National food and drink website includes Denver spots in best lists

Thrillist (www.thrillist.com), a national website that has an opinion on all things food and drink-related in the U.S., has bestowed “bests” to three Denver eateries.

Included in The 21 Best Southern Restaurants Outside of the South is Tom’s Home Cookin’, 800 E. 26th Ave., a Denver favorite for Southern fare.

Thrillist recommends the fried catfish paired with green beans and fried okra.

“The name here says it all — this is home cooking, and even if you’ve never met Tom, you’ll be begging to be adopted so you can inhale this instead of whatever you’re hacking at your house. If you can sneak out of the office and make it for the cash-only lunch, you’ll get your choice of one entree (chicken and dumplings, meatloaf) and two sides (collards, mac & cheese). Peach cobbler is not considered a dessert here; somehow it’s a side, which is awesome.”

Sweet Action Ice Cream, 52 Broadway, was included in Thrillist’s 21 Best Ice Cream Shops in America. Here’s the scoop:

“What you’re ordering: Pocky and Red Bean if you’re feeling interesting, Milk Chocolate if you’re feeling boring. Our man in Denver tried every single one of the flavors at Sweet Action, and, although he didn’t care much for vegan Maple Walnut or Vanilla Rose, he can vouch for nearly every other flavor as being worth at least several samples. But as sexy as Salted Malt Butterscotch and Cinnamon Roll sound, the champion of the taste was a simple milk chocolate described as ‘a scoop of goodness…'”

If you prefer drinking your calories instead of eating them, check out Williams & Graham, 3160 Tejon St., the Denver speakeasy that made Thrillist’s  The 33 Best Cocktail Bars in America.

“A cocktail-themed bookstore is the front for this barely-lit speakeasy co-owned by a guy named the 2014 Bartender of the Year by the Nightclub and Bar Awards. Before you order from their finely curated cocktail menu of classic ‘tails (helpfully organized by spirit) and a wealth of specialty cocktails, you first will have to be led through a bookcase that doubles as a secret entrance. Once inside, don’t forget to pair your drink (go for the Sexual Chocolate with rye, vermouth, Cynar, maraschino liqueur, and chocolate mole bitters) with a steak burger that uses beef from a top-notch butcher shop down the street.”