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The Location May be Odd, but the Food is Good - The Grubbery

Monday, August 4, 2014 Leave a Comment

 By Edan Goode:
Just east of Northfield, along Havana, you’ll find an odd location for a good restaurant. It almost feels like you’re invading the office cafeteria to go to The Grubbery – albeit a really nice office cafeteria. True, The Grubbery is housed in the sleek lobby of the Scott’s Liquid Gold headquarters, just north of I-70. And true, probably the majority of their diners are from Scott’s and all of the surrounding businesses in this industrial area. But if it’s relegated to office lunching, that would be a shame for The Grubbery.

With glossy yet warm decor, reasonable prices and huge portions,The Grubbery serves lunch and dinner Monday-Friday and brunch on the weekends. The service is extremely attentive and stealthy. My drink was refilled without my even noticing. When I commented, our server joked “ya, I’m like a Ninja.” Indeed. We ordered the Steak and Pesto sandwich ($9.99), Spaghetti Marinara with housemade meatballs ($11.99), a 1/4 pound BYOB burger ($7.99) and a Reuben sandwich ($9.49).


The basil-rubbed flank steak in the Steak and Pesto sandwich was delicious and tender but with the thick Fontina cheese, and soft, caramelized onion, it became very rich very soon. Frankly, I would have been happy with just the seasoned steak and onion on the bread, letting those two ingredients shine. 

The spaghetti and meatballs was good with a fresh, not overcooked sauce and tender meatballs. All that was missing was a larger piece of baguette to go with that large amount of pasta. The BOYB burger was juicy goodness. With up to three choices in toppings, including cheese, bacon, fried egg, or pork belly, my companion really only wanted cheese and bacon. The server offered a double helping of bacon to make up the third offering. How many times do you get offered more bacon in a restaurant?! That’s the stuff! The Reuben was thick and meaty, almost to a fault, Because it was so nice and thick, the heat didn’t reach through to the middle during the grilling. All sandwiches come with chips or fries. We all opted for the potatoey shoestrings.

On the dessert menu, it said items were big enough for sharing. We took that to heart and ordered the Brownie Sundae and the Ice Cream Sandwich between the five of us. We could have easily invited another couple of people over to share. The brownie was huge, warm and cakey. The ice cream sandwich suffered from the inevitable problem with this treat – the cookie hardens too much as the ice cream softens too much, making for a teetering, squishing mess that you have to simultaneously eat by hand and by spoon. The vanilla ice cream with both desserts was creamy and so, so good.

We’ll give The Grubbery another go for lunch or dinner to try the ribs, flatbread pizza or salads. And I’ve got to return for the weekend brunch to try Empanadas Rancheros (steak and cilantro empanadas topped with eggs, cheese and green chili), Breakfast Croissant (two eggs, cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon and avocado on a croissant) or the Pork Belly Benedict. I can see that hollandaise oozing over the pork now! The restaurant has an afternoon happy hour as well as a morning one (no judging), lunch specials and they serve Starbucks Coffee Drinks.

The Grubbery is located in the shiny, glass Scott’s Liquid Gold Building at 4880 Havana St. 

For other restaurant reviews as well as news and reviews of movies, theater and travel, visit the In Good Taste Denver blog at http://ingoodtastedenver.com/

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