Earls restaurant on 16th Street Mall gets sleek new renovation

Cabin Fever craft cocktail. (Provided by Earls.)

Earls Kitchen and Bar restaurant on the 16th Street Mall reopened last week after being closed since June for renovation, and lunch hours are bustling with power-lunchers in business suits. The new space is light and airy, with soaring ceilings, because Earls a Canadian chain with 65 locations wanted to update its image.

It was like a good ol boys club but now its just for everyone who wants a great meal, with salads and burgers, said Dana Pluss Parks, who represents the restaurant. They wanted it to be more like the Cherry Creek Grill or Hillstone, as opposed to a sports bar.

They also want it to fit the image nationally, with architecture as modern as at the new Earls that recently opened in Boston and Miami.

In Denver, the new downstairs is open, the second floor a place for private parties, and the meeting place for celebrities during the Democratic National Convention in 2008 will open on Nov. 21. Partitions have been removed to showcase the shape of the room. The glass-enclosed conservatory and back bars that blocked the natural daylight and divided up the space are gone, and windows have been exposed. The color palate replaced with lighter, more natural materials.

Architecture isnt the only aspect thats been renovated. To keep up with Denvers thriving cocktail scene, Earls brought in its top mixologist from Vancouver who focused on craft cocktails. The Cabin Fever with Crown Royal whiskey, port, ginger, fresh lemon and spiced bitters looks like its straight from the mountain of Colorado, served in a blue-tin camping mug with a pine cone on top.

Another craft cocktail, the Bees Knees, is served in a glass jar shaped like a honey bear along with a honey stick.

Art also plays a role, with pieces by local Colorado artists Robin Ault, Ian McLaughlin and Jon Rietfors featured, as well as a copper, brass and steel installation called Layers by Vancouver, B.C.-based artist Ricky Alverez.

Metro Denver had three Earls restaurants on the 16th Street Mall, in the Park Meadows shopping mall, and in Cherry Creek but the company closed the Cherry Creek location to fully focus on updating the 16th Street Mall location.

Go here to read the rest:
Earls restaurant on 16th Street Mall gets sleek new renovation