The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Flying J Ranch Park Trailhead
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Rank 2. 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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- Westword 2026 · Best Restaurant for Craft Beer · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Comeback · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Wings and Tenders · Best of Denver
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Rank 5. African Grill and Bar
African
The Osei-Fordwuo brothers preside over a dining room where strangers become regulars by dessert, moving through West African stews and starches with the ease of a homecoming. Jollof rice with oxtail and red red—black-eyed peas with fried plantains—anchor a menu that treats regional technique as inheritance, not novelty.
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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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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Rank 7. 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
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- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Dave Grant and Rocky Hunter
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Rank 9. 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
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Rank 10. 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 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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- 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
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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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- 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 15. 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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- 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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- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best New Addition to a Food Hall · Best of Denver
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Rank 18. 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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- 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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Rank 21. The Wolf's Tailor
Contemporary
Chef Taylor Stark builds a multicourse narrative from global influences and local Colorado ingredients, opening with canapés that telegraph his kitchen's resourcefulness and closing with dishes like bison loin glazed in dried shrimp caramel. The beverage program matches the food's ambition—cocktails and wines composed with equal rigor and intelligence.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Erika Whitaker and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Matt Husted, Erika Whitaker, and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST Hospitality Group
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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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Rank 23. Mizuna
French/American
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Rank 24. EDGE
Colorado
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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 27. 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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Rank 28. 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 30. 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
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 31. 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 32. Odell's Bagel
Kaiseki Japanese
By day Odell's moves kettle-boiled bagels topped with vegan carrot lox or hamachi and wasabi; by night, chef-owner Miles Odell pivots to kaiseki at the Counter, a hyperseasonal tasting that channels his years under Japanese masters into exquisite courses of scallop, Wagyu gyoza, and miso ice cream.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Miles Odell
- Westword 2025 · Best Bagel Sandwiches · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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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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- Westword 2024 · Best New Bakery · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best New Takeout Pizza · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 35. Burrito Express
Mexican
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Rank 36. 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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Rank 37. Palace Arms
Inspired French
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Rank 42. The Electric Cure
Tiki Cocktail Bar
- Westword 2024 · Best Satanic Gay Tiki Bar · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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Rank 48. Hey Kiddo
Contemporary
High above Tennyson Street, Chef Kelly Whitaker's playful third-floor restaurant stages broadly Asian-inflected shareable plates—Korean fried chicken with an improbable crunch, pork ribs with salted plum sauce—alongside compelling sides like crispy potato pavé topped with trout roe gravy. Red miso ice cream arrives customizable, a fitting closer to food that treats joy as a fundamental ingredient.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Matt Husted, Erika Whitaker, and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST Hospitality Group
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- Westword 2023 · Best New Restaurant-and-Bar Combo · Best of Denver
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Rank 50. 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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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
- Westword 2026 · Best Secretly High-Tech Cocktails · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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Rank 55. 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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Rank 57. 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 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
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Rank 59. The Cruise Room
Art Deco Cocktail Bar
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. West
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
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Rank 60. 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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- Westword 2025 · Best Place to Get a Warm Beer on Purpose · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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- Westword 2026 · Best Underground Sushi Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best New Omakase · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 65. A5 Steakhouse
Modern Steakhouse
A5's corner room glows with retro warmth, its bar a natural gathering spot while Chef Max MacKissock tends to steakhouse classics with small, deliberate flourishes. The Denver steak from Blackhawk Farms arrives flawlessly executed, reason enough to book a table back.
- Westword 2023 · Best Steakhouse · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top Burger · Top of the Town
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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A cramped Platte Street cantina where chef Jose Avila marries Japanese and Mexican traditions through mezcal, music, and dishes built on hoja santa and yuzu. The cocktails follow suit—sotol meets sake, charanda meets shochu—while a taco cart outside and rotating DJs sustain the sense of perpetual celebration.
- Westword 2026 · Best Dessert With Salmon Roe · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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Rank 67. 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.
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Rank 69. Tavernetta
Italian
Tavernetta commands Union Station's grand arrival hall with the ease of a place that knows its worth. Cacio e pepe and lamb ragù rigatoni arrive with the kind of careful execution that justifies the Frasca Hospitality Group's reputation, while the wine list rewards curiosity. An affogato with honey gelato closes the evening in a room that feels both spacious and intimate.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Westword 2026 · Best Slice of Pie · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Shop for Pie Lovers · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Breakfast Burrito · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Expansion · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 11 Best Breakfast Burritos in Denver and Beyond
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- Westword 2026 · Best No Rules Pasta Shop · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
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- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. West
- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
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Rank 77. Spuntino
Indian-influenced Italian
Chef Cindhura Reddy's modern Italian cooking folds Indian spices into elk tartare and lamb dishes with the ease of someone working from deep conviction rather than novelty. Her husband Elliot Strathmann's beverage program—sourcing obscure Italian producers, fermenting house amari—matches that soulfulness across a dining room animated by genuine warmth.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Cindhura Reddy
- Westword 2023 · Best Non-Traditional Italian Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 78. 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 79. Kawa Ni
Japanese
A former firehouse turned izakaya where Chef Bill Taibe's Connecticut-inflected Japanese cooking trades convention for curiosity: scallop crudo brightened with grapefruit and dill, kung pao chicken karaage, kimchi udon dressed like carbonara. The bar welcomes walk-ins into a relaxed, convivial room built for drinking sake and nibbling across the menu's freewheeling range.
- Westword 2024 · Best East Coast Transplant · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 80. 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
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- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Eater Johnny burger · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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Rank 87. Tocabe
Indigenous
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater Bison Indian taco · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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Rank 89. 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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- Westword 2024 · Best Vintage Spirits List · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
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- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- 5280 French Dip · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
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Rank 93. Tí Cafe
Vietnamese Coffee
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Rank 97. 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 100. 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