The far-reaching menu and welcoming ambience made this a perfect locale for me to reconnect with my elementary school classmate Georgette, whom I hadn’t seen in two decades.

I`ve noted before that a waggish friend enjoys confounding the waitstaff at a local pizzeria by ordering one of their meat-laden specials, but with a peculiar twist. He roguishly requests a vegetarian Slaughterhouse.

Unfortunately, pretty much everything I know about World Cup soccer comes from the mid-’90s pinball machine of the same name. I know that teams from around the world are involved and someone enthusiastically yells out “goal” in an elongated manner whenever points are scored.

A recent experience at a national chain sandwich shop in Lusk, Wyo., made me realize why sandwiches aren’t often my first meal choice. My sandwich wasn’t terrible, it’s just that this comestible was strictly functional, with little artistry or care involved in its creation.

A cash-only operation, La Choza serves breakfast burritos in the morning and an array of tacos, tortas, burritos, hamburgers and hot dogs until the 3 p.m. closing time. Available meats include chicken, carne asada, buche (pork stomach) and shredded beef.

The new location is certainly larger, with plenty of natural light and an airy feel set off by brightly painted walls and graphics of such luminaries as JFK and Marilyn Monroe — not together, though. These were among the decorative touches friend Kuvy and I first noticed on a recent Sunday morning.

At one end of the Italian restaurant spectrum, you've got your family run spaghetti joints, like the old line joints you'll find in Louisville and North Denver. At the other, you've got your high-end spots, defined by pricey dishes like squid ink pasta and house-cured salumi, laboriously prepared meat not to be confused with salami.

The bar menu here is comprehensive, with selections ranging from light to the truly substantial. There’s a sirloin burger for $8, marked down from $11 and topped with caramelized onions. Also available is a $7 house-cut tagliatelle pasta adorned by mushrooms, herbs and cream.

When a restaurant is named Modmarket, one expects a certain menu and ambience distinct from say, a place called the Doofusateria. Indeed, this Boulder quick-serve outpost serves fresh and healthy flatbread pizzas, salads and soups in a Twenty Ninth Street Mall spot reminiscent of Eero Saarinen's swoopy space-age terminal at New York's JFK Airport.

Rmen gets a bad rap in the United States, especially since most of us are only familiar with the instant dime-a-pack variety, weighted down with a surplus of salt and MSG. This is too bad, as authentic ramen has about as much resemblance to the starving student version as fresh-squeezed orange juice does to Tang.