The Best Restaurants in Denver, by the Record
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- Westword 2024 · Best Bar to Visit Alone · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2023 · Best Dive Bar With a View · Best of Denver
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Talnua bills itself as America's first single pot still whiskey distillery, a style the founders fell for on their honeymoon in Ireland and then brought back to an industrial suite in Arvada. The taproom leans hard into the Old Fashioned as a format, then uses it to do things like peanut-butter-and-plantain whiskey or wasabi-popcorn gin. Whether that sounds like fun or chaos probably tells you everything you need to know about yourself.
- Westword 2023 · Best Distillery Taproom · Best of Denver
- Westword 2025 · Best Distillery to Visit If You Have a Shamrock Tattoo · Best of Denver
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- Westword 2024 · Best Bar on a Snowy Night · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2023 · Best Bar/Restaurant for a First Date · Best of Denver
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- Esquire The Best Bars in America
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
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Rank 359. Bodega
American
The bacon, egg, and cheese on a Kaiser roll has its own following at this Sunnyside daytime spot, a casual counter-service cafe where breakfast and lunch overlap in the best low-maintenance way. Burritos, rotating sandwiches, and a burger that regulars treat as non-negotiable fill out the menu. The kind of place where the line out front is just part of the deal.
- Westword 2023 · Best Breakfast · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Place to Escape for a Midday Meal · Best of Denver
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Cannonball Creek doesn't distribute cans, so if you want these hop-forward IPAs and crisp lagers, you're making the drive to Golden. It's a taproom with rotating food trucks and an easy outdoor vibe that pairs well with whatever trail or climb you just finished. The range stretches from pilsners to saisons to Belgian golden ale, which gives non-IPA people something to do. Westword named it Best Brewery in 2023.
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The turquoise mountain mural running behind the bar sets the tone at this east Denver brewery taproom: a little outdoorsy, a little groovy, comfortable enough to settle in for several rounds. A dozen or so rotating taps cover the range, with porters and Munich dunkels among the regulars. Food trucks pull up outside when hunger strikes. The bar stools have backs, which sounds minor until you've spent an afternoon somewhere they don't.
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Rank 359. Hits The Spot Diner
American
The self-proclaimed home of "the fastest egg in the West" is a classic American diner on Colfax that holds the line while Denver's old-school spots keep disappearing. Cinnamon roll French toast and a six-pound breakfast burrito smothered in green chile are the kinds of details that explain why regulars don't bother with the menu. The green chile is gluten-free, which the burrito's sheer scale makes feel almost responsible.
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A door off the alley and a staircase down puts you in a basement sports bar that feels like a secret the Wash Park neighborhood has been quietly keeping. Screens everywhere, local taps, and a kitchen that stays focused no matter how loud the room gets. A Westword Best Sports Bar pick, and the kind of place where losing doesn't sting quite as much when the food and drink tabs are this manageable.
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Rank 359. Stoney's Bar and Grill
Pub American
A ski-lift chair salvaged from Keystone sits in the front of this sprawling Denver sports bar, which tells you everything about the vibe: proudly, unironically Colorado. Two full bars pour local taps, a stage hosts live music, and somewhere in the back there's a miniature bowling alley that shouldn't exist but does. The Slopper, a Pueblo green chile sandwich situation, is the menu's main argument. Westword named it Denver's best bar for watching games in 2023.
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- Westword 2023 · Best Punk Bar · Best of Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
- Westword 2023 · Best New Club · Best of Denver
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A crowdfunded warehouse in Denver's Art District on Santa Fe, Town Hall Collaborative runs as a bar and coffee shop that doubles as an event space for performances, workshops, expos, and fundraisers. The whole project was built around being a genuine gathering place for women, BIPOC, and queer communities, which shapes everything from the programming to the vibe on an ordinary Tuesday.
- Westword 2023 · Best LGBTQ+ Safe Space and Bar · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best All-Ages Club · Best of Denver
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Rank 369. Adobo
Filipino Mexican
- Westword 2023 · Best New Mexican/Filipino Mashup · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Chicken Wing Deal · Best of Denver
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- The Infatuation The Best Bars In Denver
- Eater The Best Bars in Denver
- Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now
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The cheesy masala fries, available plain or loaded with chicken, lamb, or cheesesteak, are the late-night argument this fast-casual Indian spot makes for itself. Gaia Masala runs a broad menu of straight Indian dishes alongside burgers and Mediterranean staples, but the real draw is the fusion edge: tikka masala cheesesteaks, burgers dressed with mint and cucumber. The kitchen keeps late hours, which in Denver puts it in a category of roughly one.
- Westword 2023 · Best French Fries · Best of Denver
- Westword 2024 · Best Restaurant for Late-Night Munchies · Best of Denver
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