Hot in Pueblo: Mirasol green chiles give this Pittsburgh-like town its flavor
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Produce for sale at the Chili Fest in Pueblo Colorado. -
Produce for sale at Pueblo's Chile Fest. -
Visitors ride an excursion boat along Pueblo's Riverwalk. -
Pueblo green chiles, also known as mirasol chiles, grow up toward the sun.
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PUEBLO, Colo. -- In some respects, Pueblo is like a pint-sized, Rocky Mountain Pittsburgh. It's a steel town that was once more prominent than it is today with strong ties to the Old World -- something that's still obvious when you visit Pueblo's Italian and Slovenian bakeries and markets.
The town's Arkansas River once served as the U.S.-Mexico border in the mid-1800s, and Pueblo was a prime Colorado business center before the decline of the American steel industry in the 1970s and '80s resulted in tough economic times. (Pueblo retains a smaller steel industry with one operating steel plant that's now owned by a Russian company.)
With that sort of rise and fall -- in clout, in a booming economy -- it's easy to see parallels to Pittsburgh's past, but those similarities evaporate when you consider Pueblo's most famous food item -- the Pueblo green chile pepper.
Pueblo is about two hours by car south of Denver International Airport or about 45 minutes from the Colorado Springs airport. You can also fly into Pueblo's small airport via connecting flights from Denver on Great Likes Airlines, which code shares with United, or from Las Vegas on Allegiant Air.
When to go: The annual Chile and Frijoles Festival is held every September with the 18th edition scheduled for Sept. 21-23, 2012.
Where to eat: How many meals can you squeeze in? Pueblo is full of tempting restaurants, from green chile to Italian.
• Chile and sloppers: Gray's Coors Tavern in Downtown, 515 W. Fourth St., offers chile and sloppers (1-719-544-0455) as does the Sunset Inn, 2808 Thatcher Ave., (1-719-564-9841). Both were featured on Travel Channel's "Food Wars."
• Fast(ish) food: Bingo Burger in Downtown (http://bingoburger.com/) offers burgers with green chiles ground with the meat.
• Pizza: Do Drop Inn, 1201 S. Santa Fe Ave., features excellent pizza with a sweet, thick crust (1-719-542-0818).
• Italian: LaTronica's, 1143 E. Abriendo Ave. (1-719-542-1113),has served Italian fare in Pueblo's Bessemer neighborhood since 1943.
First Published November 20, 2011 12:00 am
