Turns out one of Ryan Warner’s favorite places to eat is now one of my favorite places to eat. Thanks to the host of Colorado Public Radio’s (CPR) Colorado Matters program, Tacos Junior on East Colfax Avenue in Aurora is now on my places-to-dine-out-again-and-again list.
Nestled inside El Mercado De Colorado (11505 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora), Tacos Junior is the place Warner picked to meet up for our interview. When questioned about the choice, the radio personality started to expertly describe the piñatas hanging over the checkout stands, the rows of cases of pan dulce cookies, and bright colors filling every corner.
He painted a picture in his low, soothing voice, as many would recognize from the hour-long program, which airs Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m, and on Sundays at 10 a.m. Originally from California, Warner moved to Colorado after getting the position at CPR almost 20 years ago. He’s loved it ever since.
“The job is never the same, and that’s what’s beautiful about it, every day is new,” said Warner, over a plate of towering sopes, homemade salsas, and tacos al pastor. “That’s true of news in general, but Colorado Public Radio is an organization that keeps reinventing itself and virtually anything I dream of that’s journalistically sound, they let me do it.”
Warner has covered everything from geothermal energy to growing local plants to poems on the moon to working on a viral recipe with cookbook author Allison Reedy. The first episode he recorded aired December 14, 2025, covering the last run of a long-time Ebenezer Scrooge actor, sexting, and the history of the clock tower on the 16th Street Mall. Now, he’s getting interviewed by us, all about his favorite places to eat, how he dines, what it’s like working at CPR for almost 20 years, and why he enjoys reporting on Colorado.
How did you come across Tacos Juniors here in Aurora? It’s not exactly close to where you live or work.
I was driving down Colfax one day years ago. And you know, what I love about Colfax is virtually everywhere you turn, especially once you cross into Aurora, it’s just little business after little business after little business. And I just thought, I need to make a commitment to stop at some of these places. Tacos Junior stood out because it’s connected to this incredible grocery store.
And they have sopes, which is a pre-Columbian dish, meaning it existed among the indigenous folks in Mexico before the Spanish got there. I love corn masa, and in the Yucatan there’s salbut and panuchos and sopes. These are all versions of masa made into little plates basically, and then piled on with the most gorgeous toppings. When our food comes out, you will be razzled and dazzled.
Also, there’s something about the booths in here, the fixed booths that remind me of an old Burger King. They’re bright green and yellow. And the music’s blasting and it’s just the best ambiance.
Have you studied Mexican food? How did you learn so much about it?
No, I’m just a weird, encyclopedic Jack of all trades. I know a little bit about everything to be dangerous enough. It helps when you’re a talk show host. You’re exposed to so much.
Okay, so you’re on this Colfax tour. What other little gems have you found?
Lucy is an incredible Ethiopian place. I love Lucy! It’s on the Denver side, north side of the street. You know the thing about restaurants these days, if you don’t go to a place for a few months, and you’ve got to make sure it’s still open. It’s so sad. Lucy Ethiopian Restaurant (7401 E. Colfax Ave, Denver), it’s still open.
What’s your go-to order?
Usually just a scoop of veggies, a scoop of various meats. All on the injera bread. And they have Ethiopian wine there in bottles. So there are some Ethiopian restaurants that make their own honey wine, like Abyssinia [Ethiopian Restaurant and Bar]. But Lucy doesn’t make it, it just has the Ethiopian wine in bottles, it’s so good.
Any other hot spots?
There’s a place called El Tamarindo that’s a few blocks back towards the Denver side. It’s El Salvodorian, and it’s kind of like pan-Central-and-South American. It’s incredible. It smells like cleaning solvent [inside], but their food is incredible.
I have a few favorites like R&R Lounge, which is Denver’s oldest gay bar. It’s got great neon out front. And that’s another Colfax gem. At Halloween, R&R puts up tombstones with the names of every gay bar it has outlasted in the city.
Do you like to eat out in your neighborhood?
Yes at Shells and Sauce, which, despite its name, which makes you think it’s some bad, fast takeout Italian, I think is one of the most consistent restaurants in Denver. And I say that about the food and their staff. Their staff has been there forever.
What do you order when you eat there?
When they have gnocchi on the menu I get gnocchi. They always have a really good pork chop. Their shells duo is incredible. Their Brussels sprouts are amazing.
But how’s the sauce?
Oh, really good. I will sometimes just order a side of meatballs and then get the sauce on the side with Brussels sprouts and make a meal.
So how do you typically eat? Are you someone that likes to go out a lot or do you…
I almost exclusively go out because I don’t cook. I love food. I love cooking segments on the show. We do a lot of food segments, but I hate cooking. I’m single, and so it’s boring to cook alone.
What do you usually do for breakfast?
I don’t usually eat until around one. For lunch I do prepared meals, but I was so disgusted by the packaging of the ones that you order and get delivered to your house. I found this company called My Fit Foods. Oh. They’re incredible. They have an outlet in Cherry Creek North, and I pick up my lunch meals for a week. They’re big and they’re hearty, balanced, and there’s some variety, and they don’t come with massive amounts of packaging.
Do you have take-out spots you like?
Yahya’s [Mediterranean Grill & Pastries], it has gyro, chicken, and hummus. The place is incredible and it delivers. Really good pita. I ordered so many times from there.
House of Bread is our only Armenian bakery. It is stellar. They have ajarski, which is basically an Armenian breakfast pizza. It’s the most gorgeous food photographed. And then on weekends, they make a special food called jingalov [Sundays only]. It’s like lavash bread and stuffed with ideas for probably 10 or 12 different greens that are then cooked down. It’s almost like a pocket that’s just filled with cooked greens [and herbs].
Well obviously you’ve done a lot of shows. So what are some of the coolest things you’ve learned just about the Denver and Colorado food scene while working?
One of my favorite details is Frank Bonanno, restaurateur extraordinaire, he started in a family pizza restaurant folding those boxes. I remember him just telling me about the factory work of folding pizza boxes and I just love that detail.
I love the family behind the African Grill in Lakewood. The Osei–Fordwuos welcome me for their anniversary of the restaurant. We talked about jollof rice versus fufu as the staple starch. That was a really fun conversation. And I got to meet their kids and see how it all operates. And I love that at that restaurant everything starts vegetarian and you can add meat in. So it’s a place anyone can go.
I love Byron Gomez [current head chef of Bruto] and we did a segment with him at the food stall in Boulder about Pollo Tico. And, you know, he taught me about that incredible chicken and sauce and also just his rise in the food scene. And he’s so kind and humble and talented and I’m just really happy for him.
Oh and Yuan Wanton, Penelope is so wonderful. She taught me: Fill, fold, pinch, turn, and we did that together. It’s a meditation for her, but I would hate that. After three of them, I’m like, done. But I love eating and I love learning and I loved her story.
Do you have your own food stories?
I spent a year in France and inevitably the French want you to tell them how good their food is. Which it is, by the way. I was still learning French. And so, they would say, ‘Ryan, what do you think of French cuisine?’
And I would respond, ‘C’est bon, that’s good, no préservatif.’ I was trying to say it’s so good because there are no preservatives. The problem is the word préservatif is French for condom. So for the first month in France, I kept telling people how good their food was because there were no condoms in it. Finally, my host mother figured out what I wanted to say. And that’s how I learned the word préservateur, which is preservatives in French. So don’t tell people how good their condom-less food is.
Any other fun facts about Colorado or yourself?
We are, I think, the largest millet producer or one of the largest in the United States. Millet is a key ingredient in birdseed, but it’s also one of the grains that people eat as an alternative grain. So we have a thriving millet industry here.
I love that Elvis had that freaky peanut butter sandwich with jelly and bacon. The size of it was like two footballs, and he got it from a restaurant in Colorado. That has always surprised me.
I think it’s hilarious that there’s a plaque in downtown commemorating the Denver omelet. I think Chubby’s invented the Mexican Hamburger, and then the Slopper and Pueblo, which is just a patty drowned in green chile.
Oh, another fun food story. We interviewed this Japanese-American woman who forages for matsutake mushrooms. It turns out Colorado is actually quite a haven for wild mushroom foraging.
