The Top 100 Restaurants Near Sunday Vinyl
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Rank 1. 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
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 2. 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 3. 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 4. 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 5. 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 6. 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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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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Rank 8. 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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- Westword 2025 · Best New Omakase · Best of Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 10. 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 12. 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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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
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 14. 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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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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Rank 17. Panzano
Italian
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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 23. 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 26. Ash'Kara
Mediterranean
Wood-fired whole-grain pita, made from heritage wheat, is the opening argument at this neighborhood Mediterranean restaurant in the Highlands. The menu leans mezze, moving through hummus, baba ganoush, and falafel before settling into tagines for dinner, and it skews vegetable-forward throughout. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks for a room this warm and a bill this reasonable.
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Rank 28. Palace Arms
Inspired French
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Rank 29. Spuntino
Indian-influenced Italian
The Indian-inflected Italian restaurant in the Highlands neighborhood where the chef's masala aioli turns up on elk tartare and the pasta always involves goat. Her husband painstakingly sources small-producer wines from across Italy and makes his own amari in-house, which is either obsessive or exactly right. The room is intimate and the hospitality famously warm. A James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality, and the reputation makes sense from the first drink forward.
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Rank 31. Work & Class
American
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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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- Westword 2024 · Best Delicious Date Night · Best of Denver
- Eater Ice cream · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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Rank 36. 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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Rank 42. Kiké's Red Tacos
Birria Mexican
The consommé-soaked, cheese-crisped birria taco is the reason this place exists, and most tables seem to know it. Kiké's is a taco shop that grew out of a food truck into a full brick-and-mortar with a bar, which means you can now chase the drip with a proper drink. Carnitas and al pastor round out the menu for anyone who needs convincing, but the birria is still running the room.
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Tacos · Best of Denver
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Rank 44. TOKIO
Ramen Noodles
The broths here spend serious time extracting collagen and fat from pork and chicken, and you can taste the commitment. Tokio is a ramen shop that also does sushi and small plates, but the noodle bowls are the main event. The chef trained in Japan specifically for this, and the menu runs from traditional to a cream-and-cheese Cremoso Diablo that sounds dubious until it doesn't. Westword has named it Denver's top ramen two years running.
- Westword 2026 · Best Ramen · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Japanese Restaurant · Best of Denver
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- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2026 · Best Sunny Day Lunch Spot · Best of Denver
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- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Eater Johnny burger · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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Rank 53. Uchi
Non-Traditional Japanese
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Rank 55. 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
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 56. 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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- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2026 · Best No Rules Pasta Shop · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2025 · Best New Neighborhood Bar · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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- Westword 2025 · Best New Bar Where Everything Is $5 · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2026 · Best Rooftop Restaurant · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2026 · Best Brewery Upgrade · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Brewery to Take Visitors · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Beer to Drink Ringside: Helles · Best of Denver
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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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Rank 66. Coperta
Southern Italian
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Rank 69. Mister Oso
Mexican
Coconut rice arrives in a cast-iron skillet at this creative taco shop on Larimer, which should tell you this isn't a strictly traditional taqueria. The menu roams through Latin American and international territory, everything served family style so the table fills up fast. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand, and a second location followed soon after. Come hungry enough to share a few things.
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Rank 70. 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 71. 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.
- Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 72. 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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Rank 75. 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 76. 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 77. 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 78. 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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Rank 79. 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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Rank 80. Dear Emilia
Emilia-Romagna Italian
The menu answers a question most Denver restaurants don't ask: what if you just focused on Emilia-Romagna? This RiNo dinner spot is the younger sibling of Restaurant Olivia, and it carries the same low-key elegance while going deep on the region that gave the world prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano. Traditional stuffed pastas, griddled flatbreads, braised meats, and a Lambrusco list that will make you rethink sparkling red wine.
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Rank 82. Brasserie Brixton
Rustic French
A North Denver brasserie modeled on the casual wine bars of Montreal, which explains both the natural wine list and the fact that nobody feels overdressed in flannel. The menu runs steak frites and chicken fricassee alongside blood sausage fried wontons, which is either an identity crisis or a perfectly good reason to order both. Westword named it the best restaurant for a breakup, which is a compliment, however you slice it.
- 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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- 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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- 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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- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best Dim Sum Duo · Best of Denver
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Rank 86. Luchador Tacos & More
Mexican
Murals cover the walls of this Whittier neighborhood taco spot, and the name delivers exactly the disclaimer it promises: yes, tacos, but also slow-braised rabbit barbacoa in mole over heirloom masa, and beef cheeks in pasilla negro adobo with handmade tortillas. The chef has a Food Network face and the kitchen to back it up. Named one of Denver's 25 best restaurants by 5280, it's the kind of Mexican place that makes ordering feel like a commitment.
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- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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- Eater Bison Indian taco · Denver’s 20 Most Iconic Dishes
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Rank 89. Dio Mio
Italian
A pasta production table sits at the center of the kitchen, visible from the dining room, which tells you everything about priorities here. Dio Mio is a fast-casual Italian spot where two chefs with fine-dining backgrounds chose to make fresh pasta the whole point instead. The menu is short and seasonal, the room is relaxed, and the combinations run from cacio e pepe to shrimp with dill, which is either alarming or intriguing depending on your mood.
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Rank 90. Alteño
Jalisco Mexican
The lamb shank arrives bone-in so you can pull it apart and build your own tacos, which tells you most of what you need to know about this Jalisco Highlands restaurant on Clayton Street. Chef Johnny Curiel draws on the rustic cooking of Los Altos de Jalisco, running from aguachile and kanpachi tostada through soulful mains meant for the table to share. Moody lighting, a lively room, and a Michelin Guide selection.
- Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
- 5280 Top Chef · Top of the Town · Johnny Curiel
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 91. Mizuna
French New American
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Rank 93. 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 97. Johnny Bechamel's
Italian
A vintage Pizza Hut lamp hangs in the dining room, which tells you almost everything about the tone. This Italian restaurant in Wash Park comes from the team behind Dio Mio and Redeemer Pizza, and the menu reads like people who take craft seriously decided to stop pretending they don't also love a good bit. Red sauce shares space with squid ink fettuccine, seasonal crudo, and pizzas topped with sour cream-and-onion dip.
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Rank 98. Lucina Eatery & Bar
Pan-Latin Mexican
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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