Place: Snooze
Neighborhood: Denver’s Five Points, 2262 Larimer St. (at Park Ave.)
Mimosa Rating:
The scoop: We were on a trip to Colorado for a friend’s wedding. The wedding was in the picturesque mountains, but we spent one night in Denver following the wedding. I had been to Denver once before on business. While that trip was short, I got to walk around and explore a little bit, but it was on a weekday, so I didn’t get to brunch. I was looking forward to finding a great place to brunch in Denver, and Snooze seemed liked the perfect place for that.
Busy brunch at Snooze
It was a Saturday afternoon, and we were driving into the city. We had to stop at our hotel first. We weren’t staying in the main downtown area, but we were lucky that our hotel ran shuttle service, driving you to your destination as long as it was within five miles of the hotel. Snooze was in a perfect location for us. It’s close to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. We were going to a 6 p.m. game following brunch and planned to kill time by walking around the area. I was nervous we weren’t going to make it to Snooze before 2:30 p.m., which is when they close. Snooze is only open during breakfast/brunch hours on weekends and doesn’t take reservations. I’m sure it gets packed during primetime brunch hours.
Luckily, we made it to the restaurant by 2 p.m. The place was hopping. We were both starving and didn’t want to wait for a table, so we grabbed a couple of seats at the bar. Snooze was a hip joint with a very chill atmosphere. The bar area at the front of the restaurant can seat six to eight people. There are two dining areas with booths against the wall and round booths in the middle. It seemed like they can accompany parties of various sizes, as they also had tables for two along the opposite wall of the booths. The walls were painted green and on them hung clippings from local magazines declaring Snooze’s brunch as one of the best in Denver.
Service at Snooze was good. Since we sat at the bar, we were well attended to. When it took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to order, the bartender didn’t rush me.
Bottoms up:
Mmm mmm Mimosa $6 / Sparkling wine, Odwalla orange juice, Pama Pomegranate Liquer
Mimosa and John Daly
I enjoy regular mimosas, but flavored mimosas can be even better, so I was intrigued when I saw that their mimosa included pomegranate liqueur. The color of the mimosa alone was cool. The taste was excellent as well. There was an equal balance of all three ingredients, and the pomegranate added a little something extra to an already great drink. I also loved that they served the mimosa in a tall, beer glass instead of the traditional flute.
John Daly $6 / Housemade lemoncello vodka, mint, lemonade, Allegro’s iced tea, agave nectar
Homemade lemocello
David is more of a beer guy, but the John Daly is probably his favorite mixed drink. He enjoyed Snooze’s version very much. Not a big mint fan, he asked the bartender to exclude the mint. One of the coolest things about Snooze is that they make their own lemoncello vodka and keep it in jugs behind the bar. You don’t see this often at restaurants.
Chew on this:
Three Egg Scramble $8.50 / Our farm fresh eggs with a choice of three fillings. Served with hash browns and a choice of toast or tortillas
Three egg omelette
Snooze offers such a wide variety of dishes that I had a really hard time deciding what to order. I couldn’t even decide whether to go sweet or savory. I solved that issue by ordering both. I ended up going with the three egg scramble because they had great filling choices and I could pretty much create the meal I wanted. Instead of a scramble like I ordered, I was served an omelette, which wasn’t a huge deal. The omelette was fluffy and stuffed with my three fillings – chicken sausage, tomato and mozzarella. The chicken sausage had a nice flavor and went well with the tomato and mozzarella. The hash browns were excellent. They were served differently than most hash browns. I don’t even know how to describe them, but they were crunchy on top and the inside had such a smooth taste with hints of pepper. I really enjoyed them. The toast was hearty and came with a side of homemade jam. I think it was blackberry. It was very tasty. I ordered a scramble/omelette, but I feel like this dish was so much more than that. I was happy with my pick, and I’d definitely order it again.
Sweet Potato Pancake $4.25 / Our signature sweet potato buttermilk pancakes topped with homemade caramel, pecans and ginger butter
Sweet potato pancake
It’s not every day you see sweet potato pancakes on a menu. Even though I ordered the egg dish as my main meal, I still wanted to try the pancake. When the sweet dish was served as one large pancake, I was pleasantly surprised. It was the perfect amount. I found out later when I looked at the receipt that our server actually put the order in as a side, thankfully. I was hungry, but I could have never eaten three pancakes in addition to the omelette. The pancake was warm and fluffy. It was darker in color than most pancakes. I assume that’s because of the sweet potato. There was a little bit of caramel and pecans scattered on the top of the pancake. I pushed the ginger butter off to the side. This pancake was sweet, but surprisingly not overly sweet. (Keep in mind that I have a hardcore sweet tooth.) I don’t know if I’d be able to handle three of them, but one pancake was just enough and satisfied my sugar craving.
Ham Benedict III $10 / The classic evolved with our signature English muffin topped with shaved hickory smoked ham, perfectly poached Niman Ranch cage-free eggs and smoked cheddar hollandaise
Ham Benedict
David knew he wanted some sort of Benedict, and Snooze offers five different Benedicts to choose from. All of them sounded good — one included tomatoes with pesto and mozzarella; another had steak, cheddar cheese and corn tortillas — but the ham Benedict sounded the most traditional. He liked this dish because while it was similar to a classic Benedict, it had a twist. The hollandaise sauce included smoked cheddar cheese, which made the sauce even creamier. Since the ham was chopped up, David felt like he got more of it than he would had the ham been served as one solid piece. The eggs — as promised on the menu — were perfectly poached. The oozing yolk combined with the cheesy hollandaise, smokey ham and crispy English muffin really hit the spot.
Peanut Butter Cup Pancake $3 / Sub your toast or hash browns for a pancake flavor of your choice
Peanut butter cup pancake
Like me, David also wanted something sweet. For an extra couple of bucks, Snooze allows you to swap your toast or hash browns for a pancake flavor of your choice. David is a huge peanut butter lover, so instead of getting hash browns on the side of his Benedict, he got a peanut butter cup pancake. As you can tell from the photo, the presentation was pretty amazing. We’re not sure exactly what was in the peanut butter sauce on top of the pancake, but it was so good. It tasted exactly like you would think — like a giant peanut butter cup, aka heaven. Not for the faint of tooth, this pancake packs a major sweet punch. We liked it, though.
The entrance to Snooze
The final bite: Snooze hits on all the right notes. Whether you’re from out of town or live in Denver, I’d recommend checking out Snooze for brunch. You’ll be glad you did.
Reviewed by: Stephanie
