The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Odell's Bagel
-
Rank 1. 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
-
-
-
- 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 5. 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
-
- Westword 2024 · Best Pizza on Wheels · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Pickle Pizza · Best of Denver
-
-
Rank 8. 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 9. 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
-
-
- Westword 2026 · Best No Rules Pasta Shop · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2025 · The Fifteen Best New Denver Restaurants
-
Rank 12. Coffeegraph
Indonesian
-
-
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
-
-
-
- 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
-
- 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
-
- Westword 2025 · Best Place to Get a Warm Beer on Purpose · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
-
-
-
Rank 22. 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
-
Rank 23. 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
-
Rank 24. 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
-
-
-
-
Rank 28. Adobo
Filipino Mexican
A sprawling late-night spot on Federal Boulevard that hosts live music and moves between Filipino and New Mexican flavors with equal ease. The lumpia are crispy, the chicken adobo tacos are a natural fit, and the whole operation has the casual energy of a place that knows exactly what it's doing.
- Westword 2024 · Best Chicken Wing Deal · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best New Mexican/Filipino Mashup · Best of Denver
-
- Westword 2026 · Best Slice of Pie · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Shop for Pie Lovers · Best of Denver
-
- Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
-
- 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
-
-
- Westword 2024 · Best Fried Chicken Entree · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
-
-
-
- 5280 Juicy Lucy · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
-
-
-
- Westword 2026 · Best Sunny Day Lunch Spot · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
-
- Westword 2024 · Best New Restaurant in a Convenience Store · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Banh Mi · Best of Denver
-
-
Rank 42. Glo Noodle House
Noodles
A strip-mall ramen shop with dark wood interiors punctuated by vibrant lanterns, named for owner Chris Teigland's mother. The kitchen executes serious flavor across miso bacon broths and heat-forward bowls, with desserts like crispy rice cake and kasu-lime ice cream justifying the trip.
-
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
-
-
Rank 45. 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
-
-
- 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
-
Rank 48. 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.
-
Rank 49. The Ginger Pig
Chinese
Chef Natascha Hess spent years absorbing Chinese and Southeast Asian home cooking before opening this brick-walled spot on Lowell Boulevard, where her food truck still parks out front. Boiled pork dumplings swim in chili oil, stir-fried cabbage glows with Thai chili jam—the kitchen knows heat and knows restraint, each dish a legible argument for flavors earned rather than merely applied.
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 54. 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
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
-
-
-
- Westword 2024 · Best Delicious Date Night · Best of Denver
- Eater Ice cream · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
-
-
-
-
-
-
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Erika Whitaker and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- 5280 2024 · Best for Filling Bellies · The 23 Best Bars in Denver
-
Rank 64. Bodega
American
Cliff Blauvelt's boisterous Sunnyside breakfast spot moves fast and keeps it simple: killer burritos, a bacon-egg-and-cheese on a Kaiser that shouldn't work but does, and a burger that's genuinely among Denver's best. Lines form early for the rotating sandwich menu, and the whole vibe is pure neighborhood casual—exactly the kind of place that makes people loyal.
- Westword 2023 · Best Breakfast · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Place to Escape for a Midday Meal · Best of Denver
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 75. Bakery Four
Bakery
Shawn Bergin's bakery moved to a bigger Tennyson Street space in 2022, and the line of customers eager for pastries and sandwiches still regularly wraps out the door. The pastry selection expanded significantly with the new room, and there's genuine excitement around what comes next from this Denver favorite.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Westword 2025 · Best Avocado Toast · Best of Denver
- 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops in Denver
-
Rank 82. 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
- Wine Enthusiast 2023 · Forward 50 Restaurants
-
-
Rank 84. 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
-
Rank 85. 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
-
-
- 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
-
Rank 88. Convivio Cafe
Guatamalan/Latin
Convivio Cafe is a West Highland hangout where Guatemalan coffee and Latin-inflected food fuel long mornings and longer conversations, with mural-covered walls that make you feel like you've stepped into someone's living room. The owners source beans and produce from their roots, creating a genuine third place for the neighborhood's Central American community and anyone else looking to linger.
-
Rank 89. Rioja
Mediterranean
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater Fresh bacon · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
-
-
Rank 91. 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 93. 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.
- 5280 2025 · Top Burger · Top of the Town
- Westword 2023 · Best Steakhouse · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
-
-
Rank 95. EDGE
Colorado
-
- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best New Addition to a Food Hall · Best of Denver
-
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · McLain Hedges and Mary Allison Wright
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Bar Team
- 50 Best 2026 · #67 · North America's 50 Best Bars
-
-
-