NVM Review

By Warren Rojas

Whereas some local motorists use their license plates as personal billboards for cherished traits (6 FUT 2), fanciful nicknames (COWGRL) or sociological queries (YDOUH8), the vanity tags on restaurateur Robert Evans’ luxury SUV proudly hail the magic potion that has fueled his beloved Red Rocks: TEQLIA.

Regulars tend to show up early and stay late at this neighborhood gathering place, often claiming their favorite high top by plunking down a deck of cards and settling in for a long night of drinking and gaming. Amateur deejays futilely attempt to control everyone’s musical destiny for hours on end by pumping fistfuls of change into the Internet jukebox, only to have their painstakingly constructed playlists interrupted midstream by similarly minded musicos willing to exercise the premium “play it now” feature.

Meanwhile, other devotees appear to come strictly for video diversions like the standard pit boss machines, a light-based stacking challenge or the now-ubiquitous Golden Tee—a game that’s evidently so magnetic, one over-exuberant virtual golfer informed his buddies, “I gave up a hot girlfriend for this.”

Most people, however, seem happy to just kick back and enjoy a few drinks.

The bar boasts nearly 100 brand-name tequilas, starting at $4 for Jose Cuervo Silver and rising to $42 for a 1-ounce pour of Seleccion Suprema (Herradura’s top-shelf brand of 4-year-old tequila) or Don Julio Real (an oak barrel-aged, premium blue agave tequila that typically retails for over $300 a bottle).

Evergreen drink specials, available from 1 to 7 p.m. during the workweek, include: $1.50 pints of Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors Light, Yuengling Lager and the signature Red Rocks Red (house brew), $2 glasses of house wine, $3 rail drinks and discount margaritas.

The house brand margaritas come in more than two dozen fruit flavors ranging from traditional lime to kiwi, guava or pumpkin. A second tier of specialty margaritas offers another dozen-plus choices, including at least a few high-octane refreshers boasting Jimmy Buffet-brand tequila (Evans is an avowed Parrot and Dead Head).

Hard-charging daily temptations include: $3 Monday car bombs—better known as “depth charges” in proper Celtic establishments, $3 cherry bombs and $5 buckets of Bud Light pony beers (five 7-ounce bottles) on Tuesday, $2.50 Pabst Blue Ribbon cans and $3 “cosmotiniritas” (more tequila-laden concoctions) on Wednesday, $4 Jagermeister bombs and $5 buckets of Miller Lite pony beers on Thursday, an extended Friday happy hour offering $2 domestic bottles from 7 till 9 p.m., $4 margaritas and martinis all day Saturday and $7 pitchers (domestics only) on Sunday.

Additionally, look for Guinness, Dos Equis, Sierra Nevada, Redhook ESB and Michelob Ultra Amber on draft, plus rotating bottled beer of the month specials (Rogue, Woodchuck, Abita).

Daily food specials range from traditional bar fare (nachos, burgers, wings) to Southwestern-style specialties (half-price quesadillas).

A basket of batter-fried jalapeno rings are all about unmitigated heat and just the right amount of crunch (no cream cheese necessary). Serrano wings are petite but potent heat-seekers aimed directly at your gullet (mission accomplished). An order of habanero-berry wings proves less aggressive, but the saucy poultry still tickles the taste buds with its tart-piquant essence.

By Warren Rojas

East meets zest in the Southwestern-style pasta picante ($12.99), a mouthwatering medley of al dente noodles tossed with savory chorizo slices, grilled chicken, and a corn–cilantro-onion blend, all covered in a zesty homemade cream sauce.

By Warren Rojas

A neighborhood watering hole perhaps best known for its gonzo tequila selection than its atypical Tex-Mex cuisine, Red Rocks Café manages to field some surprisingly good dishes that won’t break the bank.

The most expensive item on the menu is a mushroom and Delmonico steak platter for $15.99, but the emphasis is more on bar food and refried everything. For a quick jumpstart, dive into incendiary chicken wings with flavors like Serrano (lethal heat), and Habanero berry (sweet fire). For a more subtle burn, try the groovy crab and Serrano quesadilla.

A plate of delicious fried tacos reveals paper-thin tortillas filled with spicy ground beef, shrimp or whatever else staff can fold into the crisp cornmeal envelopes. A mammoth chorizo and chicken burrito comes stuffed with spicy sausage, savory chicken, melted cheese, and is capped with a seductive bacon avocado sauce. Looking to chill? Apple flautas are sweet rollups filled with warm apples, dusted with cinnamon sugar and topped with mounds of vanilla ice cream. Standing bar specials include a basket of jumbo chicken fingers and fries for only $5 (weeknights from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.), and a 16-oz. Miller Lite draft and a 6-oz. burger for $6 all day on Saturdays.