Here's the lowdown from a couple of chefs in the Denver area concerning the impact of their convention:

• Restaurants had a lot of reservations for last-minute large parties, of which the majority ended up as no-shows or cancellations.
• There were massive rushes before and after the official festivities, but that left the normal dinner hour dead as a doornail.
• Surprisingly, not a lot of booze was sold.
• The fuss and muss of traffic and blocked streets deterred the locals from coming in, and most restaurants felt it.
• Only a handful of places had big celebrity bashes, but everyone assumed that all restaurants were locked up.
• All in all, they seemed to feel that they were hyped up and ready to get slammed, and it just didn't deliver.

Locally, I can say that I've heard the downtowners have been busy, but the outer rings have been dead. Grand Avenue was really slow, and so was Uptown. But I feel like I should get out there and support the little locals, the ones who are on the fray and feeling the sucking vortex. Are you going out or staying in this week?