Strings Restaurant on East 17th Avenue has been around a very long time. Almost 22 years.
Which in the restaurant business is a very rare thing. Also a good thing. Sort of.
See, if a restaurant has been around a long time, it probably means the place is well-managed, that it has a loyal following, and that it has stayed in touch with its community, presumably adapting with the times and its environment.
** 1/2 RATING | (Very Good/Great)
Restaurants that last tend to have good intentions, good systems and good karma.
On the other hand, if a restaurant has been around a particularly long time, it raises another kind of suspicion. How innovative or contemporary or relevant could it really be?
Surely a restaurant that’s been churning out meals for this long must be in a rut. Inevitable, periodic renovations and staff shake-ups notwithstanding, if a restaurant has been this successful for this long in this location, how hard could they really be trying?
In the case of Strings, particularly in the kitchen, it appears they are trying very hard lately. And it certainly shows, in dishes that range from satisfactory to exemplary, not a one (in my experience over four visits in the last couple of months) a bad value.
If you ask me, Strings shines brightest during the summer, when you can camp on the patio (East 17th Avenue isn’t nearly as loud or annoying as you expect it to be), order a glass of something refreshing (say, a chilly goblet of floral viognier) and suck in a trademark Denver summer night. You’ll face more service delays out here than you will inside (more on those later), but sip slowly, and exercise patience.
Start with a watercress, radish and watermelon salad, a flirty composition in a piquant chili vinaigrette, or a toss of Lolla Rossa greens, avocado, cucumber and blue cheese.
Order the crab-cake appetizer with guarded expectations; while it has its fans, I was ambivalent about the underseasoned dish. And I was happy to see on my latest couple of visits that the fennel pate hasn’t been listed on the menu; here’s hoping this bitterly astringent palate-killer has been retired.
After starters, choose fish. There’ll be a seafood dish on special, and that’s the one you should get. I’ve had sea bass, scallops and salmon at Strings, and each has been lovely; and in the case of the sea bass, exquisite. The halibut was also pleasant, even if the plate suffered from an overabundance of fennel.
Have someone at your table order the calf’s liver. Soft, sultry, filling, and in a city of seared tuna and duck breast salads, a refreshing coup de menu. Also a score: the lamb with eggplant and white-bean puree.
Skip the roasted chicken, which sounded promising but proved tough and pallid. Ditto the duck.
Dessert offers a tough decision: Stay here, or wander next door to the excellent new dessert-specialist D-Bar for mind-blowing chocolate cake and sultry roasted pineapple.
If you stay at Strings, choose the Meyer lemon pudding cake, sweet and zingy all at once.
Lunch is the second-best time to come to Strings, for the sea bass or a chicken salad sandwich, an elegant, careful creation that ranks among Denver’s best in category.
Service at Strings is consistently inconsistent. I’ve had stretches of smoothness in which plates were delivered correctly and courses were paced with care.
But I’ve also had painful stretches of sloppiness, of entrees squeezed onto a table still full of appetizers only half-eaten, of spastic servers forgetting cocktails, then forgetting they’ve forgotten them, of epic waits for a drink at the bar. In a restaurant as well-greased as this one, such clunky ball-drops can be confounding and frustrating.
Bottom line: Strings could rest on its laurels, but at the moment it isn’t. Instead, they’ve upped the ante at the old girl, and even if the service can’t always find the track it belongs on, she delivers a good value.
Tucker Shaw: 303-954-1958 or dining@denverpost.com.
Strings Restaurant
American. 1700 Humboldt St., 303-831-7310,
** 1/2 RATING | (Very Good/Great)
Atmosphere: Recently renovated but still recognizable as the Strings of old. Airy dining room, open kitchen, big patio.
Service: Inconsistent.
Wine: Solid wine list and special wine dinners (Tonight, rose. Next month, bubbles.)
Plates: Starters $9-$14, Main courses $18-35.
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5-10:30 p.m. Saturday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.
Details: All major credit cards. Valet parking. Large patio. Group dining. Private parties. Wheelchair accessible.
Four visits.
Our star system:
****: Excellent.
***: Great.
**: Very Good.
*: Good.
