Restaurants in Ken Caryl

Socrates is said to be the source of the common wisdom that "Any food that takes more than a couple minutes to make can't be any good, right?" Fuel up on speedy, freshly prepared selections with today's Groupon. For $10, you'll get $25 worth of made-to-order Asian eats from one of Fire Bowl Cafe's two locations in Englewood and Centennial.

The menu is stuffed with a wide variety of mini-burgers made with all-natural ingredients. Beyond basic beef, the mini-mounds also feature chicken, pork, buffalo, shrimp, salmon, and vegetarian-friendly black beans. Stuffed with exotic flavors, tempting textures, and void of any fillers, the burgers are modestly mouth-sized, unlike embarrassingly mammoth munches that don't seem appropriate to eat in public or alone in the corner of a garage. Try the Kansas City ($2.50), mesquite ground pork with caramelized barbecue sauce, or the Bangkok ($3.25), a slightly more spicy burger made with Thai peanut shrimp and fresh veggies. Non–burger fans will appreciate the creative selection of salads (the Incan Quinoa is gluten free, vegetarian, and tossed in a cilantro lime vinaigrette, $5.25 entree portion) and breakfast tastes. Until 10:30 a.m. every day, you can pair the café's hand-infused drip coffee (up to $1.85) with organic egg sandwiches (like the vegan Zephyr, compiled with spinach, feta, and artichokes on an English muffin, $3.50) and arepas, South American corn cakes with cheese, red peppers, and green chilis ($2.25).

Sazza's delicious mission is to bring delectability at a minimal environmental cost, starting at the top with as many organic, locally sourced ingredients as possible, all the way down to the free-range artichokes, recycled soda-can patio furniture, biodegradable cups and glassware made from wine bottles, and you-degradable pizza and salads. Sazza staffers even wear recycled tees that have been donated by customers (in exchange for a discount) and re-branded with the Sazza logo for new life in wear.

Hand-tossed pizza was once as common as bowler hats and retirement benefits. The pies on Bow Mar's menu resurrect this lost American tradition with sauce and dough made in house and a taste as fresh as a brand-new set of bocce balls. Get three to ten toppings on a full-fledged pizza for $9.99, or stick to cheese for $6.99 (cheese sticks are $3.99–$4.99). A meat-feast specialty pie ($9.99) comes with pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, and meatballs. If one is your loneliest number, personal pizzas provide ample company ($3.49–$4.49). For more-three-dimensional sustenance, try 10 hot-'n'-spicy or honey-barbecue wings ($6.99), an 8-inch Italian beef or meatball sub ($5.99), or a large garden salad ($3.99).

As people walk past the spacious outdoor patio into Hodsons Bar & Grill, they might spy diners devouring sushi rolls, brick-oven pizza, and steaks beneath white canvas umbrellas or sipping brews around the fire pit on gray wicker patio sofas with sleek white cushions. Inside, diners perch on leather chairs and slide into booths beneath an abstract glass chandelier that resembles a flaming sun. The private dining room seats guests beside a floor-to-ceiling wine rack built into the wall, and the glass doors, marked by the face imprints of those who weren’t invited in, can be shut for total privacy.

The upscale, contemporary decor reflects Hodsons’ upscale, contemporary American dishes, such as portobello-and-fig pizza, baked dungeness-crab dip, and Asian nachos with mango, avocado, and chilled chicken. Burgers hoist Colorado Angus beef and buffalo, handcut fillets of Scottish salmon await the grill’s flame licks, and three-cheese macaroni teems with chunks of Maine lobster and applewood bacon.

Signature drinks—including blueberry basil-tinis with Little Black Dress vodka and muddled basil and blueberries—and the food pair better than Elvis and sequins. Servers also pour glasses of wine and tap brews such as Left Hand Sawtooth ale and Angry Orchard cider.

Steve Lin, owner of Land of Sushi, opens up shipments of fresh fish and live scallops every day in the kitchen. Behind the restaurant’s sushi bar, the chefs encase seafood morsels in specialty rolls such as the mango roll with spicy tuna and the uni roll with fresh sea urchin, creations that led to their being named Best Sushi Restaurant by Denver Westword in 2012. Non-sushi dishes include 9-ounce new york strip steaks with teriyaki sauce and Alaskan halibut with miso glaze.