What: Jax Jazz Brunch featuring a live band and seafood specialties
Where: The new Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar in Glendale, 650 S. Colorado Blvd.
When: Sundays 10am-2pm (live band 10am-1pm)
You’ve got to try: Dishes like the Lobster Scramble featuring seafood that arrives daily from both coasts
Coloradans might happily give up fresh ocean breezes for crisp mountain air, but that doesn’t mean we should be denied quality seafood. Jax Fish House and Oyster Bar has been bringing seafood to diners in Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins for almost two decades, and now their newest location just off Colorado Boulevard in Glendale is delivering an ocean fresh spin on brunch. With daily deliveries by Northwest Seafood and ingredients provided by many local purveyors, farmers and ranchers, Jax ensures that each dish starts with high quality products.
Featuring the familiar yet impressive oyster bar where the day’s selection of tasty ocean treats waits to be ordered, this new location is open and welcoming and features eye-catching design touches like the massive hull-shaped installation hanging over the bar. A rooftop patio, the only one in the area, also recently opened and is dishing out its own menu of seafood selections and happy hour specials. During brunch, you can enjoy the sounds of jazz drifting through the dining room as The Hot Club of Pearl Street Band plays live.
Brunch is a new endeavor for Jax, and they aren’t shying away from creativity, starting with the drink selections. While the traditional brunch cocktails and present and accounted for, it was the Thai Chelada that packed the most satisfying kick. A concoction of house infused Thai chili vodka, beer, siracha, lemon and Thai basil served with a cherry tomato and a salted rim, this drink tastes like pho’s cocktail cousin and is a sure hangover cure. For a milder morning libation, try the Summer’s End, a fruity, bubbly mix of aperol, bitter truth apricot liqueur, prosecco, and an orange peel.
Jax strives to makes brunch a celebration, a time to relax, enjoy the weekend, and enjoy something you couldn’t just make at home. Entrée selections feature options for anyone from classics like The Wedge salad, Colorado’s Best Beef Dry Aged Burger, and Fish N’ Chips to the light and sweet Lemon Curd Pancakes. Made with ricotta and served with a creamy lemon curd, lemon thyme syrup and delectable maple butter, the pancakes are nothing like the classic flapjack. They deliver on Jax’s goal of creating special dishes that go beyond the ordinary. One more dish that takes a brunch classic to another level is the Griddled Ham Steak. House cured in a week-long process, the ham steak has a sweet, maple-tinged flavor and is served with a flaky house-made biscuit and lick-your-plate delicious gumbo for a satisfying southern twist.
All Photography by Eric Goitia
It’s the seafood dishes that really make Jax’s brunch different from the rest. The Lobster Scramble is packed with tender lobster meat, sugar cured bacon, baby mustard greens and creamy farmer’s cheese all over a flavorful shellfish velouté. The Hash was a stand-out as well as potato, scrambled eggs and bacon are elevated with the addition of shrimp, smoked trout and arugula over a tangy whole-grain mustard vinaigrette that really brings the dish together. Desserts are also available at brunch, and if you’ve saved room go for the gooey Monkey Bread served with Stranahan’s Whiskey Brickle Ice Cream. You may want to ask for an extra scoop.
Jax has been a Colorado go-to for seafood for years, and with the opening of Jax in Glendale, you don’t have to fight for a downtown parking space before you can enjoy the freshly-caught and sustainably fished selections they offer. And with the launch of brunch, you can get your seafood craving satisfied early. With enough variety to satisfy even non-seafood fans, Jax’s brunch is a welcome addition to Denver’s morning-after options.