First Look: Rack & Rye

Inside Denver’s newest gastropub

December 4, 2009

By Alex Jimenez
Special to Metromix

Ah yes, the gastropub. A nationwide trend, and one that's popular for a reason, a gastropub is the classy affair between an upscale eatery and get-your-drink-on bar. It's different from your typical fine dining restaurant experience with a beefed-up drink selection because it plays no favorites. The food and the drink are equally important in a gastropub, and this concept is most certainly upheld at Denver's newest watering and grub hole, Rack & Rye Gastropub. 

At Rack & Rye, the mesh between a pub and a restaurant isn't the only thing being mixed up. The owner and creative genius behind the joint, Violet Chan, has put together a menu of traditional comfort food infused with a Southeast Asian kick.

The drink menu also upholds the unlikely cultural blend of flavors, with not only an extensive selection of both domestic and microbrews, but also an array of witty and equally tasty specialty cocktails ranging from A Wicked Wally (Rye Whiskey, Noilly Prat, bitters, splash of sour, soda and sprite and a rinse of absinthe) to a Bonsai Kitty (Belvedere 1X, fresh cilantro, ginger, pineapple juice and a splash of sour, pictured here). Sound interesting? Take a peek at some of these items off their eclectic menu.