Best 5280 Denver Restaurant Week Menu. Rioja offers their entire menu for 5280, but for the more expensive dishes they only charge 2-6 dollars more. It was nice not to be so restricted on a different 5280 menu but still get a great discount.
I enjoyed that they offered sparking water, and the complimentary bread was very tasty. For an appetizer, sharing the 'picnic' of meats, cheese, fruit, and almonds is a fun way to start the night. I ordered the artichoke, goat cheese tortellini and it literally melts in your mouth. It has such a distinct flavor to it, but the main reason I ordered it was because our waitress said it was her favorite dish, and it is on the cover of the chef's cookbook. --- So why not?! Great choice on my part, I really enjoyed it.
I would recommend this place to anyone at any time of the year, but with all of the 5280 restaurants to pick from, and for the years I have been participating in this great deal- Rioja would be my favorite choice for Denver Restaurant Week.
This place is absolutely fantastic! But beware, as other yelpers have mentioned, there's a wait-even at the bar!
The wine/drink list is extensive, I had a Rioja (cliche, I know) that was good. A little on the expensive side, but I expected that.
For a starter, I had the Rioja house salad....wow! Arugula, bleu cheese, dates, and walnuts. Perfected balanced with a light dressing that tied it all together. I would come back just for this!
For the entree, I had the artichoke torteloni. This was also fantastic. The torteloni sit in a broth based sauce that is not too heavy, but very tasty. The torteloni themselves were wonderful and stuffed with an artichoke puree that tasted like velvet! And to top it off, there were crunchy rings on top....tasted like onions, but whatever they were, they were damn good.
Lastly, I had this peanut butter, chocolate, caramel dessert the bar tender recommended. Not overwhelming, but just enough to satisfy a sweet tooth. If you are a peanut butter chocolate fan, get it. 'Nuff said.
If you are in Denver and looking for a nice place, come to Rioja. Also located in Larimer square, which is beautiful at night (and great shopping)!
Not sure where to start here. Went here last night for 5280 and it was a great experience. The food and presentation overall were top notch. We started with the cheese course which was good. Some friends got the Rioja picnic which looked amazing, would probably get that on a return trip. I had the Colorado lamb for entree which was excellent and cooked just right, Colorado pears also appeared on this course.
We had the Chocolate caramel napolean for dessert which was both equally delicious and very well presented.
It seems like the point of 5280 week is for restaurants to shine and show off their goods at lower prices which allows many people to try it. After coming here for 5280, I know now I would return even at normal prices.
My husband and I went for 5280. The portions appeared to be normal sized-not scaled down for 5280 week, like Panzano. The food was unbelievably good. My husband had the salmon and I had the four-square vegetarian. I started with the artichoke soup and my husband had the citrus salad. We had the napoleon for desert. They were all very flavorful, no misses.
The only reason I'm giving this a 4-star instead of 5-star is because of the wine recommendation. I only wanted a glass and asked which would go the best with my meal. After explaining my wine taste preference to the server she suggested the most expensive glass on the menu. No options, just that one. So I asked for a taste first. If I was going to spend the amount of money on a glass that I can spend on a bottle, I wanted to make sure it was good. She was annoyed-the look on her face was obvious. I tasted the wine and it was awful. It honestly tasted bad-like the wine had been open for three weeks. I chose my own wine. The server did come back to the table and said she couldn't believe I didn't like the wine and so she tasted it and said it wasn't the wine they normally have on the menu. I don't know what that meant-the vintage was different? Anyway, I don't know if she felt bad just recommending the most expensive glass and realizing it was bad or what happened. But, she did try to make it right. I would probably give them a 4.5 star if I could.
Holy. Sh!t.
This place snuck up on me. I had 2 of the most amazing courses of my LIFE in this restaurant, and I never would have ordered either of them on my own (deep thanks to my wife and yelp for making this experience possible). There are 700 reviews of this place so I'll keep it short.
1) Wait staff = 5 stars. Just incredible.
2) GET THE F*UCKING TORTELLINI (in any size)
3) AND GET THE BEIGNETS
Get anything else you like in between, and let your server help you pick out a delicious glass of wine, then lose yourself in the experience for as long as you can.
Wow! Rioja rocks! My friend and I went there for DRW opening night. I was pumped since I had great memories from two years ago. I made my reservation through email and they made it sound like they barely squeezed me in and at the Chef's Tasting Table. Oh no. Oh yes!
We were seating in front of the dessert chef's counter. To our right, all the new dishes were appearing. When our waitress came by, we just asked what the dishes were and made our decisions this way. It was fun watching Jasinski in action with her kitchen army.
What's so great about Rioja's DRW menu? Well, their entire menu is offered to you and they have nightly specials. Some items have different price points (i.e. +1, +6, etc), but that's normal and I want them to succeed. My friend and I shared the "picnic basket" (1 of 2 shareable items), ordered the salmon special and pork tenderloin (so bloody rich through its cardamom brine and applewood smoking), and had two desserts (meant to share one together).
We had a great time along with the couple beside us from Portland, Oregon. Oh, right, we ate so much bread.
I feel like I need a disclaimer on this review, something along the lines of "My experience must have been a fluke." Â I just don't know what the fuss is about. Â After years of wanting to go to Rioja we finally made a reservation during Restaurant Week. Â I was thrilled that they offer their full menu (a few dollars extra for some items). Â We started with the picnic basket to start which was a nice array of cheeses, meats, etc. Â
Then I ordered the saffron rappini ravioli. Â Holy cow, waaaaayyyyy too many flavors going on here. Â It included a lamb sausage and mussles. Â I determined that I had to eat each part separately because the flavors did not go well together. Â My boyfriend ordered the steak with risotto and he gave me a bite. Â After chewing the steak for what seems like eternity (honestly a good two minutes) I had to spit it out. Â And the risotto was crunchy, not tender like it should be. Â For dessert we had the beignets. Â Fortunately those were incredibly delicious.
The atmosphere is very nice and the service was decent (a little slow when we were ready to order, but our waters were always full). Â I want to go back and try something else because I really want to know what everyone is always raving about.
Looking for a new restaurant to try, I saw Rioja listed and cannot believe I've never posted a review. I've been here twice for brunch and once for Restaurant Week! I will simply join in with the masses in praising this gem of downtown restaurants. Every time I've gone I've been in Spanish flavor heaven! The subterranean ambiance is cozy and perfectly secluded for a date night. And the beignets...generally considered a french dessert...are absolutely amazing! I love all of Jennifer Jasinski's marvelous eateries (including Bistro Vendome and Euclid Hall) and am grateful to her for indulging our global dining dreams!
Review Source:I am extremely happy to have been given the opportunity to jump on a reservation to Rioja this past Sunday evening. With the snow storm, a lot of cancellations rolled in, making it a secret blessing in disguise (as this is 5280 week and they are completely booked SOLID!)
Our meal was pretty tasty to say in the least! For our first course, we ordered the Tuna TarTar/Sashimi and the Sea Scallops. The scallops were by far my favorite. It came with two perfectly seared scallops over this weirdly tasty gingered pineapple and an almost candied mushroom, topped with a piece of deep-fried seaweed. The tuna sashimi was a thin slice of fresh tuna and was marinated in an almost mint/anise sauce that did the dish justice.
To drink, I ordered what is basically their version of a dirty martini and my partner ordered some vino. The dirty martini was not only extremely smooth and perfectly mixed with the right proportions, but it came with some gorgonzola stuffed green olives that were some of the best  stuffed olives I have ever had.
For our main course, we ordered the duck breast and the Colorado lamb. I am always so happy when I can find duck on a menu (it can be sometimes very hard to come across outside of the holidays). Not only was the duck breast perfectly cooked and seasoned (I ordered it medium per the Chef's recommendations), but it came with this house-made spicy sausage and thinly sliced fresh orange that made for a great combo. It also had this pearl couscous that was cooked with fresh celery and eggplant. I'm not the biggest fan of lamb, but I had a bite of my partners and found it to be pretty tasty.
For desert, we decided on the peanut butter Napoleon - which btw was crazy tasty! It was almost two desserts in one with a peanut butter ice cream over a chocolate fudge cake and a separate tower of thin chocolate pieces sandwiched between some decadent fresh cream. In between the two desserts were wavy swirls of caramel!
All-in-all I am extremely happy we dumped our previous reservation for Restaurant week and decided to jump on the chance to hit up Rioja. Our service was impeccable and the food was just as equally as great! (I don't think my water glass fell below being half full all evening.)
Good grief, why have I waited years to try dinner here? I have enjoyed the brunch many times and loved it-maybe I became distracted by it, therefore becoming blind to the dinner option? Well nevertheless, it is Restaurant Week here in Denver and chef Jennifer Jasinski just received a James Beard nomination for Best Chef in the Southwest, so it just made sense that it was time for a dinner at Rioja.
I was able to get reservations on <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fopentable.com&s=897c359bd752b4f5407d5ea86453c82be2d1913c8d0b51b18d81fc58f52a6497" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://opentable.com</a> the same day of the dinner! Due to the weather, it seemed we may be a bit late for it. I called the restaurant and they assured me it was fine and they would keep my reservation-awesome!
I was impressed with the looks of the $52.80 menu, and was super excited after I received a great refreshing glass of white sangria and one heck of an amuse bouche-a scrumptious little pork belly croquette with a nice basil sauce-YUMS!
For our appetizers I opted for the dungeness crab terrine and my guy ordered the seared scallops, both were wonderful (both also had up-charges from the 52.80 menu, totally worth the 8.00 bucks more for the both of them.) For the entrees, I chose the steak and risotto and my guy opted for the duck dish. Man oh man, both were fantastic! All of the meat was cooked perfectly and the food that accompanied created a perfect marriage, hello yumo risotto and those tempura fried shishito peppers! We chose the 'black and blue' cheesecake for dessert, not only was the presentation gorgeous, but it was super decadent and delicious.
Oh, and the service was impeccable! Our food came out at a perfect pace. My guy asked for more bread twice, it was so good (esp. the sage bread and onion bread.) I cannot wait to return for more Rijoa dinner!
I have been wanting to come here for years. Â It has been in my "Top 5" bookmarked restaurants for over a year. Â So, I was excited when I finally made it here during the 2013 Restaurant Week. Â We were seated fairly quickly, only 5 minutes after our reservation time. Â They put us way in the back, but I liked the view of the oven, and it was nice not to be as crowded as some tables. Â The food was great (and I will talk more about that in a bit), but out service was amazing. Â Our waiter (Jesse) was incredible. Â He was friendly, attentive, funny, and he knew the menu backwards and forwards. Â He knew every sauce and every ingredient in every dish. Â I asked him to remind me what a "nage" was, and he did it without hesitation (a nage is a flavored liquid used for poaching delicate foods, typically seafood, if you are curious). Â He made helpful suggestions and was very patient with a group of people who tend to agonize over what to choose when so many things look so tempting.
They kept serving house sparkling water (yay!) for us throughout the meal.  The bread baskets (the size of a shallow laundry basket) that were being carried around contained four different breads.  I was particularly fond of the onion bread.  For my starter, I selected the Seared Sea Scallops (seared scallops with fresno chili marinated Costa Rican pineapple, sesame soy caramelized eggplant, sake lees vinaigrette, shiso two ways).  It was two largish scallops with a nice sear.  The pineapple brought some good acidity to the dish, and the sesame soy caramelized eggplant provided more umami depth of flavor than you could imagine.  There was a $5 up-charge for this dish, but it was money well spent.  For my entrée, I had a very hard time picking a dish.  It seemed that every one of them had and ingredient or two that I was less than excited about.  The specials of the night were both salmon based (my kryptonite), so they were out.  I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy the octopus, and getting a vegetarian dish just seemed like a waste to me (as tasty as they probably were).  I wasn't in a duck mood, or a steak mood, etc. etc. etc.  I finally settled on the pork belly flatbread.  It was good, but not great.  It was a small to medium-sized pizza with pork belly, ricotta, orange sauce, and butternut squash.  The flavors were soft and sweet, as was the texture.  I really did not taste the pork belly, which is a shame, because it would have helped pump up the flavor.
Dessert really was a home run. Â We split the Poached Pears (pears rolled in pistachio fennel pollen brittle, chestnut chocolate cream, vanilla poached red grapes, fennel pollen meringues). Â This was an incredibly rich, decadent, and creative dessert. Â There was so much going on. Â The chocolate cream was potent, and the meringues were gooey. Â If I could change one thing about the dessert, it would be to halve the amount of accompaniments, and to double-down on the pieces of pear. Â It was a great way to wrap up a very nice meal.
The service was very good and the food was elegantly prepared. It did seem that there was a lot of gratuitous use of posh ingredients that didn't add anything to the dish.. Everything we had was tasty, but not mind-blowing, which it probably should have been given all the fancy preparation and presentation. For the price and atmosphere, I expected better.
Review Source:I LOVE Rioja! We enjoyed an amazing dinner here and here is what we have!
App- Seared scallops... TO DIE FOR! Perfectly seared and the sweet deliciousness of them was phenomenal!
Main Dish- Pan roasted petaluma chicken... DELICIOUS! I am normally NOT a kale fan, but this changed my mind. It was amazing!
The rest of the group thoroughly enjoyed their dinners as well, and the drinks were strong and they kept them coming. It was the perfect meal before an awesome girls night out!
Thanks Rioja!
So prior to dining at the wonderful Rioja, I'd already halfway and in-advisably  (probably) stuffed myself at Euclid Hall down the block. Didn't matter here.
So when I dine out at a restaurant with too many attractive options, I almost always ask the waiter/waitress for input, figuring that they work there and they eat there (if they don't then the food sucks) so they'd know best. My first question was regarding the appetizers aka "delicious beginnings". The exchange went something like this:
Me: "If you had to choose - " (note that I didn't even specify what category yet)
Server: Â "The fresh bacon. I eat it every day. I'd eat it 7 days a week if I could. So just 2."
Done deal. We started out with the fresh bacon, tuna sashimi and tartare. Also, an amuse-bouche of rabbit liver pate with dark chocolate and a parmesan crisp, on the house. Now I'm not a liver fan at all, but damn was that rich and full of flavor. The tuna was very fresh and very good, but honestly eclipsed by how exceptional the fresh bacon was. The cardamom-spiced Kurobuta pork belly paired with the madras curry scented garbanzo bean puree was just ridiculous. A flavor explosion in every bite. Unexpectedly I almost liked the garbanzo bean puree more than the pork belly, which was a testament to how well constructed the puree was. They kindly split everything in 3 for us.
My group ordered the grilled tea brined Snake River sturgeon, pan roasted venison, and Spanish octopus farfalle (me). Since we all got so lost in our own choices, there wasn't a whole lot of sharing going on, so I can only really comment on my dish of choice. Very well crafted squid ink-piquillo pepper pasta served with super tender and flavorful Spanish octopus offered a few different ways. Regardless of the fact that I was already full, I gladly licked the plate clean.
So no dessert then? Don't be silly. This time we had to split. Just had to. White and black cheesecake, poached pears, and hand made ice creams and sorbets (grapefruit, passion fruit, and chocolate - again great recommendations from our server) were chosen. These turned out to all be divine choices. Notable was the poached pears, which was just an exquisite collaboration: Pistachio fennel pollen brittle? Fennel pollen meringues? Vanilla poached red grapes? And so much more. Unbelievable. I need to get me some fennel pollen.
Louis CK wisely imparted that the meal isn't over when you're full, it's over when you hate yourself. No hate here though. Just love. For all the incredible food we stuffed ourselves with.
Outstanding service. I'd already fallen in love with Denver and its restaurant scene at this point but this was the saccharine-sweet maraschino cherry from the jar on top. Our server (I'm sorry, I forgot your name) was pretty exceptional. She helped us make well-informed dining choices, had a great sense of humor, was the perfect amount of attentive (timing is everything), and made our party of 3 regular dudes feel like not-so-regular dudes.
This was one of the best meals I've ever experienced (was going to type "had", but "experienced" does it more justice honestly) in any city, domestic or international. The craftsmanship, well thought-out and developed flavor profiles, and attention to detail really make Rioja one of the best.
Jennifer Jasinski is a master.
Just came home from celebrating my birthday dinner at Rioja. Â Overall, I was not impressed. Â
My partner and I ordered the "picnic basket" for an appetizer. Â All in all, it was very good. Â It seemed popular, since we saw several other tables ordering it.
I ordered the gnocchi and my partner ordered the lamb. Â Her lamb was very good and the portion size was also very good. Â My gnocchi started off nice, but quickly became too much. Â In short, one or two flavors were very strong and eventually drowned out everything else. Â
The same thing held true for both of our desserts (she ordered the pistachio crusted something, and I ordered the winter gingerbread. Â After two or three bites of both, Â a single dominant flavor quickly drowned out all of the others. Â
Figuratively speaking, the entire meal was like listening to a single note on the piano being repeatedly struck with monotonically increasing intensity for an hour and thirty minutes.
After enjoying a fabulous dinner here last night, I am ready to eat crow on my previous review of Rioja. Nearly everything was perfect, including the picnic table appetizer, the Colorado lamb, the artichoke tortellini, the service. If there were a criticism, it would be the bread did not seem up to its usual high standards here. Still, I give them 98% on my scorecard.
Review Source:Incredible, thoughtful food.
Attentive service but not over-doing it.
Kind and efficient management.
We sat in the very comfortable lounge and ordered a pasta explosion of 3 pasta dishes for 2 of us. Â All really nice. Â The gnocchi was our favorite because we could imagine ordering just that dish and being satisfied. Â The other two kind of depended on each other in our lowly opinion. Â The farfalle was intense and spicy and would be a little too harsh as a main dish and the artichoke tortellini was a little too mellow to take center stage on its own (though it was shockingly delicate and enjoyable). Â However, we're not experts in any way and all dishes are beyond worth getting so take this opinion lightly.
Love the lavender bread. Â Would love to come back and order their specials to see how to do something other than pasta.
I've been four times in the last six months and I would say that the food is good. Â But, it does not live up to its reputation. Â I've had duck, pork, steak, etc. Â All were good - but, they did not live up to the reputation. Â For the price and reputation I expect better quality and consistency.
Service was good and attentive.
Went here on a Saturday date night. We started with the tortellini as an appetizer and it was fantastic. It went especially well with their sourdough bread. My girlfriend had the skirt steak and I had the Pekin Duck. Both were delicious but I enjoyed the skirt steak more. We had the cheesecake for dessert. They were cheesecake bites and were excellent to share with a delicious sesame ice cream.
Overall, I would come back again but my favorite upscale date night restraint remains Z Cuisine. It is hard to beat the intimate setting but Rioja seems like a fun place to go with a group.
Let's start this review off by saying this is the main reason I want to come back to Denver. We're willing to drive the 16 hours just to dine here again. The service: fantastic (we loved our server -- she was so kind, helpful, and even gave us complimentary desserts on the house!) The interior: A little cozy, but beautiful! The drinks: AMAZING. The food: Out of this world!
What we ordered:
RIOJA WINE - My boyfriend ordered this, being a big red wine fan and was in love with the flavors. I even, being a very picky red wine drinker, was incredibly impressed with it. Little to say, he ordered 3 glasses.
RED SANGRIA - My first drink order. A fantastically thick and crisp red sangria!
POMEGINGER - I would highly recommend this cocktail! It reminded me of Christmas and took me back to my childhood! Such a well-crafted drink that I ordered 2!
SAVORY HERB RICOTTA CHEESECAKE - Unbelievable! I ordered this based on other yelp reviews and was incredibly impressed! A must order!
ARTICHOKE TORTELLINI - Both my boyfriend and I ordered this because of the reviews and it sounded amazing. Let me tell you, this dish is TO.DIE.FOR. It melts in your mouth. The flavors are outstanding. We were savoring every bite because we didn't want it to end!
-We ordered another dessert described as tasting like a Whopper candy, but I can't seem to find it on their menu right now. It was delicious, but nothing compared to the beignets-
BEIGNETS - These were on the house, thanks to our lovely server. And WOW! Another must order!
Basically, I'm sure, you can't go wrong with anything you order at rioja. The chef really knows what she's doing!
Came to Rioja in December 2012 for a celebratory dinner with my husband. Â We ordered a bottle of champagne before getting side tracked by the bread basket-- all of the breads are different and creative-- and delicious! Â We had to control ourselves so that we'd leave room for dinner!
The entrees were exquisite-- as usual. Â Chef never ever fails to impress us with her delicious combinations! Â
We'll be back, again and again.
Came here for brunch; very tasty. They did a good job accommodating gluten free for my wife. We started with the doughnuts and panna cotta as apps, and both were amazing. The salmon galette was very good and omelette ok. Service great. All in all we're impressed!
We came back for dinner, and it was amazing. This restaurant makes me want to move to Denver.
It was Christmas Eve, and we were looking for a good excuse to duck out of an awkward holiday party, so we decided to have a nice quiet dinner at Rioja. It was quite a treat.
We started off with a trip through the bread basket, so to speak. Everything is baked in house and changes regularly. We ended up trying 3-4 different things, and each one was excellent.
For appetizers, we ordered the fresh bacon, which of course means Kurobuta pork on top of a garbanzo bean curry. Absolutely amazing. I'd make a meal out of it if I weren't worried about my arteries. The scallop appetizer was also great--served with bits of eggplant and pineapple to create different tastes and textures. I'll also point out Rioja's excellent service: the kitchen split our appetizers onto two plates each, since they assumed we'd be sharing. We didn't have to ask them to do this; they did it proactively.
Onto the mains, where I ordered the venison, which was rare, sliced, and placed on top of a delicious three-grain risotto, with seasonal vegetables on the side. My wife had the duck, which came two ways: a duck sausage with orange slices, and the traditional duck breast. Duck is easy to get wrong, but Rioja gets it right.
We ended up sending my brother and sister-in-law to Rioja two nights later, probably because we couldn't stop raving about how great the food was.
My first dining experience at Rioja was amazing, 5 stars for sure. I wanted to wait to review after I been a few more times.
Somehow this place just keeps getting better. Â
The menu changes, which I love and the execution of flavors of every dish I've ever had here has been perfect.
Service has always been stellar from the moment you walk in.
My latest favorite is the "picnic" appetizer. A must get if you love cheese, meats, olives, etc... Everything blends perfect with each o her and especially with a glass of wine.
I rarely get dessert but I would also recommend saving room for a little dessert. Â Portions are of normal size and nothing over the top. Just GOOD!
Everyone I know thinks that Rioja is the best that Denver has to offer... and yet I'm always slightly let down when I hear that reservations have been made here. That's why I usually handle the reservations, I guess!
Let's start on the bright side - and there are a lot of bright sides. This is a four star review, after all. The service at Rioja is always very good. They take your coat when you enter to hang it in their coat closet, show you to your table, and quickly attend to drinks and menu. Soon enough, your order will be taken and many people's favorite part of Rioja happens: the bread service. They've got four kinds of bread offering, and all are quite good.
Soon enough your food is brought out - and their starter portions are not what you expect from a restaurant like this. They're quite generous, and always tasty. Then comes the entree... I'm a poultry girl, so I've always had either chicken or duck. Here's where the magic falls apart for me: the entrees are always good, but really not memorable. I think there are better restaurants within a block or so, and for equal or less money.
I guess that's what I'm looking for in terms of the five star "wow" factor - a truly memorable entree. Maybe I need to branch out and try one of Jen's pastas? Who knows. What I do know is that though I won't be picking Rioja anytime soon when I'm making the reservation, I'll still keep showing up when invited. I know they have it in them - like I said, everyone else loves this place!
Amazing menu, great service, beautiful setting! We ate at the bar and liiked it so much we went back the next night. Very nice selection of reasonably priced wines. Bottled beers only. Love their flatbreads, especially the Rioja Picnic with cured meats and artisinal cheese. The tortilla soup with fresh bacon is amazing. Their showcase entree is Spanish Octopus Farfalle: thin-sliced octopus with squid ink pasta. It may sound gross to some, but is is delicate and fresh tasting. Nice and tender, but I could have used abit more squid ink. Venison medallions were another winner.
Desserts (chocolate beignets and cocolate caramel napoleon) were good, but didn't really wow us.
The barmen work hard and know their business. Trust their recommendations. This is a fantastic restaurant!
Food is just OK, expensive for the portion size.
Fiance got 5 slices of steak and I got 4 ravioli's. Â House salad was just dumped on a plate drizzles in bitter lemon dressing. Â Our friend ordered tortellini and got 5. Â These guys are 230lbs plus so we left hungry to say the least. Â The bread selection was ok, everyone liked the cheese biscuit. Â
Party of 7 on a Sunday night. Dinner arrived 1 hour after ordering. Â
Not a fan.
I have been waiting to go here for soooo long and my friend and I finally decided to go to celebrate getting new jobs. We split a bottle of Cava and had an amazing meal. We sat at the the counter after losing our reservation due to light rail delays (seriously I guess that happens).
The whole menu is seasonal so I'm not sure what is still around but the tortilla soup was amazing. Everything is a really special twist on classic flavors without being entirely unapproachable. The staff is really great so don't be afraid to fully commit to their opinions.
It is admittedly more expensive than your everyday meal but if feels special enough to be worth the splurge so forge ahead with no guilt and a reservation
So let me start by pointing out that less than 5% of my reviews are 5-star, so I am happy to have recently had a 5-star lunch at Rioja.
I had been there for dinner a couple of years ago and remembered it as a strong meal, so I thought I would try a lunch there since I had a free afternoon. Â I can sum it up in one sentence:
Best Sandwich Ever
I know what you are thinking, sandwiches are sandwiches, maybe you are thinking I have not had many in my life. Â Can that be it? Â I am serious, "Gabe's chronic chicken sandwich" is out of this world. Â Really.
I am not exaggerating. Â I think it was the madras curry aioli, The focaccia was great, as were all of the breads (especially the rosemary biscuits, we had seconds) -- but to be this blown away by a sandwich was totally unexpected. Â Maybe I should marry it, is that what you are thinking? Â Go ahead, mock me, but I had the greatest sandwich of my life. Â I envy those of you living in Denver because you could go there for lunch tomorrow if you wanted to. $22 for lunch with a beer.
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