Last week, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke warned of a “possible” recession.
Thanks, Ben, and welcome to 2007.
Conventional wisdom says that, with the downturn in the economy, the restaurant industry will be one of the first to show negative effects. Fewer customers will go out to eat, they say, and when they do go, they’ll spend less money. We can expect some of our favorites to cut costs by shutting down a few nights a week.
Well, just tell that to the busy staff at Cherry Creek Grill, busting their nuggets to keep a packed house fed and liquefied on a recent Monday night (yes, a Monday night, a.k.a. the deadest night in Denver).
A gaggle of Cherry Creek ladies and a few of their admirers crowded the hostess stand, waiting for a booth. Post-long-day businessfolk surrounded the bar in ones and twos, sipping olive-studded cocktails and nibbling bits of corn bread. Line cooks whipped through orders in the open kitchen. Bartenders measured, shook, pulled and poured icy drinks in hues from amber to hot pink. Busers ducked between milling customers, clearing a never-slowing river of dirty flatware.
It’s a busy restaurant every night of the week, and for me this is the best selling point of Cherry Creek Grill. Not that I’m a fan of knocking elbows with fellow diners or tripping over busboys, but I do enjoy an evening in a lively, active restaurant where people- watching is the side dish of choice.
The menu at Cherry Creek Grill is no revelation, but that’s the business they’re in: familiar food (burgers, steaks, salads, fish and chicken) in generous portions. And if it’s not particularly earth-shattering, it’s reliable and almost always satisfying.
Several items on the menu, including salads, entrees and at least one sandwich, employ the restaurant’s marquee item: rotisserie chicken. A row of richly browned birds spins slowly on a skewer in a brick-lined oven at one end of the room, each destined to end up on a plate or in a to-go bag. Moist, flavorful and comforting, the chicken, in every iteration I’ve sampled, has been soulful and delicious.
Salads are big and filling, and unlike most salads in Denver, not (generally) overdressed. The “Macho” salad, a Southwesternish bowl of chicken, avocado, corn, tomatoes, almonds and dates, is among the most popular, but I prefer the Waldorfesque salad of spinach, mache, apple, chicken, bacon, egg and manchego cheese with nuts, which, with an Arnold Palmer to wash it down, makes for a happy lunch.
Big appetites will be well-served by the steak and enchilada plate, with a healthy slab of beef tenderloin sliced alongside a filling chicken and spinach enchilada. Not the best enchilada sauce in town (for that, go to your favorite Mexican restaurant) but a fine version nonetheless, slightly sweet and faintly piquant.
The ribs were, well, let’s just say that when you need ribs, go to a rib specialist like Big Papa’s on East Evans.
Pay attention to the daily fish specials, which are generally well-prepared. A recent night saw a grilled-trout special which, while it delivered a few bones, was nonetheless rich and flavorful. Next to it, a crunchy pile of softly pickled vegetable escabeche.
Service at Cherry Creek Grill is efficient and generally well-choreographed, if not always particularly personable. Not every server serves a smile. But that’s fine; I’m not here to make friends. Besides, orders rarely get held up on the line, drinks arrive swiftly, and plates are hot, so there’s little to whine about.
My primary beef with Cherry Creek Grill is the prices, which put it well out of range for the likes of me, at least on nights when I’m not on the clock. The burger is a perfectly fine burger, but at $13 is more than twice the price of the far superior Cherry Cricket burger, just a few blocks away. And $16 for a whole rotisserie chicken to go? I do like the chicken, but when seven bucks nets one that’s just as rich, moist and flavorful at Fred’s Fine Meats on Cedar and Holly, I’m spending my ducats at Fred’s.
But my guess is most of the patrons at Cherry Creek Grill aren’t too concerned about the price tag. And props to the proprietors for knowing how to milk their customers just enough, without clearing the house.
It remains to be seen how the restaurant industry will weather the current credit crunch, or recession, or whatever you want to call it, but if the seven-days-a-week crowd is any indication, Cherry Creek Grill should come out just fine.
Tucker Shaw: 303-954-1958 or dining@denverpost.com
Cherry Creek Grill
American. 184 Steele St., 303-322-3524
** RATING | Very Good
Atmosphere: Very busy, low-lighting, sprawling central bar, big open kitchen
Service: Efficient and professional, occasionally indulgent but not always.
Wine: Modest wine list, accessible in content, if not in price. Only a few bottles under $40.
Plates: $12-$32
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday
Details: All credit cards. Street parking. Wheelchair accessible. Expect to wait for a table during peak mealtime hours.
Four visits
Our star system:
****: Excellent
***: Great
**: Very Good
*: Good
