Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).
It has never been easy to get a table at Hop Alley, and for good reason.
The restaurant, located on a food-friendly corner at 3500 Larimer St. in the River North neighborhood, serves traditional Chinese dishes that have been gleefully dosed with as much fine-dining flavor as they are with soy sauce. Think egg fried rice with bone marrow, smoked duck rolled into a scallion pancake, roasted beets tossed in char siu sauce and cashew relish and, of course, its signature: tongue-numbing La Zi Ji, chicken drenched in Sichuan chile.
Thankfully, it will be a little easier now that Hop Alley has expanded. In February, the eight-year-old restaurant — from chef Tommy Lee, who also owns Uncle Ramen — unveiled its larger dining space along with a satellite kitchen that will eventually be used for special menus.
“Our goal, eventually, is to use the new kitchen and the five or six seats as a chef’s counter with a completely different menu from the normal Hop Alley menu,” Lee said. “Basically a popup within the restaurant with an a la carte menu that rotates and that is not necessarily Chinese cuisine.”
The expanded dining room also has made it easier to get a table early or mid-week, but weekends are still booking out quickly, he added. (That’s even with Hop Alley shortening its reservation window from 30 days to 14 days “so that tables don’t get booked out so far in advance,” Lee said.)
But the vibe — and believe me, there is definitely a vibe — will stay the same. Fast-paced and with a modern design feel, the interior provides views of the stylishly tattooed staff at work in the kitchen, while the main bar (which takes walk-ins, although you have to get there early) pours pink bubbles, an eclectic cocktail menu and wine from Spanish-style porrons. And there are framed photos on the walls of hip-hop legends like Wu-Tang Clan, 2Pac and Ice Cube.
Now, set the whole thing against the backdrop of low-key background music from those artists.
On any given night, Hop Alley’s 700-song, 45-hour-long Spotify playlist features old-school rappers like the ones in the photos, along with Tribe Called Quest, Fugees, Naughty by Nature, Heavy D, Gang Starr, and Eric B. & Rakim to more modern names like Snoop Dogg, Drake, Lil Wayne, JAY-Z, and new-school artists like Playboi Carti and Migos. There are also non-rap bangers from Tame Impala, Justin Timberlake, the Black Keys, Led Zeppelin, Cage the Elephant and more.
Why hip-hop? “My cousin, who took all the photography in Hop Alley, was my biggest influence in music,” said Lee. “He grew up in the L.A. hip-hop and skateboard scene, worked as a photographer and DJ and helped run a now-defunct hop-hop magazine years ago.”
“He had me listening to Wu-Tang when I was nine years old,” he added with a laugh.
Lee makes the Spotify playlists himself at all of his restaurants and updates them every few months. You can find and listen to Hop Alley’s playlist on the Spotify app.
La Zi Ji with a dry Riesling and some Eric B & Rakim? Yes, please.
