Our first restaurant review(s)

We live in Lakewood, CO, a suburb of Denver. Most of the restaurants we go to are in the west metro area. We try to support places where we live.

We are ecstatic to share our experiences at two restaurants just west of downtown Denver (10 minutes from our home): Linger and Root Down. Owned by the same person, we tried them both last week and just had to share our thoughts with you. I realize that if you don't live in the Denver area this might be some sort of a tease, yet that just means you know you have great places to eat when you come to Denver!

Both restaurants are rather new in the Denver restaurant scene. If you have ever read any of our restaurant reviews on Yelp, you know that when we review restaurants we focus on two things: the availability of delicious vegan food and the presence of great service.

Both Linger and Root Down blow it out of the ballpark in both areas. As vegans, one of the great deals about their menus is that all vegans dishes or dishes that can be made vegan are clearly marked. No guessing. And the dishes we tried were so delicious that we totally took our time eating and savored each bite.

At Linger we enjoyed dishes that were centered around eggplant, butternut squash, and ethnic delights from Thailand and India. Yet the best was to come. If you are ever there for dinner and they have their vegan Peanut Butter & Jelly Cup on the menu, order it! Seriously, every bite was a little taste of heaven and each taste was more unbelievable than the previous one. We could not believe this dessert. After 16 years of vegan desserts, this was truly one of my all-time favorites. Maria was our server and made us feel incredibly welcome and that she was glad we were there. Also, as each dish was brought out, those helping Maria explained what we were eating and knew everything there was to know about the dish.

Our experience was very similar at Root Down. Again, all vegan (and gluten-free) items are marked so no guessing. Again, prefect service, thanks to Hillary and one of her peers whose name I cannot remember. We sat at the bar as there was no room in the restaurant, and we had a blast. Mike ordered the Risotto and I ordered a tofu dish, both incredibly delicious. We started with a vegan slider. Hillary recommended a cocktail for Mike (he loved it) and when I told her that I don't drink alcohol she made me a delish mocktail!

I could go on and on. We can't wait to go back. We highly recommend reservations as they fill up all the time and the bar fills up too. Both places make it easy to share, so order several dishes. For us, both restaurants are on the high end regarding cost yet 100% worth it. And during happy hour they have vegan items on the menu.

Check them out, and let us know what you think!

Thanks for reading!