La Cueva's homegrown goodness

Let’s be up front, saying there is authentic Mexican food on East Colfax is like saying there are short skirts in LoDo; you’re welcome for the overdose in obviousness. If you have no idea what we're talking about, take a stroll along the Fax and see how high you can count in Spanish the amount of Mexi-Marts and carnicerias. That said, how does one who cheated his way through Spanish II in high school disseminate where to find a fine tamale among the sea of papusas and pollo shacks on our venerable vein of a boulevard? La Cueva is the answer, for the tamale, authenticity, and everything in between.

Start with the fact that the restaurant is cranking long before the sun comes up—making all the sauces, prepping what are arguably the city’s best tamales, and churning away at the homemade refried beans, made fresh, everyday. No wonder La Cueva now has its own cookbook. The menu is a living representation of it. Check it out:

First up: Chips and salsa