The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Yuan Wonton
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Rank 1. Yuan Wonton
Chinese
Penelope Wong's Park Hill lunch spot keeps limited hours, which only seems to sharpen the crowd's focus. The menu rotates around dumplings, wontons, and potstickers, with daily specials pulled from her Chinese and Thai background. Wong won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mountain, and the New York Times put this on its restaurant list, which for a weekday lunch counter is the kind of attention that makes Tuesday feel like a reservation you forgot to make.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Winner · Best Chef: Mountain · Penelope Wong
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Penelope Wong
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Penelope Wong
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Rank 3. Brutø
Nordic Japanese
An omakase counter tucked into the Free Market at Dairy Block, Brutø runs a tasting menu where the hearth does most of the talking. The kitchen blends Nordic and Japanese instincts with a serious fermentation program, and the non-alcoholic pairing is worth ordering without hesitation. Chef Byron Gomez holds a Michelin star and a James Beard Award, which is a lot of hardware for a counter hidden inside a food hall.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Outstanding Restaurateur · Erika Whitaker and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Michael Diaz de Leon
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Rank 5. Pig And Tiger
Taiwanese
A Taiwanese restaurant in Denver's Capitol Hill where jellyfish and pickled mustard stems show up on the menu but somehow feel like comfort food by the time they reach the table. The cocktails lean into it too, with an Old Fashioned built around rose jam and black tea. Eater named it one of Denver's best restaurants, and Westword gave it Best New Restaurant honors.
- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best New Restaurant · Best of Denver
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Rank 6. Palace Arms
Inspired French
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Rank 7. Guard and Grace
Steakhouse
The oak fire roaring in the open kitchen sets the tone: this is a steakhouse that means business. Anchored at the base of one of downtown Denver's tallest towers, Guard and Grace pairs floor-to-ceiling wine storage and a full seafood bar with the cuts you came for. The room is vast and dramatic, the kind of place where the architecture does half the talking. A Michelin Selected restaurant with AAA Four Diamonds.
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Rank 8. Rioja
Mediterranean
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater Fresh bacon · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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Rank 9. Xiquita
Mexican
The menu at this Uptown Mexican restaurant isn't fully translated into English, which the staff treat as a feature rather than a bug. Chef Erasmo Casiano's cooking runs from dry-aged hamachi crudo to duck carnitas tacos, and the cocktails lean on prickly pear, tomatillo, and jicama. Esquire named the Martini Cochinero among the best martinis in the country, which tells you something about where the bar program sits.
- Esquire Martini Cochinero · The Best Martinis in America
- Westword 2025 · Best New Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Pozole comes in five broths here, which is already an argument. This no-frills Mexican restaurant on Larimer holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and landed on the New York Times Restaurant List, with dark wood floors, vivid walls, and an extensive mezcal selection to keep things interesting. The chef was a James Beard nominee two years running. Weeknight deals keep the regulars cycling through more than once a week, which tells you something.
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Jose Avila
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
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- Westword 2025 · Best New Omakase · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 12. Panzano
Italian
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Rank 14. Tavernetta
Italian
Parked at the edge of the Union Station train tracks, Tavernetta is a polished Italian restaurant from the Frasca Hospitality Group, whose wine list alone draws a certain kind of devoted regular. The room is bright and roomy, with a comfortable bar up front and an open kitchen in the back. The menu runs classic, cacio e pepe and lamb ragu with rigatoni, prepared with real care. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand, and lunch is a particular moment to go.
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: Mountain · Cody Cheetham
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
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Rank 15. Sunday Vinyl
Wine Bar
The conceit here is that every night out feels like a dinner party at a sommelier's apartment, right down to the records spinning in the background. Bobby Stuckey, the master sommelier behind Frasca, built this wine bar around the idea that great wine and great music belong together. Wednesday flights pair pours with a specific artist's catalog, moving from Billie Eilish to Hendrix depending on the week. A James Beard semifinalist for its beverage program.
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
- Wine Enthusiast Forward 50 Restaurants
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Rank 16. A5 Steakhouse
Modern Steakhouse
Corner windows, kitschy wall art, and a bar that fills up well before dinner, A5 is a modern steakhouse with the warm energy of a place people come back to rather than cross off a list. Chef Max MacKissock plays the classics with a light hand, and the room has enough going on that a third martini starts to feel like sound planning. The Michelin Guide has selected it.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Steakhouse · Best of Denver
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Rank 18. Marco’s Coal Fired
Neapolitan Pizza
A coal-fired Neapolitan pizza shop a short walk from Coors Field, Marco's holds the only certification from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana in Colorado, which is basically a notarized letter from Naples saying the pies are correct. The crust is blistered and chewy in the right proportions. Substitutions on the Neapolitan pies are not allowed, which will sort the room into people who appreciate that and people who ask anyway.
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Rank 20. EDGE Restaurant & Bar
Steakhouse
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Rank 21. El Taco De Mexico
Mexican
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2023 · Best Mexican Breakfast · Best of Denver
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A long counter in a Scandi-spare RiNo room is where the tasting menu unfolds, the kitchen fully visible and conspicuously calm. Vegetables tend to steal scenes that duck and truffle are supposedly headlining, and desserts run ambitious enough that cocoa nib tuiles and salsify ice cream show up in the same bowl. The wine list is serious, and there's a zero-proof pairing if you'd rather stay sharp. Michelin has awarded it a star, and the James Beard Foundation named it an Outstanding Restaurant Semifinalist.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
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The underground RiNo dining room glows with neon, and the menu swings just as freely, pairing global flavors across courses in combinations that shouldn't work as well as they do. This is a casual but serious dinner spot where the cocktails lean on dates and balsamic vinegar and the kitchen hosts pop-ups for emerging local chefs. Westword named it among Denver's top fifty restaurants, and Eater puts it on their city essentials list.
- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 26. Rougarou
Southern
Southern cooking and a cocktail program that pours buttermilk and benne seed into the glass share equal billing at this casual Five Points restaurant and bar. The chef runs with heirloom grits and collard greens but also hot-and-sour catfish and sorghum-tamarind pork shoulder, so the kitchen respects the tradition without being hostage to it. The team behind the preeminent cocktail bar Yacht Club runs the drinks side, which explains the ambition in a room that looks relaxed about the whole thing.
- 5280 The 13 Best New Places to Eat and Drink in Denver
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best New Bar · Best of Denver
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Rank 27. Potager
Farm-to-table New American Wine Bar
The hidden back garden patio is reason enough to book a table, but the kitchen earns its own case: a farm-to-table wine bar in Capitol Hill that's been sourcing from local farmers since before that phrase appeared on every menu in Denver. The wine list leans toward sustainable, off-the-beaten-path producers, and the food shifts with what's actually growing nearby. Regulars treat the wintertime cassoulet like a seasonal event.
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Farm-to-Table Fare · Best of Denver
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Rank 28. Little Arthur's
Pizza
Cheesesteaks and pizza from a shop that takes both more seriously than most fine-dining kitchens take their tasting menus. Little Arthur's started as a pop-up and landed in a sunny little beer bar on Seventh Avenue, where the sourcing is meticulous and the portions are generous enough to make the prices feel fair. Mozzarella sticks and loaded fries round out a menu that reads casual but cooks deliberate.
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Pop-Up Turned Brick-and-Mortar · Best of Denver
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Rank 29. Mizuna
French New American
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Rank 32. Ukiyo
Japanese
You find it through an unmarked alley door, down into a basement, which is exactly the kind of entrance that makes people feel very pleased with themselves. Ukiyo is an omakase-style tasting restaurant with two seatings a night, the menu rooted in Japanese technique but pulling freely from Southeast Asian and Peruvian traditions. Nigiri runs from otoro with scallion to minced chicken with lemongrass, and dessert has featured uni ice cream over roasted apples.
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Rank 33. Alma Fonda Fina
Mexican
The agave-roasted sweet potato with salsa macha and fennel-whipped requesón has its own Eater listing, which tells you something about the ambition here. Alma Fonda Fina is a creative Mexican restaurant with a Michelin star, where the chef draws on a Guadalajara upbringing and runs a menu that skips dessert entirely, the logic being you should just order another dish. The chef's counter is the seat to want.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Sunset Restaurants · Where to Eat and Drink
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 39. Coperta
Southern Italian
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Rank 41. Mezcaleria Alma
Mexican
Tucked next to chef Johnny Curiel's flagship, this agave bar doubles as a serious kitchen, and the two halves push each other into strange, good territory. The mezcal list is long and thoughtful, the cocktails inventive, and the food pulls from Mexico City's restless energy with Japanese and other detours woven in. A Michelin star and a New York Times nod followed quickly. Plan around the bar counter if you can.
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Rank 48. MAKfam
American Chinese
Chicken wings dusted in málà seasoning are the thing people keep coming back for, but the corned beef fried rice is the move that explains this place in one bite. MAKfam is a quick-casual American Chinese spot run by a married couple with roots in Chinatown takeout and a loose definition of tradition. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, and the James Beard Foundation named the chef a Semifinalist for Emerging Chef.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Westword 2024 · Best New Fine-Casual Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 49. Welton Street Cafe
Southern
- Westword 2025 · Best New Digs · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Oysters on Pearl Street, which is the kind of sentence that shouldn't work in a landlocked mountain state but here we are. Jax is a lively seafood restaurant that has been feeding Boulderites raw bars and sustainably caught fish for decades, banking on Denver International's role as a coastal shipping hub. Come for the oysters, raw, grilled, or fried, and stay for whatever the kitchen has pulled in that week.
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Rank 54. Mercantile
Modern New American
Tucked into the ground floor of Union Station, Mercantile has the kind of room that makes you slow down: wood floors, tufted leather banquettes, and a brown-and-blue palette that somehow manages to feel calm rather than corporate. The menu runs modern American with enough global riffs to keep things interesting, and the lunch prix fixe is a genuinely useful option when you want a proper sit-down without committing to dinner hours.
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Rank 56. The Porchetta House
Italian
A small Uptown sandwich shop where the menu is short and the pork is the whole argument. The porchetta here comes out of the oven crackling-crisp on the outside and genuinely juicy inside, piled onto ciabatta with arugula and a pink peppercorn Kewpie mayo. The room is tight, the menu is tight, and the cravings that follow are not. A counter-service spot that keeps it simple and lets the roast pork do the talking.
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A binchotan grill, a wood-fired oven, a fermentation program, and a garden out back: the kitchen here builds its multicourse tasting menus from the ground up, milling its own grains and composting its own pretensions into something genuinely novel. The cooking pulls from Chiang Mai, Mexico, and Colorado without really belonging to any of them. Two Michelin stars. The beverage program matches the ambition, cocktails and all.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Erika Whitaker and Kelly Whitaker - ID EST
- Bon Appétit #10 · America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 63. Pablo's Coffee
Coffee
Pablo's Coffee on Sixth Avenue has no wi-fi, a policy that feels radical in 2024 and probably felt radical then too. This indie coffee shop has been roasting its own beans since before Denver caught the craft-coffee bug, and the room still has the lived-in feel to prove it: couch-filled corners, a small bar top facing the baristas, and the ambient noise of people who are, against all odds, talking to each other.
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Rank 64. Malinche Audiobar
Nikkei-Mexa Japanese Cocktail Bar
The concept here is a Japanese jazz kissa, a vinyl-focused listening bar, filtered through a chef who thinks huitlacoche and yuzu belong on the same plate. The food runs "Nikkei-Mexa," meaning Mexican and Japanese ingredients trading places freely, and the cocktails follow the same logic: sotol meets sake, charanda meets shochu. A taco cart parks out front most nights. Small room, big sonic ambitions, and a crowd that showed up for all of it.
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Dessert With Salmon Roe · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Wildsam The 50 Most Essential Bars in America
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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- Westword 2025 · Best Pastries at a Coffee Shop · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Cafe That’s Also a Bakery · Best of Denver
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Rank 67. Cart-Driver
Neapolitan Pizza
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in America
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Place to Eat Tinned Fish · Best of Denver
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Rank 68. Work & Class
American
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- Westword 2025 · Best Restaurant That’s Worth the Drive · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Theo Adley
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- Westword 2024 · Best Black Coffee · Best of Denver
- 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops in Denver
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Rank 72. sắp sửa
Non-Traditional Vietnamese
- Sunset Restaurants · Where to Eat and Drink
- The New York Times Trúng Và Trúng · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
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A smoked rabbit and pecan pie with sharp cheddar and mustard gelato will tell you everything you need to know about this LoHi all-day cafe. The chef behind it has cooked her way through Italy, Israel, and Mexico, and the menu shows every mile, running from posole verde at lunch to butterflied branzino at dinner without ever feeling scattered. Come morning for the bakery case, stay because the room earns it.
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- Thrillist The Best Bars in Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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Rank 80. Kizaki
Omakase Japanese
Toshi Kizaki built Denver's Japanese dining scene over four decades, and this intimate counter omakase is where he's raising his own bar. Around twenty courses move between small plates and nigiri he shapes himself, with Michelin's one-star stamp confirming what regulars already knew. The room is spare and dramatically lit, the pacing unhurried, and the sake pairings handled with care. This is a full-commitment dinner, not a drop-in.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
- Westword 2026 · Best Omakase Restaurant · Best of Denver
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Rank 81. Hop Alley
Sichuan
The name references Denver's original Chinatown, but the room itself is all polished RiNo cool, dark and loud in the way that makes you feel like you're already having a good time. Hop Alley is a sleek Sichuan-leaning restaurant where the kitchen takes familiar Chinese formats and torques them sideways. The bar holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and was a James Beard semifinalist for its drinks program, which leans into Asian ingredients and geeky natural wine with equal conviction.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
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Rank 84. Barolo Grill
Northern Italian
White tablecloths, candlelight, and a wine list so deep in Barolo it borders on a personal obsession: this Cherry Creek fine dining room has been a northern Italian anchor in Denver for as long as anyone can remember. The front-of-house team takes annual trips to Europe, and it shows in a warmth that never tips into theater. The four-course degustazione with pairings is the move, though grazing at the bar on a weeknight has its own quiet appeal.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service · Ryan Fletter
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
- 5280 The 11 Best Breakfast Burritos in Denver and Beyond
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- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
- 5280 The 11 Best Breakfast Burritos in Denver and Beyond
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Rank 87. Kawa Ni
Japanese
The old firehouse brick is still there, but the menu skews izakaya, routed through Connecticut and landing somewhere delightfully hard to categorize. Chef Bill Taibe runs a freewheeling Japanese kitchen where kung pao karaage shares space with kimchi udon finished like carbonara. The bar is walk-in only and pairs well with sake or cocktails while you figure out whether to order one more round of small plates or just order everything.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 88. Margot
Contemporary New American
Eight seats at a counter tucked inside a shared space, which tells you almost everything about the vibe before the bread arrives. Margot is a multicourse tasting menu restaurant earning a Michelin star on the strength of cooking that reads as both Colorado and everywhere at once. Each guest gets their own individual loaf of olive oil brioche, freshly baked, which sets the tone for hospitality that somehow manages not to feel performative.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Westword 2026 · Best New Tasting Menu Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Dim Sum Duo · Best of Denver
- Westword The Fifteen Best New Denver Restaurants
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Rank 90. Tí Cafe
Vietnamese Coffee
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Rank 93. Restaurant Olivia
Italian
House-made pasta runs nearly every plate at this Italian restaurant on South Downing, from bronze-die extruded gemelli to hand-shaped tortellini filled with braised duck. The kitchen moves between classic and globe-trotting without apology, and the flavors stay assertive either way. The cocktail list holds its own as an aperitif program, and the hospitality is warm enough that a James Beard semifinalist nod for it makes complete sense.
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Rank 94. Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails
Ukrainian Eastern European
East Colfax doesn't usually do "sexy Eastern European," but Molotov Kitschen makes a convincing case for the phrase. The chef, a James Beard semifinalist, roots the menu in Ukrainian cooking, rotating dumplings and borscht alongside dishes that treat radishes and buckwheat like they have something to prove. Horilka cocktails and Balkan wines round things out. Counter seats are the move if you can get them.
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- Westword 2024 · Best New Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 95. Uchi
Non-Traditional Japanese
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Rank 97. Safta
Israeli Mediterranean
Alon Shaya's first restaurant outside Louisiana sits inside Denver's Source Hotel, and the entrance doubles as a coffee counter before wrapping into a full Israeli Mediterranean dining room. The menu reads like a grandmother's repertoire run through a more adventurous kitchen, hummus dressed with roasted chanterelles, duck matzo ball soup, pomegranate lamb shank. Brunch draws a crowd that knows to arrive early.
- Sunset Restaurants · Where to Eat and Drink
- Westword 2023 · Best Brunch Buffet · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 98. Temaki Den
Sushi
Diners are told to eat fast, and at a handroll shop this good, that's not a hardship. Temaki Den sits inside The Source market hall in RiNo, its dark palette carving out something moodier than the food-hall format might suggest. The kitchen rolls temaki one at a time, to order, with aburi nigiri on the side for good measure. The nori stays crisp for exactly as long as it needs to, which is the whole point.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
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Rank 99. Odell's Bagel
Kaiseki Japanese
By day, a bagel shop where the hand-rolled, kettle-boiled rings get topped with things like hamachi, fresh wasabi, and shiso. By night, the Counter flips to a hyperseasonal kaiseki tasting menu, the kind of multicourse journey that shifts entirely with what's good that week. The chef trained in Japan under serious mentors, and it shows. A James Beard semifinalist in 2026, it's also landed on Eater's best Denver restaurants list.
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