The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Cherokee Ranch & Castle
-
-
- Westword 2024 · Best Non-Traditional Hamburger · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top Chinese · Top of the Town
- Eater The Best Chinese Restaurants in Denver
-
-
Rank 4. Poulette Bakeshop
French Bakery
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Carolyn Nugent and Alen Ramos
-
-
Rank 6. Kizaki
Japanese
Chef Toshi Kizaki, a Denver sushi pioneer now in his seventies, commands a intimate counter where edomae tradition meets restless innovation. The omakase unfolds through his own hands—marbled tofu, precisely formed nigiri, seared black-throat perch—each course a statement of ingredient and craft refined across four decades.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
-
Rank 7. Hong Kong Station
Cantonese Chinese
-
- Westword 2025 · Best Happy Hour Bite · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top New Restaurant · Top of the Town
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
Rank 9. Margot
Contemporary
An eight-seat counter where Chef Justin Fulton stages a seasonal tasting menu that braids local Colorado ingredients with global technique—think caviar-crowned gnocchi alongside dry-aged duck with cherries and truffle. Warm service and a basket of olive oil brioche baked fresh for each guest set the tone for cooking that feels both refined and unpretentious.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Westword 2026 · Best New Tasting Menu Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
-
- Westword 2024 · Best Food Truck Lineup at a Bar · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Place to Get Trashed · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Bar Decor · Best of Denver
-
- Westword 2025 · Best New Spirits Tasting Room · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top Distillery · Top of the Town
- Westword 2026 · Best Place to Worship Whiskey · Best of Denver
-
Rank 12. Restaurant Olivia
Italian
At Restaurant Olivia, house-made pasta is the vehicle for assertive flavor combinations that swing from traditional Italian to inventively cross-cultural—bronze-die gemelli with Umbrian sausage, ricotta gnocchi with coconut lobster bisque and black garlic. The room hums with a kind of easy confidence, matched by cocktails designed to provoke rather than merely please.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
Rank 13. Tofu Story
Korean
The dining room at Tofu Story smells of sesame and ferment, a Korean kitchen that makes its own tofu and builds entire stews around its silken texture. Soy-marinated crab and braised monkfish share the menu with rice cakes and short ribs, all meant to be chased with soju or the brewery's own rice lager.
- Westword 2024 · Best Tofu Menu for Non-Vegetarians · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Place to Watch Tofu Being Made While Eating Tofu · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
Rank 14. Barolo Grill
Northern Italian
Barolo Grill anchors Denver fine dining with Northern Italian cooking that balances classical technique—spinach soufflés, handmade pastas—against seasonal invention. The wine program, steeped in Barolo and stewarded by an unusually knowledgeable staff, matches the kitchen's ambition without pretension.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service · Ryan Fletter
- Westword 2025 · Best Crème Brûlée · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
-
- Westword 2025 · Best Pastries at a Coffee Shop · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Cafe That’s Also a Bakery · Best of Denver
-
- Westword 2026 · Best New Barbecue Joint · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
-
Rank 17. Alteño
Jalisco Mexican
Chef Johnny Curiel channels his Jalisco roots through bold seafood and regional Mexican cooking, anchored by standout dishes like kanpachi tostada and braised lamb shank. The moody dining room honors traditional flavors while respecting ingredient quality with unsentimental rigor.
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Westword 2026 · Best Cornbread · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top Chef · Top of the Town · Johnny Curiel
-
Rank 18. Mizuna
French/American
-
- Westword 2026 · Best Sushi Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater Banana cream pie · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
-
Rank 20. MAKfam
American Chinese
The narrow room hums with the casual precision of a kitchen staffed by people who grew up around stoves, serving fried wontons stuffed with crab and cheese alongside hand-shaped potstickers that taste like someone's memory made edible. Málà chicken wings and corned beef fried rice arrive with the confidence of dishes that have been thought through, not merely assembled.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Emerging Chef · Kenneth Wan
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Kenneth Wan
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
-
-
- Westword 2025 · Best Custom Cake Shop Serving Hong Kong Eats · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The Best Chinese Restaurants in Denver
-
-
-
Rank 25. Alma Fonda Fina
Mexican
Chef Johnny Curiel mines his Guadalajara childhood with technical precision, transforming humble ingredients—scallops in tomato butter, sweet potato with salsa matcha—into something both grounded and alive. The menu resists hierarchy; skip dessert and keep ordering, each dish a small argument for restraint's pointlessness.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- 50 Best 2025 · #45 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Johnny Curiel
-
-
-
Rank 28. Somebody People
Vegetarian
Somebody People's bright dining room—turquoise, pink, lemon yellow—hosts seasonal vegan cooking of deceptive simplicity: panzanella with pickled plum vinegar, gigante beans in seaweed broth, baklava with date syrup. The wine list favors biodynamic producers, the cocktails are sharp and affordable, and the Tuesday-Saturday tasting menu costs fifty-two dollars.
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
-
Rank 30. Yuan Wonton
Chinese
Chef-owner Penelope Wong runs this Park Hill lunch spot with infectious energy, moving between wonton stations and a rotating menu that pivots on her Chinese and Thai instincts. The twice-fried pork with caramelized pineapple and crispy garlic noodles arrive as proof that constraint—limited hours, small space—breeds invention.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Penelope Wong
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Penelope Wong
-
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Bar Team
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright
- 50 Best 2026 · #67 · North America's 50 Best Bars
-
- 5280 The 11 Best Breakfast Burritos in Denver and Beyond
- 5280 Torta · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
-
- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
- Westword 2026 · Best Wine and Vinyl Club · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Place to Drown Out Your Annoying Friend · Best of Denver
-
Rank 34. Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails
Ukrainian Eastern European
Owner Bo Porytko elevates humble Eastern European staples—beets, buckwheat, radishes—into refined dishes like salt-baked celery root with creamed sorrel and porchetta paprikash with herbed spaetzle. Counter seating at this snug East Colfax room pairs the cooking with horilka cocktails and wines from the Balkans, all of it executed with a confidence that makes the rustic feel luxurious.
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Bo Porytko
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Bo Porytko
-
Rank 35. Mezcaleria Alma
Mexican
Chef Johnny Curiel channels Mexico City's restless creativity into a narrow mezcal bar where herbaceous ceviches and slow-cooked duck meet dill and mandarin in a single, surprising breath. The agave cocktails are inventive enough to match the food's ambition.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
-
Rank 36. Palace Arms
Inspired French
-
Rank 37. LaTinto Cafe
Colombian Coffee
- Westword 2024 · Best Colombian Coffee Shop · Best of Denver
- 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops in Denver
-
-
-
- Westword 2026 · Best Ethiopian · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
-
-
Rank 42. EDGE
Colorado
-
Rank 43. Rougarou
Southern
Chef JohnDavid Wright channels the South through boiled peanuts and collard greens, then tilts the lens with hot-and-sour catfish and sorghum-glazed pork. His sister and her husband calibrate cocktails with buttermilk and benne seed, making this Five Points spot feel like a family project where tradition meets playful invention.
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best New Bar · Best of Denver
-
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Bar Team
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
-
-
Rank 46. Rioja
Mediterranean
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater Fresh bacon · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
-
- Huckberry The 50 Best Dive Bars in America
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
-
-
- Westword 2026 · Best Mac and Cheese · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Food Truck Turned Brick-and-Mortar · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Fried Chicken Biscuit on Wheels · Best of Denver
-
Rank 50. Little Arthur's
Pizza
AJ Shreffler runs this spare beer bar on Seventh Avenue with the precision of a fine-dining kitchen, sourcing each ingredient for his cheesesteaks and Sicilian pies as though they were destined for a tasting menu. The sandwiches cost twenty dollars, the pizzas thirty and up, and every loaded fry and brownie arrives as evidence that ambition has no dress code.
- Westword 2025 · Best Pop-Up Turned Brick-and-Mortar · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
-
Rank 52. sắp sửa
Non-Traditional Vietnamese
The Nguyens' white dining room on East Colfax channels Vietnamese brightness through unexpected ingredients—veal sweetbreads with salsa verde, egg yolk swimming in brown butter and fish sauce—that feel both playful and assured. Cheeky cocktails like the Tiger's Milk, a gin drink perfumed with orange and dill, match the kitchen's refusal to stay still.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- Bon Appétit 2024 · America's Best New Restaurants
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
-
Rank 53. Dân Dã
Vietnamese
In a narrow room vibrating with order tickets, Dân Dã opens its sprawling menu onto curried beef in clay and salads layered with cuttlefish, jellyfish, and pickled lotus. The bar works tamarind and guava into drinks that meet the kitchen's unapologetic ambition with equal rigor.
- 5280 2025 · Top Vietnamese · Top of the Town
- Westword 2025 · Best Place to Dine With a Group · Best of Denver
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
-
-
Rank 56. Molino Chido
Mexican
Two chefs with Michelin pedigree run this Aurora taqueria where corn is ground fresh daily and the mood stays refreshingly casual despite sophisticated touches like bison tongue and tamarind. Counter seats promise a five-course tasting, but folding chairs and bright lights signal that excellent carnitas tacos and a strong margarita suit just fine.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Tommy Lee
- Westword 2026 · Best New Taco Joint · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
- Westword 2024 · Best Vintage Beer List · Best of Denver
- 5280 Pork Tenderloin · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
-
-
-
- Westword 2026 · Best Dim Sum Duo · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Fifteen Best New Denver Restaurants
-
Rank 61. El Taco De Mexico
Mexican
Since 1985, this stripped-down Santa Fe Drive taqueria has drawn steady crowds for its straightforward tacos and everything drowned in a bright, tingling green chile that defines the place. No frills, minimal service, maximum devotion—the James Beard Foundation named it an American Classic in 2020, and you'll understand why the first time you taste the salsa.
- Westword 2023 · Best Mexican Breakfast · Best of Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
-
-
-
-
Rank 65. Hop Alley
Sichuan Chinese
A sleek dining room channels Denver's Chinatown past while the kitchen reinvents it: gai lan arrives grilled with schmaltz and duck salt, dan dan noodles swim in fiery Sichuan peppercorn broth, shrimp toast gets mustard gastrique and tiger vinaigrass. Bold, playful, contemporary Chinese with cocktails that match its ambition.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Tommy Lee
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
-
Rank 66. Guard and Grace
Steakhouse
An oak fire blazes in the open kitchen of this downtown steakhouse, where floor-to-ceiling wine towers and polished modernism frame the serious business of beef. The filet arrives with lime smashed potatoes and chili butter—a dish that justifies the setting's architectural ambition.
-
Rank 67. Com Nha Kitchen & Bar
Vietnamese
In a quiet Denver pocket, Com Nha serves Vietnamese bar food—snails with salted egg, wings stuffed with pork and lime—designed less for nutrition than for sharing over outsized cocktails. The philosophy is legible in every dish: pho shots with beef broth, a three-liter soju tower, fries crowned with brisket and a runny yolk, each bite an invitation to linger.
-
- Esquire 2024 · The Best Bars in America
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Bar
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
-
Rank 69. Call Your Mother
NY-Style Bakery
- Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
-
In a Wash Park dining room lit by a vintage Pizza Hut lamp, chefs Figura and White play with Italian tradition—squid ink fettuccine with rock shrimp, pizzas topped with sunflower seed pesto—while anchoring every meal with a hoagie salad and Nutella icebox cake. Their sly approach to craft suggests they're having more fun than the tongue-in-cheek name lets on.
-
-
-
Darren Chang and Travis Masar channel Taiwanese cooking through a lens of textural audacity and playful restraint, where fermented garlic and jellyfish sit beside dishes of disarming ease. A fried chicken thigh glistens with schmaltz rice and hot honey; a cocktail arrives spiked with rose jam and black tea—each telling the same story of serious ambition wrapped in approachable warmth.
- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best New Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
-
Rank 75. Mar Bella Boqueria
Tapas Spanish
Chef Johnny Curiel's Spanish tapas counter in Cherry Creek trades the reservation frenzy of his other projects for a low-lit room where diners can drift between traditional pan con tomate and creations like coffee-braised oxtail in piquillo peppers. Saffron martinis and wines from lesser-known Spanish regions anchor a menu that reads like an argument for restraint and specificity over spectacle.
-
Rank 76. Lucina Eatery & Bar
Pan-Latin
Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati turned their cooking-school partnership into this vibrant Latin spot named for Casiano's mother, where the menu roams from Mexico to Miami by way of Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela. Mofongo and mussels with chorizo anchor the repertoire, while weekend paella rotates through the kitchen's moods.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati
- Westword 2024 · Best Latin Restaurant · Best of Denver
-
Rank 77. Xiquita
Mexican
Erasmo Casiano's Uptown restaurant layers Mexican sophistication with deliberate opacity—the untranslated menu becomes an invitation to explore, aided by staff who decipher dishes like dry-aged hamachi crudo with salsa negra and duck carnita tacos with equal fluency. Cocktails built from prickly pear and jicama match the kitchen's refusal to simplify.
- Esquire 2024 · Martini Cochinero · The Best Martinis in America
- Westword 2025 · Best New Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
Rank 78. Tí Cafe
Vietnamese Coffee
-
-
-
Rank 81. Luchador Tacos & More
Mexican
Chef Zuri Resendiz's moody Whittier taquería reaches beyond carne asada with roasted rabbit barbacoa in mole and 24-hour beef cheeks in pasilla negro adobo. The tacos—octopus al pastor, ribeye with grilled cactus—anchor a menu of impressive technical depth.
- Westword 2025 · Best New-School Mexican Joint · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top Mexican · Top of the Town
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
-
Rank 83. The Cruise Room
Art Deco Cocktail Bar
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. West
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 88. Sunday Vinyl
Wine Bar
This Union Station wine bar takes its cue from sommelier Bobby Stuckey's Sunday-night ritual of spinning records and opening great bottles, translating that intimate celebration into a lively downtown room bathed in music. The programming is playfully eclectic—Wednesday flight nights pair wines with everything from Billie Eilish to Jimi Hendrix, turning what could be a stiff tasting into something genuinely fun.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
-
-
-
- Westword 2025 · Best New Omakase · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Underground Sushi Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
Rank 92. Viva! Mexi Coffee Shop
Mexican
-
-
-
Rank 95. Fellow Traveler
Cocktail Bar
Fellow Traveler is an Englewood bar where the owner's obsession with unusual spirits—housemade Malört, baijiu, Hungarian digestifs—mirrors the kitchen's commitment to inventive vegan cooking. The drink menu reads like a postcard collection, and the whole place has the air of someone who got bored with the ordinary and decided to build something weirder instead.
- Westword 2023 · Best Vegan Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best You’d-Never-Know-It’s-Vegan Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Rotating Weekly Margarita · Best of Denver
-
Rank 96. Gallo Italian Supper Club and Bakery
Sicilian Italian
A Sicilian family's five-year-old spot in Englewood splits itself between a bakery counter and a sit-down dining room with a full bar, serving savory sausage-and-jalapeño cannoli alongside chicken parm and lasagna while staff ferry trays of cookies and lobster tail pastries to the case. The house-made limoncello comes creamy and smooth in the Sicilian style, a luxurious finish to red-sauce classics that taste like they've been perfected over generations.
- Westword 2024 · Best Savory Cannoli · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Sicilian Bakery · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Old-School Italian Restaurant · Best of Denver
-
-
-
-
A refugee community center in Aurora hosts six rotating food stalls whose menus shift unpredictably, requiring the visitor's patience and rewarding it with ful mudammas, weh da nah curry, doro wot, and momo that speak plainly to their origins. The fluorescent anonymity of the space dissolves the moment a dish arrives.
- Westword 2024 · Best International Food Hall · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best International Food Hall · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver