At the heart of Denver’s hippest neighborhood, Capitol Hill, is City O’ City: A vegetarian-lounge restaurant, dressed with local artwork, whose atmosphere and location on 13th and Sherman and in the neighborhood of the Denver Art Museum, Denver Public Library and the Colorado Capitol make it the go-to spot for the Denver hipster.
Its open lounge atmosphere has a diner-esque food bar in the middle and a liquor bar on the opposing side, providing for a wide-array of hipsters; be they 20-something democratic staff from the next door Colorado Capitol, the “cash poor” 30-something lawyer or the newly graduated film major living in the Cap. Hill neighborhood.
The breadth of the food mimics it’s atmosphere: shallow but heavy on the cool. Their appetizers range from the Fritto Misto (fried artichoke hearts, broccoli, pickles and mushrooms), to Mac & Cheese to Seitan Wings, an homage to the meat-lovers’ Buffalo Wings that is made with a popular deep-fried tofu-alternative. Between $7-9 for the appetizers, the end-product received is lacking the luster the price tag forces it to deliver; however, for the non-frugal hipster the appetizers are a delicious way to lose money.
One also has to wonder about their signature sandwich, the City O’ City burger: a dried veggie patty lacking in any flavor on a kaiser roll that only adds to the cakey feeling in one’s mouth. It neither deserves the name nor the bed of delicious quinoa it sits upon.
The real star of City O’ City, though, does lie in the sandwich department. The auspiciously under-named El Jefe, is a mouth-watering burger topped with cheddar cheese, a heap of sauteed mushrooms, onion rings, a tangy (but spicy) aioli sauce and a golden-brown fried egg with a yellow gooey-center. At $13, the El Jefe delivers every penny back and more into your mouth in its own special eggy way.
For their large and expensive dishes (priced $12-14), the Fork-Knife sandwich and the Savory Waffle round out their entree menu. Though both are forgettable dishes, they serve a different type of guest altogether – the old high school friend or the father of a hipster who has been forced to attend City O’City.
Either way, the Savory Waffle and the Fork-Knife sandwich balance out the entree menu with the exotic Macro Plate (roasted squash, quinoa and wakame pilaf, steamed kale and warm kimchi broth garnished with pickled cauliflower) and the under-salted kimchi stew.
Their pizzas, though, hit their mark. Beyond the basic, and somewhat bland two cheese pizzas lies the treasurer of City O’ City: the La Chagall and tapenade pizza. The La Chagall, with sweet and savory toppings of apricots and green olives on a bed of roasted garlic and warm brie cheese, is the perfect pizza for a light lunch. The tapenade, a basic olive pizza with basil pesto and mozzarella topped with arugula and parmesan, is simple but sultry. At $12 for a personal pizza and $23 for a large, bring a friend or get ready to pay.
The alcohol follows the local norms between $4-5 for a beer to $8 for the average cocktail. Their Moscow Mule was a surprise winner; it comes in a copper tin, featuring Peach Street’s Goat Vodka with the normal fresh squeezed lime juice and ginger ale.
City O’ City, a place where the hip and roller-derby lovin’ waitresses are adorned in hipster uniforms of flannels and vintage t’s, requires some navigating. If the right dish is chosen, the average hipster will find it to be 4 beans, but for the novice hipster it’s a 3.5 beans at best.
