Cool River Cafe | Greenwood Village
One of Denver’s best steakhouses, located in the Belleview Promenade
Not all steakhouses open daily for lunch, which makes Cool River Cafe an enticing midday destination. The Belleview Promenade restaurant contracted its space a few years back, and the smaller footprint is classier, featuring a patio extension with fire pit and jointed-panel doors that roll up for bar service. Seven private dining spaces are available for social events or business meetings, and accommodating general manager Craig Biggins and his staff will furnish everything from flowers to audio-visual equipment. Factor in the comfortable and friendly atmosphere and service and you’ve got a popular, bustling establishment.
Ordering steak for a modern power lunch isn’t for everyone, and Cool River’s menu has an impressive lineup of other yummy items, from crab cakes (served with a spicy cocktail sauce and remoulade) to the crispy chicken pecan salad and delectable burgers and sandwiches(try the BLT with turkey, avocado and Swiss). My party indulged in the delightful Devil Creek Shrimp— pistol-sized crustaceans stuffed with pepper jack cheese and wrapped in smoked bacon.
The side items were led by the Six-Cheese Scalloped Potatoes (I lost count after mozzarella, asiago and parmesan). For dessert, I took the Maker’s Mark Pecan Bread Pudding over the Hunka Burnin’ Love, a fried peanut butter, banana and raspberry jam sandwich that suggests the appetites of Elvis Presley. “The King” would fly from Memphis to Glendale’s now defunct Colorado Mine Company to fetch the Fool’s Gold Loaf, a concoction of one pound of crisp bacon, one large jar of Skippy smooth peanut butter and one large jar of Smucker’s grape jelly, closed in a loaf of Italian white bread smeared with butter. No wonder Elvis has left the building.
The dinner menu is slightly different and equally awesome, with a wider selection of steaks (notably the 20-ounce bonein Cowboy Rib-Eye, topped with crisp onions), chops (I’m counting the Grilled Rack of Lamb here) and seafood (Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with hot apple bacon sauce and cilantro chive rice). The Smoked Prime Rib Quesadilla appetizer, in a garlic-herb tortilla with horseradish sauce, reflects Cool River’s Southwestern flair.
Lunch or dinner, the Certified Angus Beef brand steaks at Cool River are wonderfully delicious, and my filet was cooked to a perfect medium rare plus. Sadly, I had a beef with the guy at the next table who ordered “well done but not burnt.”
Anyone who wants a beautiful marbled cut cooked until it turns completely gray should show a little respect to bovines. The juice in a level of rare steak isn’t blood, it’s the myoglobin protein in the meat. Well-done amounts to bloody murder—and I will not be cowed!
8000 E. Belleview Ave. Suite C 10, Greenwood Village
303-771-4117; coolrivercafe.com
Colorado AvidGolfer is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. It publishes eight issues annually and proudly delivers daily content via www.coloradoavidgolfer.com.
