boulder's best fresh summer eats (& drinks)

In the summer, I crave fresh, lighter foods rather than heavy comfort foods. For drinks, I often opt for a mojito or cold Belgian beer over my usual choice during other seasons...red wine. I'm sure many of you experience the same shift in appetite. Boulder caters to fresh food, and I'm going to share three spots that you absolutely cannot miss out on this summer. Boulder has a ton of great places, but these you might not necessarily know about.

Dinner - Fresh Fish (sushi-grade): Amu

tuna sashimi

Far and away by a long shot, Amu has the best fresh fish in Boulder. I say fresh fish and not sushi for a reason....Amu is a traditional Japanese restaurant, and does not serve sushi rolls. So, for those of you who have the same problem as me - meaning you've evolved beyond the roll and now only ever want sashimi - it's the perfect spot. Amu has everything from sea urchin to mackerel to fatty blue fin tuna. They also have fusion-style sashimi, hot pots, fried rice balls....you name it. Besides the sashimi, my other go-to orders are the daikon radish salad - they peel the radish like an apple right in front of you - and for dessert, the mochi ball ice cream. Amu is my absolute favorite summer dining option. They have a few outside tables too, which is always a plus. If you like sashimi, you have to try this place...just be prepared to remove your shoes :). *Amu is located directly next door to Sushi Zanmai (they have the same owners) on Broadway and Spruce.

Breakfast or Lunch - Fresh Fruit: Maiberry

Maiberry is a newer edition to Boulder, as it opened a little more than a year ago, but it is already one of my favorites. They have delicious Greek-style frozen yogurt (think Pinkberry but better) and use high quality ingredients like fresh pomegranate juice and agave nectar to flavor it. They also have crepes, fresh squeezed juices, smoothies...all kinds of yummy, healthy treats. My favorite choice at Maiberry is the Açaí bowl:

picture from their website

They have a few different kinds, but all are filled with healthy antioxidant-rich foods like goji berries, fresh blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, frozen Açaí, etc. They use local Udi's granola and agave nectar on top as well. This is an extremely refreshing summer treat, but also acts as the perfect summer breakfast or lunch. A nice plus...the small size is only 5 bucks.

Drinks - Fresh, Unique: The Bitter Bar@ Happy Noodle House

picture from their website

Happy Noodle House is another newer edition to Boulder - it opened in early '09. They have the same ownership as West End, Jax, Centro, and Lola in Denver. Both The Bitter Bar and the Happy Noodle side have the most unique drinks, which definitely cater to those summer drink cravings (for me that means refreshing, unique, and often muddled). It was tough for me to decide between Bitter Bar and Centro, but since Centro is right in the heart of West Pearl, I thought perhaps you were less likely to know about Bitter Bar, since it's a bit more hidden, being west of ninth street on Walnut (sooo far, I know ;) ). They have this insanely huge list of drinks with really diverse, refreshing options. One I like is The Bee Keeper...it has honey vodka, yellow chartreuse, lavender syrup and fresh lemon. That one is on the Happy Noodle menu, while the Bitter Bar has a whole different, complex, long, crazy, overwhelming menu...but it's awesome. You definitely need to check it out. Very cool ambiance as well.

Hopefully I'll see you all at one of these places before I move to San Francisco in July.....Cheers!

*Other great options*

*Belgian Beer: Reuben's on Broadway and Walnut

*Happy Hour: The Med, Boulder Cafe (but you guys know about those)

*Wine: The Kitchen

*Lunch: The Boulder Farmer's Market (Weds and Sat only)

*Fusion Drinks (South American, mostly): Centro (as stated above)

*Iced Coffee: Tee and Cakes (I blogged about this one before)

* Microbrewery: Mountain Sun (and this one too actually)

...feel free to comment if you have any other good thoughts on the best summer eats/drinks in Boulder!