The Best Places in Baker & around

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.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
2. Westword 2024 · Best New Fine-Casual Restaurant · Best of Denver
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Blowfish sculptures and boats hanging from the ceiling set the tone before you've ordered a thing. Adrift is a full-commitment tiki bar on South Broadway, with bamboo walls, fishing-net lights, and totem carvings doing their best to convince you Denver isn't landlocked. Cocktails arrive in coconuts, flaming punchbowls, or funky mugs, running from Zombies and Singapore Slings to seasonal originals leaning on cachaca, sherry, and cacao. Spam musubi keeps things honest.

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3. Eater The Best Bars in Denver

1. Eater The Best Coffee Shops in Denver
2. 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops

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.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Denver
2. Westword 2026 · Best Savory Doughnuts · Best of Denver

1. 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
2. Westword 2025 · Best Avocado Toast · Best of Denver

Otis Redding plays through the speakers without skipping, which tells you everything about how much thought went into this coffee shop. Bardo has been open since early morning and late into the night since it opened, with booths, couches, window seats, and a patio covering whatever mood you're in. The coffee is Kaladi Brothers, the baked goods are fresh, and the lighting never makes you feel like you're being interrogated.

1. 5280 Denver's 25 Best Coffeeshops
2. Westword 2023 · Best Late-Night Coffee Shop · Best of Denver

Beignets dusted in powdered sugar and a personal bottle of sparkling juice set the tone at this Louisiana-inspired breakfast and lunch spot in Denver's Capitol Hill. The walls are loaded with Creole country kitsch, and the silverware arrives wrapped in bright fabric. The chicory coffee and housemade hot sauce are the real throughlines. A local chain, but one that has regulars debating grits versus potatoes, which is exactly the right argument to be having.

1. 5280 The 43 Best Places to Brunch in Denver
2. Westword 2023 · Best Collard Greens · Best of Denver

The restored neon sign out front has been pulling people off Broadway since this building has been a bar, which is basically forever. Bar 404 is an old-school neighborhood watering hole on North Broadway, the kind where the vibe is loose and the programming punches above its weight: free jazz nights, live music, and a food program that Westword keeps recognizing alongside the concerts.

1. Westword 2024 · Best Concert Program at a Bar · Best of Denver
2. Westword 2023 · Best Free Jazz Night · Best of Denver
3. Westword 2026 · Best Venue for Music, Community and Food · Best of Denver

1. Westword 2023 · Best Rock Club · Best of Denver
2. Westword 2024 · Best Independent Venue for Local and Traveling Acts · Best of Denver
3. Westword 2026 · Best Divey Venue · Best of Denver

Nashville hot chicken shop tucked inside TRVE Brewing on Broadway, where the menu runs from classic spicy tenders to a green chile heat option that leans decidedly Colorado. The sandwiches are big and juicy in the way that requires a full stack of napkins and no white shirt. Vegan versions and a lineup of sides round things out for groups who can't agree on anything except that they're hungry.

1. Westword 2023 · Best Chicken Sandwich · Best of Denver
2. 5280 Fried Hot Chicken · The 17 Best Sandwiches in (and Around) Denver

1. Westword 2026 · Best Weekly Karaoke · Best of Denver
2. Westword 2024 · Best Venue for Discovering New Bands · Best of Denver

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Tommy Lee

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1. Westword 2026 · Best Khao Soi · Best of Denver

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A Czech-owned sports bar on Broadway where the roast duck shares menu space with chicken wings and the back bar stocks Becherovka alongside the usual domestic taps. Pool tables, a Pac-Man cabinet, karaoke nights, and Avalanche games on the screens make it a full-service neighborhood hangout. Westword named it Denver's top bar for Avalanche games in 2025, which feels right for a place this cheerfully, improbably itself.

1. Westword 2025 · Best Bar for Colorado Avalanche Games · Best of Denver

1. Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now

1. Westword The Top 50 Bars in Denver Right Now

1. 5280 The 25 Best Restaurants in Denver
2. Westword 2025 · Best Date Night Restaurant · Best of Denver

1. Westword 2024 · Best Community Support for a Venue · Best of Denver
2. Westword 2023 · Best Metal Venue · Best of Denver

Sketch comedy and improv on South Broadway, where the Baker neighborhood's thrift-store-chic energy suits the format perfectly. Performers with roots in Chicago, New York, and LA take the stage Thursday through Sunday, and the room is small enough that a botched scene lands on everyone equally. Classes run from total beginner to working comic, so you can watch one week and embarrass yourself on stage the next.

1. Westword 2024 · Best Intimate Improv Club · Best of Denver

1. Westword 2025 · Best Cheap Breakfast · Best of Denver

1. Westword 2024 · Best Bar for Weeknight Drinks · Best of Denver

1. Westword 2023 · Best Vintage Store · Best of Denver

1. Westword 2023 · Best Movie Theater—Art House · Best of Denver

1. Westword 2023 · Best Bar for Day Drinking · Best of Denver

Parlor Doughnuts builds its doughnuts from laminated dough, which gives them a tall, layered cross-section and a richness closer to a croissant than a cruller. The Denver outpost of this Indiana-born chain carries flavors like French toast and raspberry pistachio, all draped in icing and clearly not interested in restraint. A doughnut shop for people who find regular doughnuts a little too subtle.

1. Westword 2023 · Best Doughnuts · Best of Denver