Off the beaten path, but totally worth it.
When trying to decide where to go to dinner with a friend, we had the following requirements in mind:
1. Somewhere close to Cap Hill, around York, maybe in the Colfax area.
2. Something not too fancy– it was only a Wednesday night.
3. Somewhere that would be an adventure.
So we chose Chop Shop.
I had heard from my friends that “Chop Shop is like chipotle for gourmet food” and that I “had to go immediately”. I knew it was an order at the counter type place, and I knew it was somewhere on Colfax.
Not knowing what I was getting myself into, I typed Chop Shop into my GPS, and started driving on Colfax. Past Downing, past York, past Colorado…the Chop Shop was located about 10 blocks east of Colorado (on the south side of the street). Walking in, it felt like Honor Society meets ModMarket meets inexplicably delicious gourmet fancy food.
So we order, similar to ModMarket…pick our “specialty” (which is the entree), and decide if we wanted a specialty cocktail (which we do.) We had the:
- Grilled Salmon Fillet (GF) with fried rice, egg, broccoli, scallions, and warm yuzu teriyaki sauce (That sounds like a dish from Top Chef!) The salmon was perfectly cooked, loved the fried rice and I was lapping up the sauce. It’s a dish that I will crave soon and have to go back for.
- Side of fries with parmesan (probably because we didn’t notice that our entree came with rice…but it was totally ok)
- Banana Creme Brulee (which can be GF if you ask for the homemade vanilla wafers on the side)- so good!
- And then (because it was Wednesday and it was a heck of a week) we ordered a Moscow Mule with Reyka Vodka, Mango, and Calamansi (an exotic fruit that is a hybrid between a citrus and a kumquat). I will venture to make this statement: It was my favorite Mule I’ve ever had, and I’ve had my fair share of Mules over the years.
Our food came out quickly, was hot and delicious with deep flavors, and the servers were attentive and kind. We accidentally shut the place down, but they were very gracious about it. I also have to mention that I’ve heard constant talk about their onion soup, so that’s on the list for next time!
Chop Shop: 4990 East Colfax Denver, CO 80220
Happy Hour from 3-6 Everyday!