The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near El Tejado
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- 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
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- 5280 The 11 Best Breakfast Burritos in Denver and Beyond
- 5280 Torta · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
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Rank 13. 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
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Rank 16. 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 2023 · Best Old-School Italian Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Sicilian Bakery · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Savory Cannoli · Best of Denver
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Rank 17. 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
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Rank 19. Right Cream
Dessert
David Right started making small-batch ice cream during the pandemic, and his Instagram-announced flavors—loaded with house-made mix-ins—got so popular he opened a proper shop on South Downing. You pre-order online, grab your pint, and can nurse a draft beer while you're there, making it the rare ice cream spot that doubles as a casual hangout.
- Westword 2023 · Best Ice Cream/Gelato Shop · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Savory Food at an Ice Cream Shop · Best of Denver
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- 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
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Rank 22. 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
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- 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
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- Westword 2026 · Best Place to Worship Whiskey · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top Distillery · Top of the Town
- Westword 2025 · Best New Spirits Tasting Room · Best of Denver
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Rank 29. 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
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- 5280 2025 · Top New Restaurant · Top of the Town
- Westword 2025 · Best Happy Hour Bite · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Melih Cingilli runs this four-table Englewood outpost with the precision of a man who answers to no one but himself, turning out crunchy falafel and tender börek in a dining room stripped to essentials. The iskender—beef and lamb layered with tomato sauce and yogurt over pita—arrives as a kind of edible manifesto: restraint and satisfaction in perfect proportion.
- Westword 2023 · Best Mediterranean Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 32. 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
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 33. Ototo
Japanese
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Rank 35. 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
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Rank 36. 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
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- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
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Rank 38. Mizuna
French/American
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Rank 40. 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
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Rank 41. 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
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Rank 46. 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
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- 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
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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.
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Rank 52. Tí Cafe
Vietnamese Coffee
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- Westword 2024 · Best Place to Drink With a View · Best of Denver
- 5280 2024 · Best for Day Drinking · The 23 Best Bars in Denver
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
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Rank 55. 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
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- Westword 2026 · Best Cafe That’s Also a Bakery · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Pastries at a Coffee Shop · Best of Denver
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- 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
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Rank 58. 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.
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Rank 59. Star Kitchen
Dim sum Chinese
Strip-mall dim sum spot where the carts start rolling early with dumplings, shrimp balls, chicken feet, and enough sticky rice to justify showing up before the doors open on weekends. Arrive with a hungry group ready to work through family-style plates and chase everything with chile oil, because this is the real draw—the dinner menu that follows is an afterthought.
- Westword 2023 · Best Chinese Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
- Eater The Best Chinese Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 60. 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
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Rank 62. 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.
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Rank 68. Palace Arms
Inspired French
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Rank 72. La Forêt
French
- Westword 2025 · Best Date Night Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Westword 2023 · Best Pickle Shots · Best of Denver
- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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Rank 85. EDGE
Colorado
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Rank 86. 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
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
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Rank 93. Moonrise Coffee Roasters
Hawaiian
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Rank 95. 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
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- Westword 2024 · Best Den-Mex Eats at a Bar · Best of Denver
- Eater Green chili · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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Rank 99. Rioja
Mediterranean
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater Fresh bacon · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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