There's no other stretch of asphalt in the metro area where you can eat so adventurously and affordably as you can on Federal Boulevard, a globalized trench of potholed roadway that extols the city's best ethnic eating.

I've methodically busted my belly from one end of the strip to the other, the sheer volume of choices so overwhelming and vast that I've often inhaled a soft corn taco at one joint, a burbling bowl of pho at another, a plate of feijoada at a third and steamed barbecue pork buns at a fourth - all within the time it takes me to work off a fraction of the calories at the gym, just so I can start all over again.

Federal Boulevard is more lively and diverse than ever, its international melting pot of dining cultures an attraction for young and old, penny-pinching students and affluent lawyers, tourists and locals. Whether it's an indication of a depleted economy, restless palates or just a deep appreciation of map-spanning flavors, the joints on Federal are jumping with crowds, noon and night.

None of these places is expensive or lavishly decorated. Tattered booths and weathered tables, wobbly counter stools, fluorescent lights and tipping into a dollar-store vase are the norm. Many don't have liquor licenses, but that doesn't deter from the clank and clamor. All are neighborly and friendly.

From north to south, here are my favorite ethnic food finds on Federal Boulevard.

El Taco Veloz

* Where: 5145 Federal Blvd.; 303-477-1881

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: Mexican

* The nose knows: A spit of spinning marinated pork (al pastor) sits squarely in the far corner of the dining room, and when the cooks emerge from the kitchen to carve off the shavings, the room fills with the intensely smoky smell of char.

* Why we eat here: Some of Federal Boulevard's most authentic Mexican food comes from this offbeat taqueria. You'll just have to endure the blaring music from the tinny boombox in a scuffed dining room flanked with booths and tables whose tipsy bases are upheld by drifts of napkins and paper towels - whatever works.

You'll pass by huge jugs of aguas frescas - pineapple, cantaloupe, lime and mango - and horchata on your way to the counter below the plastic menu strapped to the wall. There are sopes, burritos, gorditas and tacos, all of which cradle everything from chorizo and caramelized carnitas to asada, pastor, buche and barbacoa.

The salsa bar - stocked with limes, radishes, cilantro, pickled jalapenos, onions and seven different fiery concoctions, including an avocado salsa plunged into the deepest molcajete I've ever laid eyes on - is a showstopper.

Jack-n-Grill

* Where: 2524 Federal Blvd.; 303-964-9544; jackngrill.com

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: New Mexican

* Gut buster: If you're a woman and can somehow manage to eat the seven-pound breakfast burrito, the burrito is free, your mug shot is tacked to the wall of fame and you won't have to pay for a meal at Jack-n-Grill ever again. There's no time limit, but bathroom breaks aren't allowed.

* Why we eat here: Throughout its nine years of peddling solid gold New Mexican cuisine, Jack-n-Grill has added a bar, expanded its menu (more times than I can count), built a killer street-side patio and amassed enough kitschy memorabilia with "Jack" in the name to flood a flea market.

Who is Jack, you ask?

That would be Jack Martinez, the joint's larger-than-life owner, who, along with his extended family, turns out the city's best New Mexican-style green and red chile, superb, flavor-bombed liquids that the kitchen loads on just about everything from the enchiladas and posole to the chile rellenos and Frisbee-size burgers.

El Cameron Loco

* Where: 775 Federal Blvd.; 303-573-0862

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: Coastal Mexican

* Bonus: The selection of bottled hot sauces, which patrons pounce on like sharks on bait, numbers at least a dozen.

* Why we eat here: Federal's unofficial center of the universe for fans of coastal Mexican food, this beach-y shack is a fish- fueled port in which to tuck into bold-flavored seafood dishes punched with assertive spices.

The small dining room, bedecked with brightly painted nautical murals, rubber lobsters suspended from the ceiling and booths the color of a canary, is a buzzy place that always seems to echo with bouncy conversation. Most of it is about the food - rich ceviches of shrimp, oysters or squid marinated in citrus juices; fish tacos; shrimp cameron with cubes of avocado and jolted with lime; robust seafood soups; and plump, briny oysters by the dozen.

Viet's Restaurant

* Where: 333 S. Federal Blvd., Unit No. 125; 303-922-5774

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: Vietnamese

* Biggest surprise: Not only is there a full bar, but the drinks are dirt cheap and there's even a decent sake selection.

* Why we eat here: On a street rife with Vietnamese restaurants, Viet's stands out, not only for its unassailable food but also for its pleasant dining room strewn with contemporary blond wooden chairs, marble tables, newly tiled floors and margarita glasses full of fresh carnations. It's an elegantly simple space overseen by a solicitous and extremely efficient waitstaff that scurries from table to table delivering heaping plates of compelling Vietnamese dishes, including phenomenal pho.

A mounded platter of fresh herbs - mint, cilantro, Vietnamese purple basil and everyday green basil, gleaming leaves of romaine, slivers of marinated daikon and carrots and bean sprouts - is served alongside the house special, a jaw-dropping spectacle that includes soft shell crab, grilled pork and shrimp, Vietnamese egg rolls, rice noodles and a hill of rice papers. Submerge the rice paper in the bowl of hot water, just until they whiten, and then bundle them with everything on your plate.

New Saigon

* Where: 630 S. Federal Blvd.; 303-936-4954; newsaigon.com

* When: Closed Mondays

* Cuisine: Vietnamese

* Novelty: The selection of bobas - Taiwanese bubble teas floating gelatinous tapioca pearls - is nearly as long as the menu.

* Why we eat here: It's the Vietnamese restaurant by which all others are judged, and while New Saigon could rest on its laurels, it doesn't. Instead, this always- packed Federal Boulevard stalwart continues to regale regulars and newcomers with steaming noodle bowls and soups enlivened with sprightly herbs, the best spring rolls in Denver, tart and savory seafood hot pots and seductive vegetarian dishes that elevate tofu to cult status, all at staggeringly cheap prices.

The kitchen turns out such astonishingly good food that it's easy to forgive the service, which can sometimes be forgetful and/or awkwardly stoic.

Tacos y Salsas

* Where: 910 S. Federal Blvd.; 303-922-9400

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: Mexican

* Perfect pairing: A shot of tequila or a can of Tecate, its rim coated with lime and sprinkled with salt.

* Why we eat here: The big-screen TV, often tuned to soccer matches or Mexican soap operas, occasionally competes with the pulsating music reverberating from the open kitchen, but the decibel level is all part of the party vibe that makes Tacos y Salsas a fiesta.

Make a beeline for a counter stool and practice your broken Spanish with the amicable cooks as they slap the griddle with freshly made corn tortillas, which are then folded with scraps of meat - barbacoa, adobada, pollo and carnitas - and tossed onto plastic plates. The seam-splitting gorditas, deep-fried disks of masa overstuffed with meats, lettuce and queso, are stupendous, as is the accoutrements bar stockpiled with garnishes (cilantro, radishes, pickled jalapenos and carrots) and vats of sweat-inducing salsas.

J's Noodles and New Thai

* Where: 945 S. Federal Blvd.; 303-922-5495

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: Thai

* Universal appeal: What other Thai restaurant do you know of that serves Corona?

* Why we eat here: The ongoing gripe about Denver's Thai restaurants goes something like this: "The curries are too sweet. The kitchen refuses to make my food spicy, even if I beg. There is no such thing as an authentic pad thai."

Those who bemoan the lack of bona fide Thai cooking haven't been to J's Noodles, a certifiable hole-in-the-wall that offers invigorating favorites that are full of oomph and vigor.

To wit: The po tak - a tangy, piquant soup buoyant with seafood and fresh basil leaves - is scintillatingly hot; the fragrant curries, also spicier than most would expect, are deep-flavored marvels; and the country pad thai, festooned with scrambled eggs, chopped peanuts, tofu, radishes, bean sprouts and chicken and shrimp, will restore your faith in noodles.

The swiveling condiment tray, stocked with jars of chili paste, crushed peanuts and vinegared peppers and onions, is a nice touch, even if there's no reason to raid it.

Lao Wang Noodle House

* Where: 945 S. Federal Blvd.; 303-975-2497

* When: Closed Mondays

* Cuisine: Chinese

* Why we eat here: What you get at Lao Wang Noodle House, aside from, well, noodles and a serious case of adoration for the elderly husband and wife who run the joint, are dumplings. But not just any dumplings. No, these are superlative, thin- skinned, crisp-bellied, pan-seared knobs encasing wonderfully seasoned ground pork. After you've inhaled a dozen of these indelible pot stickers, which the menu bills as the "best in the country," you'll want a dozen more.

And then, you'll wonder just how soon you can come back for even more.

When you do, the onslaught of dining pleasures extends to the xiao long bao, elasticized Shanghai-style soup dumplings, bunched together in a bamboo basket and filled with pork and scalding-hot juice that squirts in all directions. Using a spoon, dip (not dunk) the orbs in white and Chinese black vinegar and you'll join in on the yearning moans that escape from the guests sitting next to you.

* Other favorites: Won-ton noodle soup, marinated pig shank and red chile dumplings

Star Kitchen

* Where: 2917 W. Mississippi Ave.; 303-936-0089

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: Chinese/dim sum

* Looks familiar: The executive chef doing your dim sum came from Super Star Asian, as did several of the cart-pushers whose faces light up like headlights when they recognize you from that other joint.

* Why we eat here: Technically, Star Kitchen isn't on Federal Boulevard, but since the restaurant's sign faces Federal and the palatial quarters are just a few yards off the curb, it qualifies.

Even if it didn't, the crush of customers who squeeze through the doors on the weekends, jostling for space in the cavernous dining room that doubles as a dim sum parlor (and aquarium if you count the crab and lobster tanks), is testament to the fact that some of Denver's best cart wheeling and rolling occurs amid the dozens of bodies that surround the tables.

It's a pick-and-point proceeding, and like most dim sum palaces, the barrage of choices is daunting. Go with a group and then get grabby for the steamed pork buns, spare ribs cloaked in a black bean sauce, shrimp, scallop or chive dumplings, fried taro cakes, leafy Chinese broccoli and - if you're feeling brave - the leeks with pork blood.

Beyond dim sum, Star Kitchen pushes a voluminous Chinese menu with no fewer than 150 dishes, just in case, you know, you're still hungry after the pork blood.

Tacos Junior

* Where: 1951 S. Federal Blvd.; 303-935-5683

* When: Open daily

* Cuisine: Mexican

* Clincher: The adjacent grocer, whose overflowing shelves you can see from the taqueria's windows, is a fantasy land of Mexican foodstuffs.

* Why we eat here: A gleaming taqueria tucked into a strip mall with terrible parking, Tacos Junior is the real deal. Its bright-muraled space offers a voyeuristic view into the frenzied open kitchen that buzzes with a fleet of cooks and counter staffers shaping and rolling masa for the corn tortillas, shaving pork off the smoking spit and patiently trying to explain what picaditas are to gringos like me.

Picaditas, it turns out, are hollowed-out spheres of fried masa smeared with a variety of salsas and topped with crumbles of queso fresco.

They, like the sopes, tortas and soft corn tacos enveloping all manners of meats, are worth their weight in pesos. The Spanish- worded menu hangs above the cash register, which sits right next to bulging containers of fresh fruit and sugar-shocked desserts.

Keep eating

Five more reasons why you never need to leave Federal Boulevard for ethnic eats:

* El Cuscatleco

1550 S. Federal Blvd.; 303-936-0866

From Mexico and El Salvador, tamales, pupusas, ceviche and empanadas.

* Cowbobas

2991 W. Evans Ave.; 303-934-3301

Quirky small-mall storefront peddling inexpensive slabs of beef and Vietnamese bobas.

* Chopsticks China Bistro

2990 W. Mississippi Ave.; 303-936-1506

Find your yin and yang among the fabulous feast of Chinese dishes.

* Ba Le Sandwiches

1044 S. Federal Blvd.; 303-922-2129

Masterfully made Vietnamese sandwiches from a bustling market that's carry-out only.

* Saigon Bowl

333 S. Federal Blvd., No. 134; 303-935-2427

You'll be bowled over by the pho, the soul of this Vietnamese kitchen.

Off the beaten path: Emporio do Brasil

* Where: 8020 Federal Blvd., Westminster; 303-428-4665; emporiodobrasil.com

* When: Saturday only for lunch

* Cuisine: Brazilian

* GPS warning: Far north of the rest of our Federal food jaunt, Emporio do Brasil still merits inclusion. Completely hidden from the street, it's tucked into the far southeast corner of an L-shaped strip mall.

* Why we eat here: Part gathering place to practice your Portuguese; part Brazilian grocer whose haphazardly stocked shelves hold bottles of Brazilian coffee, cookies, snacks and malagueta chili-infused vinegar; and part cafe, but only on Saturday afternoons when owner-chef Maria Fatima Prado turns out feijoada, Brazil's national dish, this bustling spot for expats is irresistibly fun and communal.

The fragrant feijoada - properly prepared with bacon, nubs of pork, salty beef and spicy sausage coins and served with the traditional accompaniments of oranges, shards of kale, farofa (toasted manioc flour) and beautifully airy rice - is delicious.

And while there's no Brazilian Skol or Brahma beer to wash it down, Guarana, a Brazilian sparkling soda, is a formidable substitute.

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