Molly Martin
Molly Martin covers the mechanics and mood of the Colorado dining scene, tying breaking restaurant news, practical lists and deep-dive features into a continuous picture of how people eat and drink there. Her food coverage centers on openings and closings, service-minded guides and trend pieces that track everything from fast-food drive-thrus to chef-driven counters and rooftop bars. After five years overseeing Food & Drink at Westword, she now contributes to the section as a freelancer, bringing a long view of the market and a clear, direct style.
Every Opening and Closing This Week
Martin’s most consistent format is the recurring “Every Opening and Closing This Week” round-up, which logs new arrivals and departures across the region’s restaurant and bar landscape.
In these pieces, she highlights fast-casual drive-thrus on Colfax, new Mexican concepts, chef-backed Italian American spots, and activity across suburbs such as Westminster and Parker. The week-by-week structure makes her work a primary reference for tracking movement in the scene, as she notes details like ownership changes, rebrands and final service dates for spots ranging from long-standing pizzerias to Szechuan favorites.
She also applies the same news focus to individual closure stories, including coverage of a 114-year-old restaurant shutting its doors and barbecue and fast-food chains exiting Colorado after long runs. Those articles stress history and customer loyalty while still delivering clear information on last days of service, adjusted hours and what will happen to specific locations. Similar treatment is given to tasting rooms and neighborhood institutions that close or evolve, keeping readers current on both the emotional and logistical impact of change.
Martin’s coverage of new brick-and-mortar projects, including expansions of local brands into permanent spaces, fits into this same opening-and-closing lens, pairing excitement about growth with practical details about what and where people can now try.
The Best Sandwiches in Denver Right Now
List-driven service pieces are another core thread, anchored by work such as “The Best Sandwiches in Denver Right Now” and guides to Irish bars, rooftop bars and budget-friendly daily deals. In these stories, Martin curates specific, current recommendations rather than broad rundowns, focusing on where to go now for a particular craving or occasion.
She mixes legacy spots with newer entrants, balancing well-known institutions with up-and-coming names and explaining what sets each pick apart.
Her lists often carry strong utility hooks - St. Patrick’s Day drinking, cheap eats every day, or where to find standout sandwiches - but they also surface lesser-known venues, including bars with rooftop patios and neighborhood wing joints.
She extends this format beyond the city core, spotlighting top bites in monthly “Best Bites” roundups and singling out notable dishes like chicken Parmesan recipes that nearly top Michelin-starred chefs. The tone is straightforward and descriptive, with attention to how a dish tastes, what the room feels like and why a particular spot earns a place on the list.
Seven Denver Dining Trends We Saw in 2025
Trend analysis pieces such as “Seven Denver Dining Trends We Saw in 2025” step back from individual restaurants to map broader shifts, from the rise of salsa macha to waning enthusiasm for espresso martinis.
Martin uses these stories to connect dots between openings, menu changes and consumer behavior, showing how micro-decisions by chefs and bar owners add up to recognizable patterns. She pairs local examples with references to national chains expanding into Colorado, as in her coverage of Southern-brand Bojangles making its debut and planning additional travel center locations.
Her food news work includes announcements about James Beard Award winners launching new bakeries, Colorado James Beard finalists, and partnerships that bring culinary heavy-hitters from other states into local projects.
These pieces foreground who is behind a concept, the grain or sourcing philosophy, and what kinds of pastries, breads or drinks diners can expect once doors open. Martin’s trend and news reporting is concise and fact-forward, but she often adds context about how a new entrant fits into the existing ecosystem of bakeries, bars or fast-food options.
Short Stop: 61 Years of Budget Beef at Columbine Steak House & Lounge
Beyond news and lists, Martin devotes space to narrative features about longstanding institutions and people whose work in food extends beyond restaurant walls. Her “Short Stop” piece on decades of budget beef at Columbine Steak House & Lounge illustrates this approach, combining menu specifics with the story of how a simple steak-and-potatoes model endures. Similar interest in heritage and identity appears in coverage of old-school spots closing after many decades and markets or bars described as “true originals.”
In a reflective look back at her tenure, she points to stories on oyster farms supplying Denver restaurants, grain-focused milling operations, cheese makers and a salmon seller on East Colfax as some of her most meaningful work. Those features step outside dining rooms to examine supply chains, second-career pivots and the personal passion that shapes local food systems.
They underline that Martin is as focused on the people and processes behind the plate as she is on the latest openings or trendiest cocktails.
Across these formats, she brings more than a decade of experience covering the local dining scene and writing about food for other outlets, which informs a steady, well-sourced perspective on what matters to diners and industry insiders alike. Her work stays grounded in specific dishes, addresses and timelines, favoring clear reporting over opinion while still capturing the character of the places and people she covers.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming reports on how courts, jails and public safety systems work over time. He is a reporter at The Daily Memphian covering public safety, the local court system, suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His work follows trials, sentencing, appeals, plea deals and judicial decisions, including major cases tied to Tyre Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also covers jail conditions, inmate deaths, crime data, prosecution units, trafficking, shootings and public-order incidents. His suburban reporting examines cannabis businesses, restaurant openings and how commercial growth affects communities such as Olive Branch. Fleming previously covered education in the same newsroom. He uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines, institutional problems and the political, commercial and community effects of public-safety decisions.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.