Governor Issues State-Wide Order to Shelter in Place

Downtown Lakewood Shuts Down Ahead of Fast Spreading Virus

Much of Downtown Lakewood is now shut down on account of the fast spreading coronavirus, even before the issuance of any county or state wide health closures.

Most restaurant have switched over to online orders and carry-out, and I've heard that the fine folks at Mile High Wine & Spirits are taking orders by phone and delivering to your car. I also saw that Runner's Roost is still selling running shoes via curbside pickup and home delivery.

Target, Whole Foods and King Soopers are still open, and stock levels are beginning to look better now that the panic buying has eased. I was able to buy milk and eggs yesterday, and saw some of my fellow customers leaving the store with toilet paper and paper towels. There's still no sign of many anti-viral cleaning products, however.

Crazy times.

Bare Shelves in Downtown Lakewood

Well, folks, paper towels, tissues, bleach, wipes and, yes, toilet paper are completely gone from everywhere, including our local Target and King Soopers. Along with canned goods, meat, milk, and other staples.

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention-- panic buying first hit Hong Kong and Singapore over a month ago, and Italy two weeks ago.

Still, it seems like a lot of America has fallen prey to the phenomenon known as normalcy bias, the tendency for people to believe the status quo is forever, and therefore to underestimate the likelihood of a disaster and its consequences. As a result, instead of buying a bit extra each week for the last few weeks (as epidemiologists have been recommending since late February), everyone ran out at once and stocked up in anticipation of mandatory stay at home orders.


The good news is that I saw lots of stocking going on yesterday at Target when (while carefully maintaining the CDC's recommended six feet of distance from other people) I was shopping for eggs and bacon. Maybe someday soon there will even be toilet paper to buy.

The Gathering Storm

I started this blog in April of 2011, with the intention of documenting life in the newly coined "Downtown Lakewood." As the economic crisis of 2008 faded, Belmar saw a flurry of new construction, new stores, new restaurants. Many of my hopes as a new homeowner in the area were realized, from the opening of grocery stores and cafes, to public art, festivals and concerts.

The last few years have been harder, as Lakewood became polarized between pro and anti-growth factions. Important tax measures that would have improved schools and roads have failed. Across the country, the retail apocalypse has hit cities hard, and Lakewood has been no exception. Belmar has done better than most shopping districts because it serves residents and because a walkable downtown is a social experience that can't be replaced by an Amazon order. Still, the change of ownership from Continuum to Starwood has resulted in an absentee owner who doesn't quite get Belmar, and a disturbing number of empty storefronts have recently appeared.

The sudden rise of a worldwide pandemic is now going to test Lakewood like nothing in its history. Will businesses that provide face-to-face services be able to survive with their customers sheltering in place? Will residents be able to pay their bills if their place of employment closes? Will the city's homeless population be left to fend for themselves?

And once the pandemic finally passes, how long will it take to restart the economy? What will happen to city and state tax revenue in Colorado, where the TABOR amendment has dangerously straightjacketed finances after every previous recession?

I guess we're going to find out.

First Take: Menya Noodle Bar

Well, it's here-- Belmar's first ramen joint, Menya.

I've spent a good portion of my adult life looking for a really good bowl of ramen. For a couple of years in my twenties, I roamed the streets of Pusan, South Korea, looking for spicy ramen with lots of kimchi. This was street ramen, served up in thin metal bowls outside the university gates, cheap and filling.

Later I got to try the ramen in Japan, where the dish has a more subtle broth and the noodles are garnished with colorful vegetables topped with pork belly. The best was at a little noodle shop in Nagasaki, whose name I couldn't even read, where the bowls were slurped by lunchtime patrons seated at creaky wooden stools in front of a long, linoleum counter.

And can I talk about all the great ramen in Hawaii? I've gotten to eat at high-end concept ramen joints like Lucky Belly and local favorites like Kiwami Ramen.

So when I moved back to Denver, it was only natural that I started looking for ramen here, too. For years, the only place I liked was Oshima Ramen, the Denver franchise of the Japanese chain founded by Keiji Oshima, and dedicated (according to the sign when you walked in) to the "God of Ramen."

These days, with so many ramen places to choose from, I have two favorites: Ototo on S. Pearl Street in Denver, and Miyako Ra-men Spot on S. Broadway in Englewood. Ototo, owned by the same folks who run the infinitely glorious Sushi Den, serves up some of the best spicy ramen I've ever eaten. It's house-made, with a fatty, almost creamy broth that's positively decadent. Miyako's broth is almost as rich, but they get the spicy part down perfectly. Their heat reminds me of the ramen I used to get in Korea.

All of which brings me to Menya, downtown Lakewood's new ramen shop. And the truth is, I'm extremely hesitant to review it, having only been there once.

When I went in recently, I ordered a bowl of their house ramen, and found the broth rich and the pork belly as meltable as butter. Impressively, my bowl had a perfectly soft-boiled egg (many ramen shops mess this up) that was a delight to cut into. The only thing I didn't much like was the use of raw baby spinach as a garnish-- it was just too taken-out-of-the-plastic-bag for me. I'd have loved to see it wilted with a little sesame oil, or else replaced with something like bok choy. But honestly, I'm not an expert on regular ramen. What I like is Korean-influenced spicy ramen. And even then, I'm hardly an expert. All I know is what I like.

Menya has spicy ramen on the menu, but I was little surprised to see that it was a spicy chicken ramen, which is something I've never seen before. It was so surprising that I decided to hold off trying it until my next visit. Which means I'm going to hold off on any judgements until I've had a chance to try their take on spicy.

Meanwhile, I was recently downtown and passed by Menya's 16th Street Mall location, and it was packed at noon, so there's apparently a large group of people for whom Menya hits the spot.

Will Menya Belmar end up on my list of regular downtown Lakewood lunchtime spots? Time will tell, but it's a promising start.

Review: Share Tea Brings Taiwanese-style Bubble Teas to Belmar

It's been a busy year, but I wanted to post about one of my favorite new places in Belmar-- Sharetea.

Of course, there are a lot of Taiwanese-style "bubble tea" or boba shops in Denver these days, and Sharetea is far from the only business in Belmar to offer them. The thing is, Sharetea is an actual Taiwanese chain of boba tea shops. There are something like 500 Shareteas in the world, most of them in Asia, but more than a few are now open here in the US.

What I like about Sharetea, beyond the taste and quality of their drinks, is how culturally Chinese the franchise feels. When you walk in, you're greeted loudly by the staff. The menu has options for white or black boba, lychee, and aiyu jelly. It reminds me, in a reverse kind of way, of what it's like to go to a McDonald's in Beijing or Seoul-- the rules of the franchise dictate a certain feel and experience, no matter where in the world it's located.

It might sound strange to talk about McDonald's as an icon of American culture in these jaded days, but as a twenty-something, I vividly remember the instant feel of home I felt when ordering a Big Mac in Shanghai after a month of backpacking through rural and small town China. Guessing from the long lines I saw at Sharetea on opening day, I'd say there's a fair-sized community here in Denver that feels the same way about Sharetea.

One of the best examples of what I'm talking about happened on Lunar New Year, when a troupe of lion dancers performed both outside and inside the tea shop. The event began with a riot of firecrackers on the sidewalk outside. Shortly afterward, the lions came inside, exploring every inch of the cafe, climbing up on tables and pressing up against patrons. Finally, in an impressive display of acrobatics, the lions reached up to the ceiling and pulled down bundles of lettuce. Inside the lettuce? Traditional red envelopes with money for the dancers.

And what was I drinking while all this was going on? An Oreo ice milk blended with boba pearls-- a drink that now gives me an instant feel of home.