The 38 Best Places to Eat and Drink in Aurora
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The best places to eat and drink in Aurora, according to the experts: Esquire, 5280, and Eater have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Traveling Mercies comes out on top.
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Annette and Molino Chido hold the next two places. Westword shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with 5280 next.
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The awards
- Esquire Esquire: The Best Bars in America
- 5280 5280: The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater Eater: The Best Bars in Denver
- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
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Caroline Glover won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mountain out of this Stanley Marketplace restaurant in Aurora, and the cooking stays grounded enough that the award doesn't feel like it belongs somewhere else. Annette is a seasonal New American spot where the menu shifts with what's good, though a few things hang around because they've earned it. The room is warm and the hospitality matches it.
The awards
- James Beard Awards James Beard Awards: 2022 · Winner · Best Chef: Mountain · Caroline Glover
- 5280 5280: The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword Westword: The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Winner · Best Chef: Mountain · Caroline Glover
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Rank 3. Molino Chido
Mexican
Corn is ground on-site, which tells you something about how seriously the kitchen takes its tortillas before you've ordered a single taco. Molino Chido is a casual Mexican spot in Aurora where the folding chairs and cement floors make no pretense, but the team behind it comes from serious restaurant kitchens. The menu runs from straightforward carnitas to bison tongue, and a counter tasting menu exists for anyone who wants the full ride.
The awards
- Eater Eater: The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Eater Eater: The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword Westword: The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The Best New Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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- Westword 2024 · Best New Coffee Shop · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Coffee Shops in Denver
- 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
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Rank 5. Tofu Story
Korean
The awards
- 5280 5280: The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword Westword: The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater Eater: The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 7. Dân Dã
Vietnamese
Dân Dã calls its cooking "comfort cuisine," which undersells a menu that runs from curried beef claypot to salads piled with jellyfish, cuttlefish, and pickled lotus root. It's a Vietnamese restaurant on East Colfax with an enormous menu and a full bar that leans into tamarind, guava, and lychee, so the drinks keep up with the food. The dining room packs in tightly, which gives the whole place an energy that suits the cooking.
The awards
- 5280 5280: The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater Eater: The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword Westword: The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Restaurants in Denver Right Now
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Six food stalls share a refugee community center in Aurora, and the hours are loose enough that showing up with a plan is a mistake. On a good day you might land Burmese curry, Haitian fritters, Ethiopian doro wot, and Sudanese semolina cake in a single tray-juggling loop. The room is a folding-chair situation, not a date-night situation, but the cooking makes a strong case for itself regardless.
The awards
- Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best International Food Hall · Best of Denver
- Westword 2026 · Best International Food Hall · Best of Denver
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The awards
- Westword 2023 · Best East-West Bakery · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Breakfast Sandwich · Best of Denver
- 5280 Bánh Mì · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver
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The awards
- Westword 2024 · Best Noodles in a Tea Shop · Best of Denver
- Eater The Best Chinese Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 11. Ochag Bar & Grill
Armenian
An Armenian and Caucasian grill tucked into an Aurora strip mall, where the khachapuri arrives topped with egg and cheese and the beef dumplings, called khinkali, are large enough to require a small plan of attack. The menu runs from hearty stews and hand-pulled noodles to eggplant rolls stuffed with garlic-walnut spread. Georgian wine, from a region that considers itself the cradle of viticulture, is the right call alongside any of it.
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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 37. Golden Saigon
Vietnamese
The curry is the reason regulars keep coming back, which surprises people who think of Vietnam and curry in the same sentence as a typo. This strip-mall Vietnamese spot in Aurora has been serving pho and homey staples forever, but the house curry, built on madras powder, coconut milk, and a heavy hand with lemongrass, lands somewhere all its own. Nothing Thai about it, nothing Indian, just a dish that makes the menu feel longer than most.
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Rank 37. Haykin Family Cider
Beer Bar
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