Rocky Mountain Munchies...John Denver would be proud..or not I don't know him

Day one of my family trip to visit my brother Sam in Denver, Colorado. Was just going to say Denver but then I started to think "maybe there's more than one Denver in the United States. Kind of like Springfield or Madison." Upon searching the internet aka Googling, apparently there are a lot of cities named Denver in the U.S.  100 points Gryffindor to me! I highly enjoy Denver the one other time I've been here and had found some fabulous places. Today's lunch included one of those previously visited restaurants.

Sam's No. 3 (http://samsno3.com/) is kind of a smorgasbord of American and Mexican food. Per Tina's approval they have been featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives". Pretty sure that use to be the top prerequisite on her list before visiting an establishment. I mean I suppose Guy Fieri knows his way to Flavor town...well not if you ask Anthony Bourdain.  Sam's No. 3 I found through my own research without Guy's help but kudos to him as this was a stop in Flavor town for sure.

I ended up ordering to accommodate Karen who isn't as adventurous. I thought she should try the Shamrock burger and she was saying that she thought the California burger looked good. So I told her I'd ordered the opposite of what she picked so she could try them both. She ended up ordering the Shamrock and I went with the California. 

Sam's No. 3: Shamrock Burger with side of Mac N Cheese

Cut in half so you can see the combo Reuben + Burger

As predicted Karen actually ended up loving the Shamrock burger. Basically its a combo of a burger with a Reuben. She even pulled a me and added the mac n cheese to it to see what it tasted like. I might have had that single tear drop thing happening at that moment. The mac n cheese seems to be freshly made and not 

As far as my selection the California burger- which looked interesting to Karen- is a burger with bacon, avocado, and melted cheese.  She had also mentioned potato salad so when ahead and got that as a side. That's hits a bunch of prerequisites in her menu selections. 

Sam's No. 3: California Burger with side of potato salad

Cut in half to see the size of t

I typically don't order burgers unless they're different/weird combinations but I ended up really liking the burger and the potato salad. Definitely hit the spot and looks like Tina might have some competition for favorite burger. #justsaying

Lily wanted to be a part of the blog even though she already had started her meal before I could take a picture. She thoroughly loved her hot dog and tater tots.

3/4 of the hot dog and 1/2 the tater tots

Overall was a successful first meal in Denver and Sam's No. 3 might be visited again before we leave.

The second place was suggested by my brother Samir as we were coming back from returning my rental car and picking up his wife from the airport. Before I get to that have to go into the fun returning my rental car back. Samir , who was driving his own car, for whatever reason followed me into the return section which of course you can't back out of. So I told him to go off roading between some barriers and circle around. That didn't really work out too well but he did manage to drive to the exit and explain to the guy that it was his car and not a rental. Overall I think it was hilarious experience but then again that was him and not me so probably more funny than it should be.

Being Taco Tuesday had to do Mexican food. Also since his rental car return debacle figured that Samir got to choose where to grab some grub from.  So hit up Las Tortugas which is an all tortas shop. And by all tortas I mean ALL tortas. Check out the menu:

Las Tortugas menu options

Since Karen and Lily weren't there I ended up ordering both of them the Guera torta which is chicken breast, melted cheese, and extra avocado. 

Las Tortugas: Güera

I went with a monster of a torta called the Super Cubana mostly cause it has just about everything on it: Ham, american cheese, fried steak, pork, franks, scrambled egg, chorizo, and jalapenos.

Las Tortugas: Super Cubana

Needless to say I'm fairly certain John Denver had he known about these tortas would have written some sort of classic song in their honor. I think what put them over the top is the buttered bread. I might have to swing by there before we leave and bring a couple of them back . Going to go sleep well from a food coma tonight.

#foodadventures,
Reef