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  • Image: The Bardo Coffee House

    The Bardo Coffee House

    238 S. Broadway South Denver

    303-629-8331

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    Chris Graves decided to open a coffee shop after 25 years of hanging out in them, all the while taking stock of various details and inconveniences that he would change at his own place. "There were just little things about them that bothered me," he explains. "Like, why is the CD player skipping, why is it so cold or so hot, why is the coffee bad, why are the baked goods dry? All these little things just drove me nuts." And from the moment he opened Bardo CoffeeHouse in April 2010, he's paid attention to all the details – opening early and staying open late, and serving Kaladi Brothers coffee and baked goods provided by Burrito Kitchens along with more substantial fare. He also clearly spent time researching proper coffee-shop ambience, because Bardo has everything: booths, couches, meeting tables, two-tops, window seats, movable tables, multiple rooms, even a patio. The lighting isn't intrusive, the artwork is minimal and tasteful, and Otis Redding can be heard through the speakers (without skipping) at all hours of the day and well into the night.
    7 articles
  • Image: The Bitter Bar

    The Bitter Bar

    835 Walnut St. Boulder

    303-442-3050

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    Cocktail culture has thoroughly inundated America, but in 2011, when Boulder’s Bitter Bar opened as the late-night speakeasy alter-ego of the now-defunct Happy Noodle House, there was no other game like it in metro Denver. Bartender James Lee built a quick following with his precise drinks — be they long-forgotten classics or inventive creations — and bought the place outright in 2014. He continues to work obsessively toward creating the perfect cocktail for every customer, as well as maintaining Bitter Bar’s position as one of the best venues in the state for a cocktail.
    14 articles
  • Image: Black Pearl

    Black Pearl

    1529 S. Pearl St. South Denver

    303-777-0500

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    Timing, company and appetite make all the difference when dining at Black Pearl. But mostly, it's appetite. Because the cuisine is rigorously New American, you have to be in the mood for deconstructed clam chowder, for a menu that mixes classical French (such as Black Pearl's moules et frites in Pernod broth) with mac-and-cheese, but Black Pearl's kitchen executes these ideas with fresh grace. The dining room is hip and modern, the wine service is excellent and the place does a booming business on this booming block of Old South Pearl.
    20 articles
  • Image: Black Shirt Brewing Co.

    Black Shirt Brewing Co.

    3719 Walnut St., Denver Five Points/RiNo

    303-993-2799

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    Standing out is tough in a city where beer drinkers can simply walk a few blocks from their front doors to find quality suds in a multitude of new breweries. Since opening in 2012, Black Shirt has drawn crowds by aiming for continuous improvement in its beer lineup and offering value-adds like a three patios, including a killer back patio complete with a stage for live bands and a pizza kitchen with food that’s far more than an afterthought.
    142 articles
  • Image: Casa Bonita

    Casa Bonita

    6715 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood West Denver Suburbs

    303-232-5115

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    The reopening of the iconic pink palace under new owners Trey Parker and Matt Stone has been a South Park-worthy saga. While some people are frustrated by the ongoing, email-only invite system, those who have snagged a reservation can attest to the fact that the controlled crowds add to the magic. Yes, chef Dana Rodriguez upped the food game, but a visit here is about so much more than what’s on your plate. It’s an experience that’s nostalgic in all the best ways, whether you’re visiting for the first time or the hundredth.
    41 articles
  • Image: Casselman's Bar & Venue

    Casselman's Bar & Venue

    2620 Walnut St. Downtown Denver

    720-242-8923

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    The last word of the name Casselman's Bar & Venue really tells you what you need to know: This is a venue, above all, and a huge one, located on a warehouse-y stretch of Walnut Street in the Ballpark neighborhood. While the venue brings in an assortment of acts throughout the week, the space can feel a bit cavernous on an off night. Still, the long bar up front is always welcoming, flanked on one side by couches and pillows under drawings of Mos Def, Jay-Z and other artists. If there's no live music to move you, you can swing on a giant tire swing or play beer pong. And if you need some sustenance to sop up all that beer, Casselman's has a small but serviceable menu, full of burgers and sandwiches, appetizers and a few Mexican specials.
    116 articles
  • Image: Caveau Wine Bar

    Caveau Wine Bar

    450 E.17th Ave. Central Denver

    303-861-3747

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    At their worst, wine lists are pompous, stratospherically overpriced, ridiculously long, awkwardly categorized and full of overexposed, yawn-inducing labels. But at Caveau Wine Bar, the 75-bottle list (55 are available by the glass) is an easy-to-navigate document of new discoveries, small producers and familiar but not overrated labels. The polished yet easygoing staff is well-versed in wine education and just as enthusiastic about pushing a $30 bottle of vino as a three-digit one, which is a welcome change to the rigorous sport of upselling. Those prowling for deals know to show up at 4 p.m. for the daily happy hour.
    4 articles
  • Image: The Cooper Lounge

    The Cooper Lounge

    1701 Wynkoop St., Denver LoDo/Ballpark/Commons Park

    720-460-3738

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    When Union Station was renovated a decade ago, the mezzanine was turned into one of the most enchanting bars in town: the Cooper Lounge. In 2024, the elegant drinking destination got a refresh of its own that somehow made it even more lush. It’s a great place to meet up with friends from out of town, but it's also become something of a favorite with locals, particularly on full-moon nights, when you can sit on a barstool sipping a martini and look over 17th Street bathed in moonlight. The view is magical. And you might need to be a magician to secure a spot here: There's sometimes a two-hour wait.
    6 articles
  • Image: Cucina Colore

    Cucina Colore

    3041 E. 3rd Ave., Denver Cherry Creek

    303-393-6917

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    Cucina Colore has had an enviable run. As other restaurants in Cherry Creek North have come and gone, this beloved Italian bistro, with its big windows and landscaped patios, has quietly done its thing for nearly thirty years. Founded by Venanzio Momo, who once owned a coterie of Colore-branded outfits, the restaurant fits its well-heeled neighborhood as well as any neighborhood restaurant ever could, and it does so for good reason: Momo has given people what they wanted. That includes veal Bolognese, lasagna made with paper-thin slices of breaded eggplant in place of noodles, peach bread pudding with housemade caramel, and an array of salads – including imported bufala mozzarella and grana-Padano-crusted artichokes with arugula -- that appeal to the lunchtime crowd.
    12 articles
  • Image: El Camino Community Tavern

    El Camino Community Tavern

    3628 W. 32nd Ave., Denver Highland/Lower Highland

    720-889-7946

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    The atmosphere at El Camino is fun and welcoming, and so is the food. While the board is too heavy on things like molten cheese and too light on things like intestines to really sate a craving for authentic Mexican food, it's also not hip like the menu at one of Rick Bayless's upscale Chicago joints. Instead, the food here is unpretentious, pulling from all regions of Mexico — simple fare, influenced by the desires of American palates, that pairs well with El Camino's killer margaritas. They're some of the best in town, as are the nachos.
    17 articles
  • Image: Elway's Downtown

    Elway's Downtown

    1881 Curtis St. Downtown Denver

    303-312-3107

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    Although the second Elway's lacks the fun factor of the original in Cherry Creek, it's still a good bet for a business dinner -- especially if your group is large enough to fill the League of Evil-like private seating area. And despite its hoity-toity location (it's in the Ritz-Carlton), this Elway's also works for a casual, after-work meetup, particularly if you grab one of the comfy booths and start ordering drinks and app after app (and maybe a burger or two) off the extensive menu.
    45 articles
  • Image: The Fort Restaurant

    The Fort Restaurant

    19192 Highway 8 Morrison

    303-697-4771

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    The Fort is a theme restaurant. Sure, it's been called better things (a museum of culinary history, a gastronomic time capsule) and worse things (the fabulous obsession of one of the New West's great hucksters), but it's still a theme restaurant — part Old West reliquary, part Planet Hollywood with cowboys. The servers all wear costumes, the walls are hung with artifacts of the trapper/trader/Indian-fighter culture of Olde Timey Colorado, and the menu is an intellectual exploration of the West's close-to-the-land culinary past. On top of all this, the place itself is, well, a fort, a brick-by-brick replica of Bent's Fort. That all said, the kitchen is not to be underestimated: The Fort handles a piece of meat (be it bison, elk or beef) very, very well, and the appetizer board boasts adventurous bites such as bison tongue, raw bison liver and delectable bone marrow.
    36 articles
  • Image: Gaetano's

    Gaetano's

    3760 Tejon St., Denver Highland/Lower Highland

    303-455-9852

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    Most of the red-sauce joints that once proliferated in northwest Denver have dried up, but Gaetano’s is now more than seventy years old. Of course, it’s gone through some changes over the decades after being founded by the Smaldone mob family, who installed bulletproof glass in the front door and ran illegal poker games in the basement. Gaetano’s is now run by Ron Robinson as a true neighborhood joint, one flavored by the traditions of the past but still very much ready to go another seventy years as a Denver landmark.
    48 articles
  • Image: Govnr's Park Restaurant & Tavern

    Govnr's Park Restaurant & Tavern

    672 Logan St. Central Denver

    303-831-8605

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    If you've ever had fantasies of throwing away everything you've got and moving to some small town in the middle of nowhere, Govnr's Park is just what you'd want the one bar in that town to be. It's the kind of place where, if you're having some problem (be it psychological, marital, political or just a broken-down motorcycle), odds are pretty good there's an expert in the house. It's the kind of place that will celebrate the presidential inauguration with as much enthusiasm as the football playoffs -- complete with drink specials, extended hours and dirt-cheap grub ranging from burgers to tater tots to Mexican fare to slightly more substantial and upscale grub from the grill.
    25 articles
  • Image: Gypsy House Cafe

    Gypsy House Cafe

    1279 Marion St. Central Denver

    303-830-1112

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    Put this in your pipe and smoke it: If you like your coffee strong and the atmosphere in which you drink it just as pungent, head for Gypsy House Cafe. The specialty here is Turkish coffee, which is a leap for the Starbucks connoisseur, but it's well worth the plunge. The food is good, the wi-fi is free -- and they'll hook you up with just the right tobacco for your hookah.
    18 articles
  • Image: hi-dive

    hi-dive

    7 S. Broadway South Denver

    303-733-0230

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    The bars at these conjoined spaces are two sides of the same coin — both a little worn and gritty, but still good for quick shots or planting yourself for the long haul. Since 2003, the hi-dive has been a refuge from crass commercialism and bland bars catering to the masses. Cheap, stiff drinks and a revolving door of creative talent have kept the music venue ahead of the game. Sputnik, on the other hand, offers a mid-century vibe, along with plenty of meatless fare.
    19 events 494 articles
  • Image: India's Restaurant

    India's Restaurant

    8921 E. Hampden Ave. Southeast Denver

    303-755-4284

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    When Krishan Kappor relocated India's, his terrific curry house, from its longtime home on the perimeter of Tamarac Square to Tiffany Plaza, he definitely traded up in space. But in February 2015, India's outgrew that space, too, and now occupies a building farther east on Hampden Avenue. The food is as good as ever and even with a Punjabi-tempered menu that features many of the same dishes that litter the boards of just about every other Indian restaurant in town, Kappor and his kitchen crew continue to do these dishes right, serving up sizzling cast-iron platters of tandoori meats and seafood, and turning out scintillating curries scented with beautifully balanced spices that perfume the spacious dining room.
    16 articles
  • Image: L & L Hawaiian Barbecue

    L & L Hawaiian Barbecue

    14221 E. Cedar Ave. Aurora

    303-340-8824

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    L & L Hawaiian Barbecue is a Big Island phenomenon, a locals-only Honolulu hangout gone franchise. Lunches and dinners are done plate-style, resulting in a mountain of Pacific Rim picnic grub: chicken katsu with macaroni salad and sushi rice, roast pork, huge Spam handrolls called musubi. Lovers of cheap, fun fare, be there -- and early, because the line snakes out the door and the few tables in the space fill up quick.
    8 articles
  • Image: La Fiesta

    La Fiesta

    2340 Champa St., Denver Five Points/RiNo

    303-292-2800

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    La Fiesta celebrated sixty years in business in 2023, making it one of Denver’s oldest restaurants that’s still operating in the same location and run by the same family that founded it. Located in a former Safeway, it doles out Denver's unique style of Mexican food done right. While the late-night dance parties of decades ago are now just memories, it has solidified its reputation as a lunchtime gathering spot, attracting everyone from cops to lawyers to Colorado Supreme Court justices.
    17 articles
  • Image: Melita's Greek Cafe & Market

    Melita's Greek Cafe & Market

    1035 Lincoln St., Denver Golden Triangle/La Alma

    303-629-1624

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    There are people who come to Melita's to bulk up on Greek feta; others stock up on sumac, a lemony powder that Greeks use on, well, just about everything. Still others pop in for the aptly named Hercules burger, five or six inches of heft favored by those whose only afternoon requirement is a really long nap. But it's hard to imagine that they wouldn't be just as happy with Greek classics like spanakopita, creamy pastitsio and flaky baklava. The cozy eatery also offers Greek grocery wares like cheeses that go beyond feta, plus Greek olive oil, candy and olives.
    4 articles
  • Image: Mickey's Top Sirloin

    Mickey's Top Sirloin

    6950 Broadway North Denver

    303-426-5881

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    In 2005 Mickey's replaced its decrepit, decades-old home with a shiny, family-friendly new building on the same lot. The atmosphere is still casual and diner-like, though, and the menu is basically unchanged — which guarantees that you'll get a whole lot of food for just a little bit of money. Most of the fare is solidly Italian and Mexican, especially at lunch; steaks star on the dinner menu. The meat might be choice grade, but the kitchen knows how to make the most of it.
    4 articles
  • Image: The Oven Pizza E Vino

    The Oven Pizza E Vino

    7167 W. Alaska Dr., Lakewood West Denver Suburbs

    303-934-7600

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    Mark Tarbell, owner of the Oven, is one of those great chefs who understands that he's cooking dinner for friends every night. And when you're cooking for friends, you want to take care of them. At the Oven, this translates to handmade pizza dough, organic ingredients and locally sourced stock, artisan sauces, housemade mozzarella that spreads like the soft cheese it actually is, and ricotta smoked over custom-made ovens that Tarbell helped design. All Tarbell's care combines to create a friendly, fabulous artisan pizza joint.
    7 articles
  • Image: Palettes Contemporary Cuisine

    Palettes Contemporary Cuisine

    100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway Central Denver

    303-534-1455

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    When Palettes opened, in 1997, heads turned. Not as much as they did years later to take in the Hamilton wing of the Denver Art Museum, with its shiny triangular facade and vertiginous stairs, but they turned all the same. Until then, dining was an afterthought to art, and hungry museum-goers in Denver were faced with the same dilemma as art-lovers nationwide: Order something from the casual museum cafe or leave the premises for a fancier meal. Palettes, along with chef-driven restaurants at the Getty in Los Angeles, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Neue Galerie in New York, changed all that, proving that food could be as much of a draw as the art. But today Palettes seems almost like a sketch for an iconic work: You see glimpses of the brilliance that could be, but the lines are faint, the hand still feeling its way. Palettes is in the hands of veteran restaurateur Kevin Taylor, who closed both Restaurant Kevin Taylor and Prima in early 2014; now that he has more time, he should make an effort to fill in between those lines.
    22 articles
  • Image: Panzano

    Panzano

    909 17th St. Downtown Denver

    303-296-3525

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    This is not your usual hotel restaurant. The culinary team at Panzano has as its motto "Chi mangia bene, viva bene" (Those who eat well, live well), and although we can't guarantee how you'll live, or even sleep, at the Hotel Monaco, you can certainly live it up in the elegant, yet comfortable dining room that specializes in perfectly prepared northern Italian cuisine. In addition to the impressive menu, there are regular specials, and the attached bar has both an excellent happy hour and a few very cozy booths that are just the spot to sip martinis.
    79 articles
  • Image: Punch Bowl Social

    Punch Bowl Social

    65 Broadway Central Denver

    303-765-2695

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    The original Punch Bowl Social opened on Broadway in 2012 as a premier fun zone for adults. The newer Stapleton location, at 3120 Uinta Street, continues the tradition in a breathtaking space built into the former airport’s control tower. Bowling, karaoke, vintage video games and shuffleboard are just a few of the diversions, but both locations boast multiple bars for those just there for the drinks. Founder Robert Thompson has built a nationwide Punch Bowl empire over the past several years, spreading the Denver brand far beyond Colorado’s borders.
    94 articles
  • Image: Pho Saigon

    Pho Saigon

    8101 S. Quebec St., Englewood Southeast Denver Suburbs

    303-694-6494

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    There are some restaurants where the world does not intrude -- rooms where time does not pass, weather never changes, current events go unnoted. Pho Saigon is one of those places, unaltered by time and circumstance, with service that"s always quick and friendly. Another constant is the excellent pho, but the menu also extends to commendable versions of simple Vietnamese comfort foods: grilled meats, spring rolls, noodle bowls and the like.
    3 articles
  • Image: Santiago's Mexican Restaurant

    Santiago's Mexican Restaurant

    571 Santa Fe Dr., Denver Golden Triangle/La Alma

    303-534-5004

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    Santiago's — in particular, this Santiago's — is one of the best places in the city for breakfast burritos, if you happen to love the foil-wrapped, un-smothered style (and let's be honest, who doesn't?). Santiago's also does a good green chile, as well as worthy tacos and non-breakfast burritos. This is a homegrown chain that seems to add links every day; with over twenty (and counting) area locations, you're never more than a few minutes' drive from a great breakfast — and another example of Denver's unique take on Mexican cuisine.
    19 articles
  • Image: The Terminal Bar

    The Terminal Bar

    1701 Wynkoop St. Downtown Denver

    720-460-3701

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    Long before there was a renovated Union Station, even long before lower downtown was nicknamed LoDo, there was a Terminal Bar in the neighborhood. It was a down-and-dirty workingman's joint, named for both the nearby Union Station and the long-gone Terminal Annex Post Office. Three happy hours a day -- early morning, late afternoon and very late at night -- catered to workers coming off (or headed to) their shifts at those spots. The old Terminal Bar has been gone nearly twenty years -- but in June 2014, its name was resurrected for a new watering hole in the former ticketing office inside the Great Hall of Union Station. With an extensive selection of classic cocktails and wines, it's an ideal spot for celebrating great memories -- and for making new ones.
    14 articles
  • Image: The Village Cork

    The Village Cork

    1300 S. Pearl St. South Denver

    303-282-8399

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    For years, if you needed a place to take a date, you’d go to the Village Cork. If you were meeting up with the girls, you’d go to the Village Cork. But when it was time for dinner, you’d go elsewhere. Now, thanks to a makeover in fall 2014, this onetime wine bar is on its way to being the kind of restaurant that owner Lisa Lapp always envisioned. Watch the cooks at work with a seat at the new wraparound chef’s counter, or just enjoy their handiwork as your seasonally inspired courses arrive. Soups are especially good, followed by heartier fare such as hanger steak with peppercorn sauce, a bone-in pork chop with cherry demi-glace, or chicken curry. There's also a new bar with a full liquor license, but what hasn't changed -- and what's still the best thing about the Cork -- is the far-reaching list of wines by the bottle and glass.
    29 articles
  • Image: Vita Restaurant

    Vita Restaurant

    1575 Boulder St. Northwest Denver

    303-477-4600

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    Highland has become Denver's hottest restaurant neighborhood, and from the stunning rooftop of Vita, with its view of the Platte Valley and downtown beyond, you'll feel on top of the world. And you'll definitely feel above the LoDo fray; this is just the spot for those who enjoy drinking outdoors without having to fight plastic-cup-carrying crowds.
    9 articles
  • Image: The Walnut Room

    The Walnut Room

    3131 Walnut St., Denver Five Points/RiNo

    303-295-1868

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    You can slum it with a cheap slice and a drink at just about every pizza joint in town, but when you want to slum it in style, the Walnut Room feels your vibe. At lunchtime, a fresh-faced server, usually of the hipster sort, will trot out an eight-inch thin-crust pizza topped with whatever single ingredient tickles your fancy, a cup of soup or a house salad scattered with mozzarella, and a beverage. This Five Points joint, which opened in 2005, is not only a great place for grub, but it's also a 250-person music venue that brings in a steady stream of local and national acts and boasts one of the best-sounding rooms in the city.
    130 articles

  • Wazee Supper Club

    1600 15th St. Downtown Denver

    303-623-9518

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    The Wazee predates all the hipness, all the gentrification of LoDo. But the bar has aged so well, no place works better when you need a place to crash-land for a couple of hours, a couple of years, a lifetime. It's seen some famous faces (and has even been owned by one, John Hickenlooper), but has also served 10,000 times as many nobodies. And the food here, especially the burgers and pizza, is far better than you'd expect, exactly the sort of grub that goes perfectly with a beer, a shot and a long night out with friends. A major renovation in 2012 gave the place a big new kitchen and expanded the dining area in the bar, but the dumbwaiter remains, as does the down-home atmosphere that makes this such a great neighborhood bar. Here’s to forty more years at the Wazee.
    42 articles
  • Image: Yazoo Barbeque Company

    Yazoo Barbeque Company

    2150 Broadway, Denver Five Points/RiNo

    303-296-3334

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    "Sauce is a condiment. In my opinion, it's optional." So says Don Hines, who owns Yazoo Barbeque Company. He came by his opinion in Memphis, where he worked on a number of barbecue teams. Instead of sauce, the pitmaster uses a Memphis-style dry rub on his ribs, pork shoulder and brisket to lock in flavor, then smokes those meats over pecan wood. After moving to Denver, he first gained fans with his little storefront on the edge of downtown, which is still our favorite for the smokier flavors and fall-off-the-bone texture. And despite his opinion that sauce is optional, he puts bottles of his own homemade version out on every table — but he insists that he learned to make that sauce here in Denver, not in Memphis.
    13 articles
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