An Eater's Guide to Denver

That famous lamb. Those Palisade peaches, Olathe corn, and Rocky Ford melons. That ubiquitous green chile. The ever-flowing beer. Anyone who still claims there’s no such thing as Colorado cuisine just hasn’t been looking hard enough. This guide to its capital city will show you where to find it at its very best.

Over the past few years, the restaurant publicity machine has begun to attach the adjective “elevated” to just about everything from comfort food to cocktails. Here in the Mile High City (so nicknamed, to be clear, for its altitude and not its cannabis industry), we can joke that our culinary culture has always been elevated; it just took the national media, which had long dismissed Denver as a cowtown, a while to notice.

What accounts for the progressiveness with which we’re now credited? No doubt it correlates in part to the collective sense of adventure here, where a relatively young, dynamic population spends every possible second of free time hiking, climbing, skiing, and snowboarding up in the mountains — and frequenting the latest breweries, distilleries, and of course restaurants in between. That demographic naturally includes chefs themselves, who are as likely to be found out in the wild foraging, fishing, or hunting as they are in the kitchen. Okay, that’s perhaps a slight exaggeration — but the point remains that the opportunity to chase new highs, to scale new heights, is what Coloradans live for, figuratively as well as literally. May your own Denver dining adventure be as exciting as your first fourteener.

Eater Denver’s maps are designed to keep you in the loop from the waking hour to bedtime; here, we’ve distilled a few of the most popular down to their fundamentals.

Ruth Tobias

Breakfast: While egg- and chorizo-stuffed burritos from taquerias like El Taco de Mexico may still constitute the consummate morning meal in Denver, one of the most notable things about the city’s rampant growth in recent years is the rise in breakfast options from around the world. Now you can start the day with changua, a Colombian milk-and-egg soup, and panela-sweetened, cinnamon-spiced java at LaTinto Café; with a red bean bun and a matcha latte at Tokyo Premium Bakery; with Armenian coffee service and the savory stuffed bread called ajarski at House of Bread or a full Turkish breakfast at Istanbul Café & Bakery; with a kardemummabulle, or cardamom-flavored pastry, and a cup of the Fjäll house blend at Kaffe Landskap; or with Chinese-inspired duck-confit congee (or, for that matter, Hawaiian loco moco) and Vietnamese coffee at Onefold.

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Lunch: Of course, Mexican food is an equally sure bet for lunch around here, whether from a rocking birria hut like Kiké’s Red Tacos (among other top-notch taquerias) or a seafood specialist like Mariscos El Charco. But so is pizza, be it New Haven–style at White Pie, Detroit-style at Blue Pan’s Congress Park location, or Neapolitan-style at Marco’s Coal Fired. And so are burgers: Go old-school with the JCB at historic hangout My Brother’s Bar, way gourmet with the beauties on deck at Carm & Gia Metropolitan, or even Indian-style at Gaia Masala & Burger. For the health-conscious (not to mention time-strapped), there’s plant-based Japanese joint Wellness Sushi and vegetarian magnet Vital Root; for wallet watchers, there’s stuffed frybread at American Indian eatery Tocabe and bánh mì at Vinh Xuong or CôNu’s Corner. And the list goes on, from diverse food halls like Denver Central Market and Avanti Food & Beverage to top Chinese spots.

Happy Hour: Seems it’s always happy hour somewhere in the Mile High City, with specials on sips and snacks running practically around the clock at establishments of all kinds. Grape geeks (and interior-design nerds, for that matter) should check out the half-price pours Trellis Wine Bar; craft-brew buffs can soak up the suds at The Brutal Poodle for cheap; and Champagne tastes on a beer budget need to know that they can make out like bandits after work at the otherwise spendy sushi sanctuary Uchi as well as steakhouse A5. Other favorites for an afternoon interlude include Angelo’s Taverna, home of the chargrilled oyster; La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal, which prices tacos and margs like they were going out of style; and MAKfam, where the discount daiquiris go down easy alongside bao buns and scallion pancakes.

Ruth Tobias

Dinner: Assuming you want to make every second of your time here count, there’s no better way to weigh your options for dinner than by perusing Eater Denver’s 38 Essential Restaurants. To name a few located outside the neighborhoods covered below: Lucina Eatery & Bar in Park Hill takes guests on the most varied and vibrant of Latin American adventures, while on Colfax Avenue, sắp sửa plays Vietnamese cuisine in a contemporary key, and Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails is an Eastern European–inspired, quaint-meets-quirky blast. Further afield in Westminster, Woody’s Wings N Things brilliantly belies its name with a slew of specialties from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and more, while African Grill and Bar in Lakewood makes its guests feel right at home even as it takes their palates on an exhilarating trip to the owners’ homelands via plates of kelewele, egusi, yassa, and red red.

Drinks: To build your bar-crawling itinerary, meanwhile, look no further than 24 Denver Essential Bars. There await historic dives like Charlie Brown’s Bar & Grill; first-class cocktail lounges such as Williams & Graham, Yacht Club, and Run for the Roses; and cozy nooks for niche drinkers, including natural-wine purveyor Noble Riot and moody, groovy “listening bar” ESP. As for suds, they don’t call greater Denver “The Napa Valley of Beer” for nothing — not least because it’s home to the world-renowned Great American Beer Festival; a whirlwind tour of its award-winning breweries could include Ratio in RiNo and Overland, Congress Park’s Cerebral, and Cannonball Creek in Golden.

Late Night: And the party doesn’t have to stop there. Though this isn’t exactly a city that never sleeps, night owls will still find their share of roosts to rule, from rollicking K-pub Thank Sool Pocha to anchovy tin–sized pizzeria Cart-Driver to chill hangout (and French dip specialist) Pony Up.

Ever-growing and evolving, these districts are the ones that every Denver diner knows inside and out; we’ve singled out some highlights. (See the glossary for other key geographical terms.)

Ruth Tobias

RiNo: A decade or so ago, nobody had ever heard of RiNo (short for River North). But this once dusty stretch of industrial-strength warehouses has since been carved out of Five Points by the artists, brewers, distillers, and of course, restaurateurs who’ve made it the hottest ’hood in town. Among the dining destinations that put it on the map are the eternally hip, progressive Chinese spot Hop Alley; swanky jazz and supper club Nocturne; hopping pasta purveyor Dio Mio; seafood shack Fish N Beer; and magical Mexican-Midwestern mashup Work & Class. They’ve since been joined by such game-changing arrivals as contemporary Israeli go-to Safta; prix fixe–only chef’s counter Beckon and its more casual, but still Champagne-splashed, sibling Major Tom; unusually inventive barbecue joint Pit Fiend; Greenwich, a chic shrine to its New York namesake; and buzzing new Mediterranean wine bar Corsica, as well as the aforementioned Uchi. Just here for drinks? Make it a yarrow-infused brett saison at Our Mutual Friend or an over-the-top cocktail at Death & Co.

Ruth Tobias

LoHi: The Lower Highlands, better known as LoHi, is another treasure trove for the tastebuds — and feast for the eyes, for that matter: Just try the views from fifth-floor tapas joint El Five or the decor at effortlessly elegant French splurge Noisette on for size. Other must-stops, meanwhile, span the globe within a couple of square miles tops. Spuntino is not your average mom-and-pop red-sauce parlor; though indeed run by a husband-and-wife team, it’s known for some of the city’s most imaginative Italian cuisine as well as one of its most interesting wine lists. Innovation is also on the menu at The Bindery, which showcases influences from virtually every continent — sometimes in one dish (grilled Spanish octopus asado with zapote negro and shishitos, for example, or carrot mezzaluna with black sesame). For fab Japanese fare, there’s rustic izakaya Kawa Ni and raucous ramen shop Uncle; for Mexican food, the sophisticated yet soulful Alma Fonda Fina; for a Middle Eastern feast, Ash’Kara; for a poke party, Ohana Island Kitchen; for sandwiches you won’t find anywhere else, Dimestore Delibar; and for a little bit of everything — from Venezuelan arepas to Vietnamese noodles — there’s aforementioned food hall Avanti.

Mike Thurk

LoDo: Before there was LoHi and RiNo, there was Lower Downtown, home to such enduring local favorites as Mediterranean Larimer Square fixture Rioja and Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar. A decade go, the action expanded to the newly renovated Union Station, where no fewer than three James Beard awardees operate at, respectively, contemporary American go-to Mercantile Dining & Provision; stunning tapas lounge Ultreia; and ultra-suave Italian destination Tavernetta, which sits adjacent to its splashy wine-bar sibling, Sunday Vinyl. And that’s not all. For a good time, hit tiny chef’s counter BRUTØ for an intimate, intricate tasting extravaganza; chichi pan-Asian spot ChoLon for its famous kaya toast and French onion soup dumplings; the aforementioned A5 for stellar steakhouse fare; and historic Art Deco jewelbox The Cruise Room for a top-shelf nightcap. (And that’s still not all, but this paragraph has to end somewhere.)

Steuben’s

Uptown/City Park West: Just southeast of downtown, this immanently walkable area is a noontime boon, what with regional American diner Steuben's offering up the likes of clam chowder and meatloaf, aforementioned eclectic café Onefold turning out duck fried rice and chilaquiles with equal oomph, Olive and Finch whipping up juice blends and elaborate sandwiches on fresh-baked bread, and Dos Santos taking tacos for a creative spin. Come dinnertime, Ace Eat Serve indeed serves up a plethora of pan-Asian plates with a side of ping pong, while Coperta will spoil you for modern Southern Italian food and wine, from aperitivi and antipasti all the way through to digestivi and dolci. Other best bets for dessert: upscale bakery-café D Bar and scoop shop Frozen Matter (which is also home to funky cocktail bar Retrograde).

Ruth Tobias

Berkeley: Centered primarily around a roughly eight-block stretch of Tennyson Street, this charming neighborhood dotted with boutiques and galleries is also awash in diverse dining and drinking options. Longtime favorites include the wildly popular pizzeria and craft-beer bar Hops & Pie, the ever-lively Cafe Brazil, and Ragin’ Hog BBQ; more recent hits range from ultra-eclectic third-floor hideaway Hey Kiddo and Asian fusion hot spot Ginger Pig to casual Indian eatery Himalayan Spice, gourmet deli/charcutier Blackbelly Market, and the highly acclaimed Bakery Four — which morphs two evenings a week into its alterego Night Off, a multicourse, pasta-centric tasting experience. Cap it all off at refined cocktail retreat The Tatarian. (Technically just south of Berkeley’s boundaries are two other places worth a mention: contemporary haunt American Elm and izakaya-esque ramen specialist Glo Noodle House.)

Ruth Tobias

Aurora: While Caroline Glover’s homey yet splashy Annette in the Stanley Marketplace justifiably brought the national food media running to this eastern suburb, locals have long celebrated it as a microcosm of global cuisine. Here you’ll find scores of superb Korean, Ethiopian, Chinese, and of course Mexican restaurants, not to mention outlets for Greek, Vietnamese, African, Thai, Cuban, Hawaiian, and even Burmese and Russian fare — no shortage of which regularly find their way onto Eater Denver maps. (To name a few must-tries, Tofu Story ladles up exhilarating Korean stews with housemade soon tofu; The Madras Cafe specializes in scintillating — and entirely vegetarian — South Indian cuisine; Metro Balderas Aztek Food is a one-stop shop for such rare Mexican finds as tacos arabes and huitlacoche machetes; and China Cafe shines in the regional Chinese food department — don’t miss the Dongbei-style sweet-and-sour pork.) Taproom tourists, meanwhile, shouldn’t sleep on Haykin Family Cider, which works magic with heirloom apple varieties, or the inimitable Dry Dock Brewing of Apricot Blonde fame.

Ruth Tobias

Boulder: Technically, Boulder isn’t a suburb of Denver. But it’s close enough — and given its vibrant dining scene, no comprehensive culinary guide to the area would be complete without it. Its crown jewel is Friulian-inspired legend Frasca Food and Wine, among many other posh special-occasion spots such as the historic Flagstaff House and Spanish-inspired steakhouse Corrida, but it’s totally possible to have a blast here without breaking the bank: You could, for instance, spend your lunch hour digging into momo and thenthuk at the charming Little Tibet or experiencing some excellent empanadas at Rincon Argentino; soak up the atmosphere of the architecturally jaw-dropping Dushanbe Teahouse come afternoon; and finally wind down over a few artfully presented Japanese nibbles at Izakaya Amu. Not ready to call it a night? On Friday and Saturday, Stella’s Cucina keeps the clubby vibes going and the cocktails coming until 1 a.m.

Ruth Tobias

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Harrison Warters Photography

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