Once a month, my parents enjoy dressing up and attending a show or concert at Fort Collins’s Lincoln Center, and they usually start these arts-and-culture evenings by dining at one of their favorite local restaurants, Jay’s Bistro. As I had not yet eaten at Jay’s during any of my visits, they offered to treat Maya and me to a nice dinner and we eagerly accepted.
It was a pleasant night, so we asked to sit outside. Unfortunately, despite its well-deserved reputation as one of Fort Collins's nicer restaurants, the patio accommodations were lacking. The construction noise, plastic chairs, and wobbly tables were incongruous with the live jazz and quality of food, so after a few uncertain moments of debate, we asked our server to move us inside.
Thankfully, this graciously fulfilled request was the start of a much better evening, and thereafter the restaurant did not disappoint. Surrounded by well-dressed locals, we took the rare opportunity to enjoy several drinks, appetizers, and an unrushed meal. Calamari, scallops, salads, salmon, and pesto pasta were had, and we enjoyed fresh sorbet and a chocolate for desert. Good food combined with an extremely attentive waitstaff make Jay’s a highly recommended "special occasion" restaurant.