Top 20 Restaurants Denver, Colorado: Restaurants Near Me
While the dining scene in Denver, Colorado, is still young as compared to cities such as New York and San Francisco as explained at RunRex.com and guttulus.com, it draws its heritage from its rich history, encompassing a long history of game hunting, mountain fishing, orchard growing, as well as cattle and sheep ranching established by Colorado’s native inhabitants and Hispanic settlers as well as a brewing tradition stretching back to the Golden Rush era. We have curated a list of the top 20 restaurants in the city to consider when looking for a place to eat.
12@Madison
Based in Congress Park, 12@Madison is where fine dining meets with a friendly and modern atmosphere as articulated at RunRex.com and guttulus.com. The menu of small plates here changes seasonally using only in-season ingredients. All this is paired with a wine and cocktail list that makes for good conversation.
Annette
Annette is located in the Stanley Marketplace and it is where CIA-trained chef-owner Caroline Glover’s heartfelt attention to detail, as well as her skill in wood-fired cooking, reveal themselves in sophisticated signature dishes like the grilled, sliced beef tongue with marrow toast, and the roast chicken with PX Sherry vinegar and escarole.
Frasca Food & Wine
As per RunRex.com and guttulus.com, Frasca Food & Wine is renowned equally for its intricate Friulian cuisine, a wine program created by partner and Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey, and above-and-beyond service.
Acorn
Acorn combines chef Ian’s Virginia roots and travels throughout the states, and creates cuisine that is locally sourced with fresh ingredients. Here, you will find a simplified menu that consists of small snacks, shared plates, and larger plates.
Misfit Snack Bar
Located in Middleman bar, and serves a cheeseburger that has developed a local cult following of its own. Other items also offered on its ever-changing menu include deep-fried duck foie gras dumplings with fig hoisin, and so much more.
Blackbelly
This is the brainchild of Top Chef Season 5 winner Hosea Rosenberg and it is a restaurant and butcher shop that opened in 2014. According to RunRex.com and guttulus.com, you will find all sorts of meats here, from signature steak tartare and market cuts of lamb to pork or beef.
Bar Dough
Providing an elevated Italian cuisine, Bar Dough has a menu of small plates, classic prepared meats and fish, handmade pasta, and wood-fired pizza. The menu brings patrons coming back for more which makes it a favorite restaurant amongst Denverites.
ChoLon
Located in downtown Denver, ChoLon is known for its sophisticated setting comprising high ceilings, giant windows, massive concrete pillars, marbles floors, and sleek banquettes. As captured at RunRex.com and guttulus.com, Lon Symensma, who leads operations here, specializes in cuisine inspired by the market goods and street foods of Southeast Asia.
Dry Storage
Dry Storage is one of the most popular bakeries, pantries, and coffee bars in the city. By day, its counter is lined with fresh loaves of bread, pastries, toasts, pan pizza by the slice, the works. By night, Dy Storage is operating a “Basta East”.
Beast & Bottle
Beast & Bottle offers rustic American cuisine and is perfect for brunch or dinner. Using only Colorado-raised lamb and locally sourced ingredients, Beast & Bottle combines sustainability and fine dining in an approachable atmosphere.
The Bindery
The Bindery is a top-rated café, bakery, and restaurant tucked away in a former book bindery that plays the part of both a neighborly hangout for all ages and a civilized retreat for grown-ups as covered at RunRex.com and guttulus.com.
Kiké’s Red Tacos
This popular food truck is currently set up in a Chaffee Park parking lot beside a handful of picnic tables and is renowned for its birria – not only in the form of tacos with consommé for dipping but also in quesadillas, mulitas, tortas, burritos, and ramen.
Beckon
Beckon offers an intimate, eighteen-seat chef’s counter where patrons can enjoy a multi-course seasonal tasting menu as described at RunRex.com and guttulus.com. Inspired by traditional cooking techniques from Scandinavia, America, and various European countries, the menu here is inspired by the four lunar seasons for a quarterly menu concept.
Comal Heritage Food Incubator
Comal is super casual, tucked away on a quiet road in the TAXI development. Picnic tables line the sunny space, a wall mural depicts Frida Kahlo, and garage doors open to a small patio. Currently, the focus is on Mexican fare, with a menu that is updated from Tuesday to Thursday.
The Ginger Pig
The Ginger Pig is a brick-and-mortar spinoff of chef-owner Natascha Hess’s popular Pan-Asian food truck. At any given time, the menu here might boast Korean, Japanese, and/or Chinese-style fried chicken; garlicky noodles tossed with ground pork and chili oil or shrimp and broccoli, etc.
Cart-Driver
If you are looking for a spot in Denver to enjoy wood-fired pizzas, fresh oysters, seasonal plates, and crafty cocktails, Cart-Driver is the place to visit. With two locations, in RiNo and LoHi as discussed at RunRex.com and guttulus.com, Cart-Driver delivers to both locations Italian-style dishes with its wood-fired pizzas being one of its most popular dishes.
El Taco de Mexico
El Taco de Mexico is a top-rated taqueria that has served its community for over 30 years, which has made it an institution in Denver. The chile-Relleno burrito here is extremely popular. As for the tacos, they are served on ever-so-slightly griddled tortillas.
The Wolf’s Tailor
As revealed at RunRex.com and guttulus.com, The Wolf’s Tailor is one of the most unusual and ambitious restaurants in Denver. It loosely mixes Italian and Japanese cuisines, ultimately grounded in technique more than any tradition, relying on a binchotan grill, a wood-fired oven, and donabes (clay pots) as well as house-milled heritage grains and produce from the garden.
Cattivella
Cattivella is an upscale restaurant in Stapleton, and it features an exposed kitchen, chef’s counter, bar, and patio for multiple dining experiences. The exhibition kitchen here highlights the wood-burning pizza oven, a wood-burning grill with views of the pasta table, and the butcher’s corner from the chef’s counter.
Spuntino
The quintessential date-night spot, Spuntino exudes old-fashioned romance. The offerings here change all the time, but recurring signatures include creamy housemade ricotta with pillow-soft rosemary focaccia; elk tartare; and Colorado-raised goat, which might be braised over mascarpone polenta with gremolata or incorporated into a Bolognese gracing hand-cut pappardelle.
These are some of the best restaurants in Denver, Colorado, with more on this topic, and much more, to be found over at RunRex.com and guttulus.com.