The Top 100 Restaurants Near Santiago's
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Rank 3. Dân Dã
Vietnamese
In a narrow room vibrating with order tickets, Dân Dã opens its sprawling menu onto curried beef in clay and salads layered with cuttlefish, jellyfish, and pickled lotus. The bar works tamarind and guava into drinks that meet the kitchen's unapologetic ambition with equal rigor.
- 5280 2025 · Top Vietnamese · Top of the Town
- Westword 2025 · Best Place to Dine With a Group · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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A refugee community center in Aurora hosts six rotating food stalls whose menus shift unpredictably, requiring the visitor's patience and rewarding it with ful mudammas, weh da nah curry, doro wot, and momo that speak plainly to their origins. The fluorescent anonymity of the space dissolves the moment a dish arrives.
- Westword 2024 · Best International Food Hall · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best International Food Hall · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 7. Molino Chido
Mexican
Two chefs with Michelin pedigree run this Aurora taqueria where corn is ground fresh daily and the mood stays refreshingly casual despite sophisticated touches like bison tongue and tamarind. Counter seats promise a five-course tasting, but folding chairs and bright lights signal that excellent carnitas tacos and a strong margarita suit just fine.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Tommy Lee
- Westword 2026 · Best New Taco Joint · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Chef Caroline Glover's cooking at this Aurora kitchen trades flash for clarity: roast chicken with bitter greens, steak frites with grilled onion butter, seasonal vegetables treated with the care of main courses. The wine list and cocktails are pitched to match her restraint, making dinner feel like a conversation rather than a performance.
- Westword 2023 · Best Happy Hour · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 11. Tofu Story
Korean
The dining room at Tofu Story smells of sesame and ferment, a Korean kitchen that makes its own tofu and builds entire stews around its silken texture. Soy-marinated crab and braised monkfish share the menu with rice cakes and short ribs, all meant to be chased with soju or the brewery's own rice lager.
- Westword 2024 · Best Tofu Menu for Non-Vegetarians · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Place to Watch Tofu Being Made While Eating Tofu · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 12. Lucina Eatery & Bar
Pan-Latin
Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati turned their cooking-school partnership into this vibrant Latin spot named for Casiano's mother, where the menu roams from Mexico to Miami by way of Argentina, Peru, and Venezuela. Mofongo and mussels with chorizo anchor the repertoire, while weekend paella rotates through the kitchen's moods.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Erasmo Casiano and Diego Coconati
- Westword 2024 · Best Latin Restaurant · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Custom Cake Shop Serving Hong Kong Eats · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The Best Chinese Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 14. 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 16. 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 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Bo Porytko
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Bo Porytko
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- Westword 2026 · Best Ethiopian · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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- Westword 2026 · Best Mac and Cheese · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Food Truck Turned Brick-and-Mortar · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Fried Chicken Biscuit on Wheels · Best of Denver
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Rank 19. BaekGa
Korean
- Westword 2025 · Best Homestyle Korean · Best of Denver
- 5280 2024 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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The fortress-like exterior on a side street near MLK Boulevard gives way to genuine warmth and a kitchen that knows its business with fried chicken, gumbo, and collard greens shot through with ham hock and cabbage. This is a no-frills neighborhood spot where the soul food is built on real technique and care, not nostalgia.
- Westword 2024 · Best Soul Food · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · Top Fried Chicken · Top of the Town
- Westword 2023 · Best Southern/Soul Restaurant · Best of Denver
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Rank 22. 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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- 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 27. 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.
- Bon Appétit 2024 · America's Best New Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
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Rank 34. Le French
French
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mountain · Aminata “Ami” Dia and Rougui Dia
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
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- Westword 2026 · Best Dim Sum Duo · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Fifteen Best New Denver Restaurants
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An Armenian kitchen tucked into an Aurora strip mall that opens a door to the Caucasus through khachapuri, khinkali, and jarko—each dish substantial enough to anchor an evening. The eggplant rolls and hand-pulled lagman suggest restraint exists here too, best matched with a Georgian wine that feels less like a pairing than a pilgrimage.
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- Westword 2024 · Best Noodles in a Tea Shop · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Chinese Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 47. 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.
- 5280 2025 · Top Mexican · Top of the Town
- Westword 2025 · Best New-School Mexican Joint · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best New Taco Joint · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 51. 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 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Westword 2026 · Best Hot Pot · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Korean Restaurant · Best of Denver
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Rank 58. 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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A neighborhood Greek-American diner tucked into a quiet Congress Park block that's been feeding regulars since 1979, where you can order omelets and burgers alongside avgolemono and other familiar standards. The owner kept the bones of what made the place work, and it shows in the kind of cooking that doesn't need to announce itself.
- Westword 2024 · Best Banana Pudding · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Soup for a Hangover · Best of Denver
- 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
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Rank 62. Golden Falafel Restaurant
Middle Eastern
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A Park Hill institution since 1994, Spinelli's is a neighborhood market where you skip the grocery aisles and head straight to the deli counter for outsized sandwiches that are equally at home on a picnic blanket or stuffed into a backpack for Red Rocks. A few tables let you linger, but these are built for takeout.
- Westword 2023 · Best Sandwich Shop · Best of Denver
- 5280 Muffuletta · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best Upscale Thai Restaurant · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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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 70. Mizuna
French/American
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Rank 75. 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 76. 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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Rank 78. Noodles Express
Sichuan Chinese
A compact counter-service spot on South Colorado that leans hard into Szechuan cooking, all numbing peppercorns and chiles with proteins like chong qing chicken and spicy boiled fish that pack an addictive kick. The portions are generous enough to share, so come hungry and with friends who don't mind their mouth on fire.
- Westword 2023 · Best Szechuan Fried Chicken · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Chinese Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 82. Bastien's Restaurant
Steakhouse
A gleaming Googie-style landmark from 1958 with a sunken bar and servers who've been pouring drinks since the Carter administration, Bastien's is the kind of mid-century steakhouse where you dress up and the martinis taste like they're mixed with purpose. The sugar steak is famous for a reason, but the real draw is the time-warp atmosphere—a family operation that's been going since the 1930s and shows no signs of trading its neon sign for anything modern.
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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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Rank 84. Xiquita
Mexican
Erasmo Casiano's Uptown restaurant layers Mexican sophistication with deliberate opacity—the untranslated menu becomes an invitation to explore, aided by staff who decipher dishes like dry-aged hamachi crudo with salsa negra and duck carnita tacos with equal fluency. Cocktails built from prickly pear and jicama match the kitchen's refusal to simplify.
- Esquire 2024 · Martini Cochinero · The Best Martinis in America
- Westword 2025 · Best New Restaurant · Best of Denver
- 5280 2025 · The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 85. 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 86. Palace Arms
Inspired French
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Rank 88. 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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Rank 89. The Porchetta House
Italian
A tight dining room in Uptown yields roast pork of such clarity and juiciness that the Original—arugula, pink peppercorn Kewpie mayo, crispy ciabatta—needs nothing more. Chef AJ Paloni's sandwich shop proves that restraint and a single ingredient done right can overwhelm the senses.
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Rank 91. Brasserie Brixton
Rustic French
A North Denver bistro channeling Montreal's unpretentious wine bars, where steak frites and chicken fricassee share a small menu with more playful turns—blood sausage wontons, a remarkable burger. Rustic room, well-made cocktails, natural wines that taste like thought.
- Westword 2024 · Best Restaurant for a Breakup · Best of Denver
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
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Rank 93. 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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Rank 94. 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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A Capitol Hill corner where the kitchen has quietly pursued local sourcing since 1997, building menus around what grows near Denver rather than what trends elsewhere. The wine list roams toward lesser-known sustainable producers with the same principled restraint that shapes each plate.
- Westword 2023 · Best Farm-to-Table Fare · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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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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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.