Restaurants

Metro Denver residents love to dine out, and a host of innovative restaurateurs love to keep them fed. Lots of hot young chefs are busy in their kitchens creating menus that have their own distinctive Rocky Mountain charm. They emphasize game meats, trout, lamb, and other locally raised crops. Southwestern influences abound; many of the new chefs are liberal in their use of chilies, cilantro, tomatillos, and black beans. Pacific Coast seafood and fish are flown in daily, and fresh sushi and sashimi are easy to find.

Reflecting the international appetites of its locals, Metro Denver counts among its blessings a wide variety of global cuisines, including top-­notch Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Italian, French, Mexican, Peruvian, Ethiopian, and Brazilian restaurants. There are also plenty of California-­influenced bistros, vegetarian specialists, and one-­of-­a-kind properties that reflect the talents of their chef/owners.

Overview

In this section we’ve left out chain restaurants such as Chili’s and Pizza Hut, not because we have anything against them, but on the assumption that readers already know what to expect at these places. In the case of exceptional merit, we’ve bent our rules on chains. Locally owned chains that operate only within the Metro Denver area are included.

As you can imagine, no one book could ever describe all of Metro Denver’s restaurants. We’ve picked out the best and the brightest, as is our mandate throughout this guide. Some are special-­occasion places; others are neighborhood joints. Some are widely known local institutions, others much less so. It can be the food, the ambience, the crowd, the service, or all of the above that make a place worth a visit. Obviously we don’t expect everyone to agree with all our choices, and restaurants are notoriously mutable creatures, apt to change or go out of business without warning. Hours and days of operation change, too, so we suggest you call before you go. Also, while some restaurants serve continuously, others close between lunch and dinner, so if you’re looking for a mid-­afternoon bite, definitely call first. For dining out with children, take a look at our Kidstuff chapter, where we have described restaurants that cater to kids or places where the entertainment is at least as memorable as the food. If you’re looking to combine eating with music, or if you’re more in the mood for a bar than a restaurant, check our Nightlife chapter.

We’ve listed restaurants alphabetically by category. Listing by category has its own set of problems, of course. In Denver, it seems that every third restaurant has at least a few Mexican-­inspired items on the menu, and steak houses and seafood restaurants usually cross over into each other’s territory. Each restaurant is in Denver unless otherwise noted.

Denver is very casual, and the suburbs even more so. It’s possible to eat a $100 dinner in shorts and sandals and not feel out of place. But Denverites generally do dress up for a nice meal, especially at trendy bistros. In general, price is a good guide to how formal the clientele will be. Unless noted otherwise, all restaurants are open for lunch and dinner. Many downtown restaurants serve lunch on weekdays only.