, with the thick, arepa-like gorditas packed with the stringy meat, Mozzarella, cilantro, onions and non-chunky guacamole.
Though it’s an abundant portion for $18, I’m less impressed by the mole, which also lacks the punch of typical aromatics I’m used to from the typically complex treatment. I don’t detect any clove or cinnamon or much notable chile depth, nor is it chocolaty. It’s somewhat starkly chicken-y in a muddy sauce. Pleasingly tender, but oddly bland. The refried beans are unremarkable and the rice has a commercial, Knorr Mexican rice taste. We sample provided salsas with bites and don’t find high affinity for them either, finding one more sour/vinegary and the bright red one all heat sans dimension.
Wrapping up my cons list, I can’t ignore the strong bleach smell that punched our nostrils when we entered, eventually fading as the olfactory fatigue set in and we stopped noticing it. One one hand it’s good to know they take cleaning seriously, and everything does look tidy bright in these early days. On the other, you gotta go easy on that shit (I’m speaking from my own industry and homeowner experience) because the chemical’s puke-reek factor can be so off-putting and unappetizing.
But to conclude on a positive note, the service was exceptionally friendly and attentive, including Corrales’ concluding check-in. And the two dishes we tried are but a fraction of the wider menu, so there’s much more to explore and evaluate. La Patrona’s easily worth a visit to dine from the birria list, and if you’re a social drinker the playful menu does offer fun photos as Instagram fodder. Have a Barbie date or whatever, just don’t accidentally smear tamarind syrup on your dress.
Bone marrow and oxtail risotto with Ranch Foods Direct
Mention you’re a Side Dish subscriber when shopping at Ranch Foods Direct and get 5 percent off your whole basket. Make this fantastic recipe from Chef Jay Gust of Pizzeria Rustica this month, which features King Oyster mushrooms, oxtail and bone marrow with a 7-year-aged Carnaroli rice.
*Join us next week for Sip with Schnip at Red Gravy, Thursday, Aug. 28, 5-8 p.m. Come for extended happy hour and samples of new menu items, including the Mortadella and Provolone sandwich. (Bourdain’s favorite!) We’re celebrating the reopening of Tejon Street in front of our building. It’s a patio party!
Nacho Matrix launches weekend brunch service
Next month will mark the one-year anniversary of Nacho Matrix, sister outfit to Odyssey Gastropub. (They are Side Dish Dozen members.)
Ahead of that, Nacho Matrix just launched brunch service from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays. We dropped by on our own time and dime to check the new menu out, chatting with Assistant General Manager Kamryn Marshall for background. We’re told the menu’s a collaborative effort between Kitchen Manager Brendan Lee Wasson, Proprietor Tyler Sherman and Odyssey Executive Chef Andrew Borek. As you can see in the above photos, it’s full of color and playfulness.
For example, the Tres Leches French Toast “casserole” with fresh berries comes in a cast iron pan, with a lavish maple sour cream sauce that makes it dessert at breakfast, even if you add bacon for $2 more (which we didn’t, but should have in retrospect). Ever-trending avocado toast has been designed as a flight, with three different interpretations: Hawaiian (with pineapple pico, Hawaiian barbecue and carnitas); elote (with corn kernels and punchy jalapeños and house-pickled onions, cotija and cilantro); and bacon (with scrambled egg, cheese and scallions).
Elote chilaquiles play more to Nacho Matrix’s customizable form at lunch and dinner, with options to add in six different toppers, from chorizo to sofritas or sausage. The base starts with the salsa-rojo-soaked tortilla chips covered in a mound of elote toppings plus scrambled eggs. Marshall tells us much of the menu has been designed to be shareable, encouraging family-style eating, and this is a good example of one to add to the mix and share, as it’s sizable and snackable like a nacho bowl. (Though you’ll want a fork.) Click in below to read more of the menu offerings.
On the drink menu, we’re amused by the wording of “we deserve the right to find the bottom of any bottomless mimosa” ($25/person) — and I forget to ask Marshall if there’s any specific past stories at Odyssey that inform the booze control. (One can only imagine.)
We skip that and a trio of Bloody Mary variants in favor of Marshall’s own Bellini 75, a play off a French 75 (gin based) and Bellini (typically peach and Prosecco). This drink hosts tequila and Champagne with guava purée and fresh lime, making for a bright, lightly effervescent and nicely sweet-balanced sipper. If higher sweetness is what you crave, there’s a White Russian spinoff, or the espresso martini that we get, made with espresso vodka, Coole Swan Irish Cream and piloncillo (panela) syrup. We’re fans, and challenge our espresso martini-obsessed friends to weigh in when they can.
Lastly, and particularly well paired with the chilaquiles, we drink the Michelada made with neighboring Goat Patch’s blonde ale and house bloody mix, with a lemon-pepper rim. And share the amusing Break-Trix Shot, which is OJ- and honey simple syrup-infused Jameson with a bacon salt rim that Lauren’s quickly smitten with.
Pho King Wing revives itself at Avenue 19
One of the first reviews that I wrote after launching Side Dish in the spring of 2023 was for Pho King Wing. I met Chef/Owner Edward Baham, a former Marine who also graduated from the Colorado Restaurant Association’s ProStart program. He managed to tie together an eclectic menu with nods to his NOLA roots mixed with pho and wings. (Click that link and read the full backstory on that, and enjoy one of my favorite last-line quotes of any story I’ve ever written.)
I was impressed by Pho King Wing’s early show of promise, and over the past two and a half years Baham has built a loyal following. But on July 25 (as I recently reported in the the column) he posted to announce the closure of his business, citing ongoing issues with the landlord.
It appeared he was down for good, as he said “permanent closure,” but this week, Avenue 19 posted about a new a new kiosk joining their food hall. Turns out that’s the quick return of Pho King Wing.
I stopped in on Wednesday to chat with Baham, he tells me he plans to be open daily for now, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., likely to add later weekend hours soon.
He’s pared down the former menu a bit to fit the smaller kitchen size, but he’s still offering around a dozen appetizers, nearly a dozen pho variants, Cornish hen, wings and sauce-injected wings options, jambalaya and catfish. He’s aiming to offer weekend specials as well. He tells me his bestseller has been honey-sriracha wings.
Pro tip: ask for the Pho King combo special of a small bowl of pho (still sizable as it were) and a six-piece wing plate, and you’ll save $5 off ordering the two à la carte.
As for how and why Baham ended up at Avenue 19, he tells me Director of Operations Phil Duhon (of Burnt Toast) had courted him to open a second location at the food hall early on, but he wasn’t staffed up to handle that. When Duhon heard about the recent closure of Pho King Wing, he reached out with a fresh invite.
Side Dish Dozen happenings
Kangaroo Coffee: We’re partnering with PikeRide and Gold Star Bakery at Labor Day Lift Off, Aug. 30 thru Sept. 1. We’ll have a free bike valet from 5-10 a.m. and 3:30-10 p.m. daily (with exception of Labor Day, which will only be morning hours; coffee may conclude around 8 p.m.). Adjacent, Kangaroo will be serving coffees and Roofreshers (bring a reusable mug and get 20% off) to pair with Gold Star Bakery treats, including butterscotch bars, carmelitas and chocolate chip zucchini bread developed exclusively for Kangaroo as part of our new partnership!
Allusion Speakeasy: The Taylor Swift popup bar has launched at our Powers location, and yes, there will be an all-ages brunch service. And at Allusion Downtown our Jurassic Bar theme features tiki-inspired cocktails and Jurassic bites like “tricera-tots” and “velociraptor claws.” Wobbly Olive: Every weekday happy hour at both locations is 4-6 p.m.; all cocktails and beers are half off, plus $5 house wines.
Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar: Colorado has turned 149 and we're celebrating all month long with Colorado-inspired and -sourced features across our menus, such as a special Crispy Skin Alamosa Striped Bass. Take advantage of our awesome happy hour deals, 4-5:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Sundays and all night Mondays.
Odyssey Gastropub: We’re offering an extra day of brunch on Labor Day, Sept. 1, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Catch daily happy hours, 3-6 p.m. Mondays bring half-off wine bottles; Tuesdays are for service industry folk, with happy hour pricing all day plus our OG Combo, $15 for a cheese burger, fries, a draft beer and well shot; Wednesdays get a shot of rotating whiskey and nine wings for $17; Thirsty Thursdays have we pick em' specials of rotating $5 beers, $6 shot, and $7 cocktail.
Edelweiss: Come sip one of our summer spritzers on our award-winning patio and enjoy an evening in style. Our Basil Gin features Jackson Hole Still Works’ sensational Absaroka double cask aged gin with fresh lime, simple syrup and fresh basil leaves. We serve a more traditional Aperol Spritz, but try something new with our Apfel Spritz, made with Apfelkorn German apple liqueur and a splash of apple juice in sparkling water, with fresh apple garnish.
Goat Patch Brewing: Summer music continues on Sunday nights, 6:30-8:30 p.m. On Aug. 24 catch Patchwork Jack & Roma Ransom. Enjoy trivia night at our Northgate taproom, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Aug. 27 and weekly at that time. Aug. 24 at Pikes Peak Brewing is John Denver Day, with a tie-dye party, food trucks and live music from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Upcoming events
Aug. 23: Local Relic’s Small Brew Saturday at The Carter Payne. Noon-4 p.m.; new beer releases plus light snacks available; free.
Aug. 23: Cerberus’ 9th Anniversary Bash. Exclusive beer releases, live music, parking lot party, pig roast and more.
Aug. 23: Pasta in the Park on the Myron Stratton Home grounds, benefitting TESSA. 6 p.m.; $120. Online silent auction available for non-attendees.
Aug. 28: Sip with Schnip at Red Gravy. 5-8 p.m.
Sept. 13: SoCo Still Fest at The Alexander. 1-4 p.m.; $77.05-$117.45.
Sept. 13: Holes & Hops Cornhole & Brewfest Fundraiser at Weidner Field. 2-6 p.m.; benefits Colorado Youth Outdoors.
Sept. 13: Sober Soiree at the Meanwhile Block. 6:30-9 p.m.; $125 benefits Homeward Pikes Peak.
Sept. 14: Fiddles, Vittles & Vino at Rock Ledge Ranch. 2:30-6 p.m.; $65.
Sept. 14: Hillside Garlic Festival at Hillside Gardens, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Parting shot(s)
I rarely get sentimental about seeing my old Indy reviews posted as plaques on the walls of local eateries I reviewed over the years. Honestly, I totally forget about them, and am surprised when I happen to bump into them.
That happened earlier this week when I stopped into Nom Nom Thai to pick up some to-go eats to take to a friend. I was chatting with a staffer and inquired about owner Gary Sanova, who I hadn’t caught up with in several years. I introduced myself, and she pointed over to a wall in the dining room and said, “did you write that?”
How convenient for me, to be preceded by my work. Anyway, by way of newsy update, it turns out Sanova has expanded into the Denver area, opening a spot in Parker a year and a half ago, named Hiratori Hibachi Express Ramen Yakitori.
I reach out to him via Facebook to say hi and touch base, and I find message thread from mid 2021 between us, where he was telling me about adding ramen to Nom Nom’s menu. I’d forgotten this, but he also said: “having a ramen shop is one of the things that I’ve been wanting to do, but I’m not very good yet, because I have only mastered some of it. So I’m learning little by little and someday hopefully I can open my own ramen shop.”
How sweet to read that these four years later after it’s already come to fruition.
I also learn that he sold his first enterprise, Thai Satay (located on the South side, near Fort Carson), where we’d first met many years before 2021. He said that was due to the Covid pandemic, when he was struggling to staff both restaurants after Nom Nom opened, and he found himself split between the two as the sole chef for a nearly impossible stint.
As part of my friend’s order, I couldn’t resist revisiting an appetizer that I remember loving last time I was at Nom Nom. It’s the Salt N Pepper Tofu with red onions and scallions and seasoned with some spicy Thai chile flakes. I rarely order and enjoy tofu dishes but this one wins me over because they fry the cubes quite crispy and turn them into a textural treat, still a little chewy and soft on the inside. Next time you visit, add this to your order of curry or noodles (or ramen) and prove me right.