The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Mile High Comics
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Rank 1. 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 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Emily Thompson
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- Westword 2025 · Best Avocado Toast · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops in Denver
- 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
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- Westword 2024 · Best Bar for Good Vibes · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
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Rank 5. Kiké's Red Tacos
Birria Mexican
A brick-and-mortar taco shop born from a 2021 food truck, named after patriarch Enrique Silva Figueroa, who spent decades running kitchens in Jalisco. The expanded kitchen turns out birria, carnitas, and al pastor tacos with a full bar backing them up.
- Westword 2023 · Best Tacos · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Move From Food Truck to Brick-and-Mortar · Best of Denver
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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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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- 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 2026 · Best Rooftop Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2025 · The Fifteen Best New Denver Restaurants
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Rank 12. Temaki Den
Sushi
Temaki Den rolls handmade sushi cones one at a time in a darkened stall within The Source Market Hall, where moody lighting and open sightlines match the precision of its work. Scottish salmon belly with yuzu kosho and crispy shallots, or miso-caramelized eggplant nigiri, arrive warm and intentional—the kind of small, focused menu that rewards repeat visits.
- Westword 2023 · Best Sushi Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best First Date Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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A spare, elegant room in RiNo devoted entirely to the cooking of Emilia-Romagna—where bison mortadella meets tigelle and Lambrusco flows easy. The whey-braised pork shoulder with polenta arrives as a kind of argument for why this corner of Italy has always known what it's doing.
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Rank 14. Safta
Israeli Mediterranean
Chef Alon Shaya's first restaurant outside Louisiana channels Israeli cooking with unusual clarity—hummus arrives with chanterelle mushrooms and chermoula butter. The airy dining room, annexed to a coffee counter, pairs playful salatim and harissa chicken with genuine originality rather than nostalgia.
- Sunset 2024 · Restaurants · Where to Eat and Drink
- Westword 2023 · Best Brunch Buffet · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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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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Rank 17. Smōk
Barbecue
Counter service at the Source Hotel where an Austin-trained pitmaster builds brisket and jalapeño sausage with restraint and smoke that suggests rather than shouts. The sides fade beside the meat, though a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and sweet potato tots tempt those still hungry.
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A coffee counter that morphs into a sandwich shop then a day bar, Odie B's assembles breakfasts like the Boujee with herbed feta and za'atar on focaccia, then keeps a patio full of regulars nursing green chile bloody marys into afternoon. The spirit is Sunnyside neighborhood life itself—boisterous, casual, unapologetically plural in what it wants to be.
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 19. 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 21. 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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- 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 25. 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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- Westword 2023 · Best Beer to Drink Ringside: Helles · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Pro Wrestling Show · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Brewery Upgrade · Best of Denver
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Rank 27. The Bindery
Italian/Israeli/Mexican
The Bindery opens before dawn and stays restless until late, a LoHi bakery-cafe where the owner's decades abroad surface in posole verde at breakfast and branzino at dinner. What emerges across the day is less a menu than evidence of an appetite that refuses to settle—smoked rabbit with cheddar and mustard gelato proof that eclecticism, here, is not decoration but conviction.
- 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
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Rank 29. 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
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- 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
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The neon-lit basement dining room signals chefs Harrison Porter and Rema Maaliki's refusal of restraint: their menu pivots seasonally through global territory, pairing fried sweetbreads with blue cheese one moment, red snapper crudo the next. Cocktails built around dates and balsamic vinegar match this restless spirit, anchored by genuine warmth and a rotating showcase of local talent.
- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Bread and Butter · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 36. Ash'Kara
Mediterranean
Ash'Kara's dining room glows with the warmth of a neighborhood kitchen that takes its Mediterranean and North African roots seriously, starting with mezze built around wood-fired heritage wheat pita. The cooking trades flourish for restraint—tagines and vegetable-forward plates gain their character from ingredient quality and technique, not artifice.
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Rank 37. Beckon
Contemporary
Chef Duncan Holmes's counter in a minimalist RiNo space delivers seasonal cooking of striking restraint, with vegetables and desserts that justify the focus. Seared duck with black truffle and a chocolate dessert anchored by salsify ice cream show how discipline and precision can feel generous.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outsdanding Restaurant
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
- Westword 2026 · Best Culinary-Inspired Cocktails · Best of Denver
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Rank 41. Noble Riot
Wine Bar
Noble Riot is a wine bar where candlelit evenings and gorgeous vintage maps of wine regions set the scene for serious drinking without the stuffiness. The wine list rewards both adventurous tasting and comfortable favorites, and the fried chicken here is good enough to be the reason you came.
- Westword 2023 · Best Fried Chicken · Best of Denver
- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
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- 5280 2025 · Top Steakhouse · Top of the Town
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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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
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Westword 2024 · Best Black Coffee · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops in Denver
- 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
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Rank 47. 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 48. 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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- Esquire 2023 · The Telegraph · The Best Martinis in America
- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Distillery for Cocktails, With or Without Booze · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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Rank 54. 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
- Esquire 2024 · The Best Bars in America
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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 59. 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 60. 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
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- Westword 2026 · Best Sunny Day Lunch Spot · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 62. EDGE
Colorado
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- 5280 The 11 Best Breakfast Burritos in Denver and Beyond
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
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Rank 64. 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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Rank 66. Major Tom
New American
Chef Duncan Holmes's cosmic-themed restaurant next to his Michelin-starred tasting menu concept offers a looser, more playful take on the same kitchen's ambitions. The concise à la carte menu—savory babka, hanger steak, overnight cabbage with red miso—reads like proof that serious cooking doesn't need to take itself seriously.
- Westword 2023 · Best Pork Chop · Best of Denver
- 5280 2024 · Best for Filling Bellies · The 23 Best Bars in Denver
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Westword 2024 · Best Vintage Spirits List · Best of Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
- Eater 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 69. Palace Arms
Inspired French
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Rank 70. 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
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
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- Punch 2025 · The Who’s Who of Beer Cool
- Westword 2025 · Best Place to Get a Mug of Foam on Purpose · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Beer Service · Best of Denver
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Larimer Street's La Diabla trades polish for color and conviction, with dark wood floors beneath vibrant walls where chef Jose Avila's five-variation pozole—from smoky black to mushroom-forward white—arrives in bowls built for customization and comfort. A mezcal selection deepens the spell.
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Jose Avila
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Rank 76. Mister Oso
Mexican
At Mister Oso, a spare dining room fills with the clatter of a kitchen unafraid of Latin American detours—ceviches, salads, ambitious sides—where tacos are the vehicle, not the destination. Smoked lamb cheek wrapped in tortilla with pickled onion and avocado salsa, coconut rice in cast iron bridging sweet and heat, suggest a chef cooking with real invention.
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Rank 77. 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 80. Tocabe
Indigenous
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Eater Bison Indian taco · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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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
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 82. Brutø
Contemporary
Chef Byron Gomez's counter in the Dairy Block marries Japanese and Nordic traditions through a fermentation program and a mastery of the hearth that chars each course with intention. The sea urchin with butternut bisque and the non-alcoholic pairings reveal a kitchen thinking seriously about locality and narrative.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Outstanding Restaurateur · Erika Whitaker and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Matt Husted, Erika Whitaker, and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST Hospitality Group
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Rank 83. Welton Street Cafe
Southern
- Westword 2025 · Best New Digs · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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- Westword 2024 · Best Fried Chicken Entree · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 85. 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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Rank 86. 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 88. Coffeegraph
Indonesian
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- Westword 2025 · Best New Bar Where Everything Is $5 · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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Rank 91. Dio Mio
Italian
Two fine-dining veterans run a stripped-down pasta counter on Larimer Street where a visible production table becomes the show. The menu pivots with seasons, moving from classical cacio e pepe with pink peppercorn to unexpected turns—casarecce tangled with shrimp, dill, and toasted parmesan—each one testing the limits of what pasta can hold without ceremony.
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Rank 93. 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
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- Westword 2026 · Best Underground Sushi Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best New Omakase · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 99. 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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- Westword 2024 · Best Delicious Date Night · Best of Denver
- Eater Ice cream · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes