Gettin' horny

Holy meat Batman! There are so many reasons why you need to check out The Buckhorn Exchange...Where to start?

How about the mere fact that it's, by far, Denver's oldest restaurant? How old, you ask? Try 1893, which means older than tar and feathers. It's the sort of place where miners, silver barons and Indians used to go, yet the place somehow doesn't feel musty. (Somebody's full time job must be to change out the air filters.)

Then there's the fact that "The Buck" remains the proud owner of Liquor License No. 1, the oldest in Colorado. You're right: they weren't giving out liquor licenses in 1893, but they sure did after the repeal of Prohibition in 1916. (Prohibition, also known as one of the darkest times for mankind. Beer and booze was wantonly tossed down the drain, literally. Oh the humanity!)

If nothing else, Buckhorn is by far the coolest place to take those friends and cousins who visit, especially the ones who want that "real west" experience, who are probably the same ones who think we still have shoot outs at the OK Corral and eat from a chuckwagon.

Dining at The Buckhorn isn't too far from that.

The place has hundreds, yep hundreds, of stuffed critters crammed into nearly every corner of the place. It's sort of eerie to have a wolverine staring down as you as you chomp your grub, but there is truly nothing like it anywhere else in these parts. (In fact, many a president and celebrity has dined in these same hallowed rooms, including Teddy Roosevelt before he headed out on a big game hunt, and a personal favorite: Roy Rogers. He must've hitched up his horse Silver to the hitching post outside.

When you get yourself to the Buckhorn, sooner than later, be sure and take some time to just cruise through the place and gawk a little. You'll wonder how you've never been here before, and even re-think your western wear choices. (Hmm, maybe I should buy me a cowboy hat...)

The upstairs bar has live music most nights, often with either Roz Brown, who plays the autoharp and croons, or Bill Barwick, unless he's off playing a special gig at a Gene Autry Festival or something.

Food: If it's good enough for Buffalo Bill Cody, it's good enough for me. (Yep, he was a regular there in his day as well.) The food, as you might expect, leans toward the hale and hearty variety. Let's just say you won't go home hungry.

As if this would be a surprise, The Buckhorn serves "supper," not dinner. It's a quaint delineation, but it makes sense here.

Here's where you can come for manly things like elk and quail, but there's also a fairly wide range of other options, albeit mostly on the meaty side. (Sure, you can order the salmon, or the chicken, but why would you?)

The rack of ribs, for example, would make Fred Flintstone happy, as it appears to be a rack of bronosaurous ribs-how cattle ever got this big we don't want to know. They're the fall-off-the-bone variety, and the sauce has a mild smoky-sweetness to it.

If you have a gang of funsters, you might want to go for "the big steak," which is a way to feed 2 or more carnivores. They cut the New York strip to order, and then slice it tableside. Five people can gorge themselves on the meat with sides and soup or salad: four pounds of delicious steak for $178. (In Vegas, that would only pay for two!)

If you head in for lunch, the best (and only, IMHO) choice would be go for the bean soup starter, followed by "Gramma Fanny's" pot roast sandwich. Dreams are made of this: super tender beef brisket, oozing with pan juices and served on pumpernickel bread. What a way to go.

Drinks: It's lemonade in mason jars time, so play it safe and go with whiskey or rye.

Parking: There's a safe lot just on the north side of the building, or you can take the Lightrail and walk across the street.

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