We are retired. Who wants to cook when you are retired? Therefore, we eat out a lot. Some have been excellent, and others have been not so good. I guess it is human nature to establish ruts as you go through the journey of life. These restaurants will be our "rut" eateries. That is, the ones we frequent quite often because they are pretty near our home and takes little time to get there. Since we live in Southwest Denver a lot of these are in or near this location.

The first one is Newberry's at W. Jewell and S. Federal Avenue. This business has been there a long time. It is clean and they have a lot of return customers. I like to go there for breakfast. However, they do have a pretty good selection of other meals. One of my favorites is the breakfast burrito. This burrito is large and sometimes I cannot finish it and must ask for a take home container. Many times on cold winter days, Dee, (my wife) and I go up there and have a bowl of their red chili. If you are addicted to coffee like me they also serve pretty good coffee. I would say the prices are average. My wife and I can usually eat there for less than twenty dollars, not counting tips.

Many times we get the urge for Mexican food and frequent Torres Mexican Food at 1597 S. Federal. This is a couple of blocks south of W. Florida and on the west side of Federal. They have a mean margarita. In my opinion it is the best one I have found. However, I don't claim to be an expert on alcoholic drinks. I stick with traditional plates like their green chili plate and smothered burritos. Tamale dinner is also pretty good. Dee likes to try other choices. Some of them she likes and others were not so good. If you want coffee in the evening expect to wait. They usually have to brew up a pot. Coffee appears to be not very popular in the evening. Torres also features a good selection of seafood. We haven't tried any because I feel it is a little pricy for my fixed income budget. We usually leave with a bill of twenty to thirty dollars. They also serve breakfast and we go there on occasion. Eggs and green chili with hash browns sure sounds good right about now.

Italian food can be found many places. For Italian cuisine we enjoy Garramone's Pizza & Italian Restaurant at 9168 W. Jewell Ave in Lakewood. This is in a small mall on the south side of Jewell; I believe it is across the street from the fire station. The menu is the traditional selection of Italian foods, Spaghetti, pasta, salads, sandwiches, and pizza. The lettuce is always crispy in their salads. I judge a restaurant, by the condition of their lettuce. Some places lettuce looks like it should have been discarded two days ago. Again, you can plan on waiting for a cup of coffee if you order it in the evening. A meal for two costs around twenty dollars.

Another place near is Nicolo's Chicago Style Pizza at 7847 W. Jewell, just west of Wadsworth Ave. this also is a nice friendly place with Italian food and pizza. The pricing is around the same as all the other places listed.

I can't forget oriental food. When we think of oriental food we look to New Happy Restaurant in the Bear Valley Shopping Center east of Home Depot. This dining place has been there a long time too. Their menu is gigantic. I don't know how they keep track of all the selections. Food is good and the prices are competitive. It seems like when you eat oriental food you are hungry two hours later. We don't eat oriental that often.

My wife and I eat out a lot. We eat at many places. We eat at Olive Garden, Applebee's, Village Inn, Perkins, and many more chain restaurants. The eating places I mentioned here are smaller, family owned businesses that we have had good luck with for many years.