(This college football season, Arizona football beat reporter Justin Spears is trying out restaurants in towns the Wildcats are playing in. Up next: Colorado)
BOULDER, Colo. — A bye week preceding two home games in Tucson has kept us 10 toes down in Tucson recently, but the Star hit the road this past weekend for No. 21 Arizona's 34-31 win over Colorado.
After five Uber drivers canceled my trip from Boulder to Denver, I scuttled through the cold to "The Hill," a popular district that connects the campus with restaurants, bars, retail, art and entertainment (akin to Main Gate Square in Tucson), where I stumbled upon "The Sink." Sometimes the best moments in life are unexpected.
Restaurant: The Sink
Food: Burgers, pizza, sandwiches, wings, mac and cheese, soups and salads
The rundown: This year is the 100th anniversary of Boulder's oldest restaurant opening its doors, and it has hosted a number of high-profile guests in the past, including U.S. president Barack Obama, restaurateur Guy Fieri, chef and documentarian Anthony Bourdain, Casey Webb from "Man vs. Food," CU football legend Rashaan Salaam, Bill Walton and former Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno, who sharpied his signature on a wall in the restaurant. Obama's order is now an item on the menu: The P.O.T.U.S., a pizza with pepperoni, Italian sausage, green peppers, red onion, black olives and mozzarella cheese over tomato sauce.
The Sink is a museum as much as it is a restaurant and bar. The walls are covered in murals, signatures from visitors and graffiti-style art, and old clippings from the Boulder Daily Camera are sealed into tables.
The Sink's website says it's "known for our iconic art" and "our funky vibe." As an avid Hip-Hop listener, I enjoyed being escorted to my table with "E.I." by Nelly blaring over the restaurant's speakers; "Danger" by Mystikal and "Shake the Room" by Pop Smoke were nice additions, too. Iconic art and funky vibes? Check and check.
The order: Cowboy reuben sandwich (brisket, super slaw, cheddar cheese, chipotle barbecue sauce on rye bread) with a side of mac n' cheese and house pickles.
The final verdict: If the sandwich was featured on Food Network, it must be worth trying, right? The brisket, smoked for 10 hours, was downright perfect. The mac and cheese, with shelled noodles, was flawless. My only regret was not ordering a pumpkin pie milkshake; boozers can request servers to mix Captain Morgan with the milkshake. This was the best meal of the football season. 9.2/10
More food reviews from this football season:
Week 2 (Mississippi State): This Isn't Tucson: Tasting 'Little Dooey,' Bully's Ice Cream in Starkville, Miss.
Week 4 (Stanford): This Isn't Tucson: Pizza and wings at the first-ever 'Round Table' in Menlo Park
Week 6 (USC): This Isn't Tucson: Getting some R&R — Randy's and Roscoe's — in Los Angeles
Arizona football beat reporter Justin Spears breaks down No. 21 Arizona's nail-biting 34-31 win over the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder to pick up their fourth straight win and move to 7-3 on the season. Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star
