Regular Joe's Guide

Closed: 2025 Latest visit: Feb 2023 First visit: Sep 2018 One of my favorite breweries in town has to be Brass Brewing. There's something very comfortable and welcoming about it. It's another military themed brewery, which the Springs has a few of. Here it's the US Army similar to Red Leg in that way. They are about to celebrate their 5th anniversary which means they opened at the same time of our arrival back here as well. There are a few parking spots next to the building that are free, but if the lot is full, you'll have to back out, and find street parking for a fee (or free on Sunday's before 1, and holidays are free all day). Walk in, and there's a long hallway with table, chairs, and a shuffleboard table. This leads into a spacious room, with more tables, three televisions, and bar stools. Beers are written clearly on the board, so you can actually read them. Order up and you're set to quaff.  Their brews are also consistently great.  I didn't mak...

Latest visit: Sep 2024 First visit: Jan 2019 It's Labor Day and I had some hobby business to discuss with Dr. Boom. He's buying and suggested Cerberus Brewing. Heck yea - I'm in ! We sat outside on this pleasant sunny Monday and grabbed some beers (me) and bourbon (him) and we enjoyed a three hour conversational lunch. I ordered the Cuban sandwich (no way!), which I don't remember they had from the last time. It's a delicious rendition, and at the smaller size I was expecting from Arelita. The pub fries were good as well. I don't really have Cerberus in the RJG rotation, more because it's a bit of a splurge, but I won't  turn down going here either. One of the Springs better brewpubs. ---original 2/25/23 review Mrs. RJG is suddenly in the mood for burgers at brewpubs. Well then... I better strike that iron while it's hot! We haven't been here since a year before the pandemic, and I've been wanting to get back. Our first visit was just to try ...

Preston Rd. just south of Sam Rayburn Tollway (Plano) Alright - Mr. Music is back! We want more Mr. Music!! He's excited about a new place - let's see what he has to say: --- What if I told you about a place that combines the all-you-can-eat serving atmosphere of Fogo de Chao and the beauty of woodfired Neapolitan pizza? Not only that, the toppings represent flavors from around the world. Delucca Gaucho Pizza is that such place! For $24.50, you get the full experience. All-you-can-eat pizza and sides. There are kids prices too. For happy hour, 4:30 - 6:00pm, you can sit at the bar and buy a single pizza for $9. They offer 4 or 5 of their different pizzas. They also have a couple of their sides available for $8 a serving.  Mr. Music (me!) and a crowd of my favorite foodie buddies with international roots converged at Delucca in Plano to check things out. With 6 including me, Thailand/Laos, India, The UK, Bangladesh and the USA were all represented at our table! The restaurant ...

Latest visit: Mar 2025 First visit: summer of 1994 After our lunch at Rudy's Bar-B-Q, we went to an antique mall for about an hour. What next? How about ice cream, suggests Mrs. RJG. I could have gone for a beer (BBQ is salty!), but Mrs. RJG will always select dessert if given a choice. We were close by to Old Colorado City, so it's obvious where we are going. This is Mrs. RJG's favorite ice cream parlor in town. She loves the vibe of it. And of course the ice cream. Interesting to note I was last here almost exactly to the day last year (Mrs. RJG likes to take her mom here when in town).  On this visit I went for the mocha almond fudge in a waffle cone. Mrs. RJG did the same, but split it with pistachio. Creamy and delicious as always. We gobbled it up while watching the old town move about its business. There's something very cool about the original Colorado Springs. A perfect Tuesday lunch and afternoon date. ---3/10/24 update As we were heading home from Florence, M...

Latest visit: Feb 2023 First visit: Dec 2018 Continuing on with the RJG's tour of local breweries, on this fine Sunday I revisited one of our previous favorites in Storybook. Though this is my first visit back since the pandemic (though I did pick up some crowlers once during it). Sitting in a hardcore industrial district near Fillmore and Nevada, Storybook's vibe is decidedly edgy and unpolished, like the neighborhood itself. Storybook's theme is that of the gothic childhood books (note logo). And while I like a comfortable place as much as the next guy, I can go for a little bit of dirt and grime, figuratively speaking of course (it's clean!). Even Mrs. RJG likes places like this on occasion. So you can expect heavy metal music in the background, dogs wandering (Mrs. doesn't like that though), kids running around, and a genuine sense of community. One I'm more familiar with in my hobby record business than my day to day life. It's a dark venue, with plenty...

First visit: Feb 2023 As noted on the Tina's Family Cafe entry, our primary goal was to visit La Veta, one of the hidden gems on the Colorado tourist map. It's perfectly situated in a valley of mountains and its natural beauty is hard to beat. There are no crowds here, so if looking for a quick getaway, La Veta is a great choice. We just went for the day, and this is only the second time for us to do so. The last trip was quite memorable. In early October of 2021, I was still looking for my next job. I was on severance - but getting close to running out - from my Baltimore based gig that had ended due to divestiture (and why there are so many entries for the Charm City in the RJG). With interview opportunities coming in scarce and slow, Mrs. RJG and I decided to exit the doom and gloom of the prospect and go to La Veta, one of those towns we would constantly state "we should go there sometime". And we finally did. It was still a bit pandemic-y at that time, but we enj...

First visit: Feb 2023 One week after visiting Westcliffe, we were fortunate to have another beautiful warm Saturday, so we decided to head to La Veta for the day. La Veta is much less developed than Westcliffe, so for lunch and antiquing we started in Walsenburg, which is essentially the supply center for both La Veta and Cuchara. Walsenburg sits just west of I-25, forty minutes south of Pueblo. It's a well situated town whose glory days are well behind them. If looking for anything affordable in Colorado, and not needing to commute to an office or an airport, one could do worse than settling here. It's a bit depressed, nothing that couldn't be solved by a new generation of innovative people. Having never eaten in Walsenburg prior, I checked a few online sources and settled on Tina's before leaving the house. 90 minutes later we're here, and the location seems perfect. A classic old wood diner with murals adorning the building itself. Once inside, it was clear to bo...

Latest visit: Feb 2023 First visit: Mar 2018 Whistle Pig was the first brewery Mrs. RJG and I went to on our return to Colorado Springs. We hadn't yet moved in (that would be another month away), but we had selected our new house on that day. We celebrated by going to Silver Pond Chinese (in this blog, but now closed) followed by a couple of beers. At that time Whistle Pig was the furthest northern brewery in the city limits, so it was more out of convenience than reputation. We enjoyed it and visited a couple of times more. This is my first visit back since the pandemic, and they've since moved further south near Patty Jewett park. It's a much nicer shopping center and their location is very well appointed. You can sit inside or out - or a hybrid near an open window. Since we were still enjoying a warm winter weekend, I chose the hybrid option. No one was there on this Sunday afternoon, but I tend to enjoy going on off-hours anyway just to soak up the atmosphere and someti...

First visit: Feb 2023 On our way home from Westcliffe, I wanted to spend some time in Florence, a town we've only driven through in the past. Typically we would take a circle tour through Canon City on the way back. Apparently Florence is known as an antique shop capital of sorts. They're not kidding. We walked casually down Main Street and stopped at just about every one. Not a deal in sight - everything is an x factor higher than it should be. Mrs. RJG is an antique shop expert and she walked out empty handed from every store, which never happens. She's very generous, but not that generous. I have a smaller scope of items I look for - with records being foremost. Only in the last shop did I found two for my collection at an excellent price. It seemed the seller got in a new box and just wanted to move them. We still need to go back and finish all the stores, not that we have our hopes up for any great finds though. Instead of Westcliffe, we'll just go here and Canon...

Latest visit: Aug 2025 First visit: Feb 2023 This is for the Oro Blanco locale. They have a second location in Old Colorado City, which is the original. ---8/21/25 update This is my first visit of 2025, longer than I would have wanted, but the location is not usually where I am at lunch time. My experience on this Thursday was exactly like last years, including the price. I added a cheese slice with The Mountain Man this time, taking my bill to $17. Two slices of pizza and a drink for seventeen bucks. Wow. In any case, the slices were great, and it's worth a stop once a year at least. It's a splurge. ---3/22/24 update I'm back for only my second visit to Slice 420. I was diligent in reading my notes before going in, and because of that, I only had one slice of pizza this time. I went again with The Mountain Man, and it was exactly as I remembered it, perhaps a bit too much grease this go round. Could still go for some more sauce too. I did go with a fountain soda too, settl...