You can source the best ingredients in the country, hire the most elite chefs, spend millions of dollars on a “concept” interior and create and minister a flawless wine list, but you simply can’t beat a simple, straightforward diner meal served to you by someone who, when she asks whether you’d like more coffee, seems like she actually cares.
Denver is dotted with great neighborhood diners, none more beloved than Chef Zorba’s Cuisine on East 12th Avenue. (You can’t miss it. There’s a big mural of a dancing Anthony Quinn on the side of the building.)
Following in the best tradition of New York/New Jersey Greek-owned neighborhood diners, the casual space, populated at any given hour by lingering newspaper-scourers, youthful families with peppy children in soccer uniforms, old-timers on the gossip mill and hungover hipsters, deftly fills the north Congress Park need for a local hangout where neither the menu nor dress code will challenge any comer.
All the basic diner food is up for grabs: Grilled cheese sandwiches, short-order burger deluxes, BLTs and endless omelets, plus the expected suite of Greek favorites like spanikopita, moussaka and souvlaki, plus, in a nod to the West, a small list of Mexican options.
The two best ways to experience Chef Zorba’s are as follows.
One, on the morning after the night before, when you’re not exactly sure how the evening ended up and need to meet with a co-rouser to compare notes and (if necessary) concoct excuses. You’ll hunch over fried egg sandwiches and a shared short stack and commiserate.
Two, on a weekday evening, alone, when your dinner plans have been canceled and nothing sounds better than grabbing a couple of magazines and taking over a booth, solo, to nibble on a gyros platter and sip a glass of inexpensive Greek wine.
In both cases, the combination of no-brainer food and friendly, unrushed and unpretentious service will inspire you to tip extra-generously, but even still, you’ll have change from your twenty and a good attitude on your way out the door.
Chef Zorba’s Cuisine
Diner. Hours: 6 a.m.-10 p.m., seven days. Early Bird breakfast specials until 10 a.m. 2626 East 12th Ave., 303-321-0091. Just look for the mural of Anthony Quinn on the side of the building.
