Fear not the gargantuan, soulless retail complexes, for drinking options abound.

Somebody thought it was funny to dub the Friday after Thanksgiving “Black Friday.” It’s supposed to be subtly ironic: It sounds like an extremely bad day, but it’s actually a shopping bonanza that will put businesses “in the black” — if they’re lucky.

For some, though, the name is irony-free and apt. Dragged from turkey-induced dreams by zealous bargain hunters and Santa- sweatered maniacs, these poor souls find themselves lurching through the nation’s commercial centers, dazed and grumpy.

Pep up a bah-humbug Black Friday by escaping with a quick holiday drink. Satisfied shoppers wouldn’t mind a celebratory beverage either — or a drop of fortification for sales to come. Step away from the food court and find solace: At Park Meadows, in Lone Tree, California Cafe (8505 Park Meadows Center Drive) fits snugly into the mall’s upscale mood. Located on the second level, near Nordstrom, the chic, casual restaurant has an ample bar area. It’s a great place to rest aching feet and sip a glass of wine.
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Looks can be deceiving… thankfully. Photo by Tucker Shaw.

There are scores of nondescript restaurants dotting the edges of Denver that are difficult to tell apart. They have names that don’t mean much, like The Walnut Shell Grille or J.T. Peanutbutter’s Pub and Grub. They occupy outsized free-standing buildings, structures much larger than their ideas. Lonely buildings, sandwiched between fast-food outposts, isolated from their neighborhoods by lonely black-topped parking lots.

Most of them are adequate but uninteresting, maybe good enough for a no-brainer dinner on can’t-cook nights, if you can’t think of anywhere else to go. But some are a little bit better than that.
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If you’ve never been to the up-and-coming Larimer Warehouse District, do yourself a favor and check it out before it becomes Yuppieville. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post.

Ever since we shifted over from a “Real World: Denver”-centric blog (remember when that hideous blight was visited upon our town?) it’s been a bit of a random culture site, bringing you the best nightlife (bars and clubs) and food (from your neighborhood burrito stand to the hottest new bistro) news. But by and large, we’ve focused on the things that I write most about for The Denver Post: comedy and music.

To that extent, we thought we’d make your Friday easier by rounding up the best reviews and previews of bands, comedians and club happenings for this week. For starters, check out this Q&A with comedian Greg Behrendt in advance of his shows at Comedy Works South tonight and Saturday. Denver Post pop music critic Ricardo Baca also schools us about the Larimer Warehouse District, an up-and-coming area near downtown where “grit meets great in art, music.”

But wait, there’s more.
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Johnny Morehouse (left) and Brandi Shigley get all synesthetic on us with “Come See What I Hear.” Photo by Matt Herrebout.

Johnny Morehouse and Brandi Shigley, who sometimes play together in the band b.sous, will join forces again to present “Come See What I Hear,” a night of short films by the Denver-based, award-winning Morehouse. Stop by the Union Gallery (738 B Santa Fe Dr.) at 7 p.m. (films at 8 p.m.) tomorrow, Nov. 20 for all the quickie cinematic goodness!

The $5 cover benefits Morehouse’s “Fund for Finishing Film,” which provides small grants to filmmakers who are in the finishing process of their project. (Morehouse, who studied at Portland’s Northwest Film Center and NYU, has only his peers best interests in mind, right?) And what’s a good flick without popcorn and beverages? Thank ICINI.TV for shelling them out.

Fancy? Nope, but incredibly delicious. Photo by Tucker Shaw.

There’s nothing wrong, exactly, with extensively franchised doughnut chains. At least one of them — Lamar’s — is excellent. But there is something about the small, independent, one-store doughnut shop that makes doughnut-lovers (guilty!) weak in the knees.

Maybe it’s because doughnut-lovers know that, if you operate a small, independent, one-store doughnut shop, you do it because you really, really like doughnuts, and you really, really like other people who like doughnuts, too.

Why else would you be willing to keep totally off-hours (such as, for example, the 3 a.m-noon shift), spend your time punching down dough and dodging hot-oil splatters, and take home a salary that, if potentially livable, certainly isn’t kingly. It’s hardly an easy career.
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