THE WEST
Where to Eat in Denver: Must-Try Restaurants That Prove the Hype
By Eric Barton | July 8, 2025
BRUTØ
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
When I first moved to Denver in 1992, I lived in Littleton and made my rent by washing windows—mansions, mostly, with views of the city I couldn’t afford. Back then, my idea of a good meal was whatever the taco trucks were serving and the Colorado-style Mexican joints that put glorious green chile on everything. That was the Denver I knew: cheap, smothered, and deeply satisfying.
But over the decades, the chefs got bolder. The city stopped trying to catch up to anywhere else and started cooking like it had something to say. These days, Denver is a real-deal food town, with restaurants that do fermentation projects and wine lists that don’t apologize. What follows is a list of places that prove it—some new, some enduring, and all worth your time, even if you’re not the one cleaning the windows anymore.
1. Brutø
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The chef’s counter at Brutø doesn’t do spoilers, and that’s just as well—you’re better off surrendering to the tasting menu anyway. Chef Byron Gomez cooks with Colorado-grown ingredients and the sustainability gospel, but the wood-fired oven and his Costa Rican upbringing have just as much to say. Opt for the drink pairing, on top of the $175 per person price, then settle in and try not to overthink the fermentation projects.
2. Tavernetta
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You can hear the trains at Union Station from your table at Tavernetta, which feels about right for a restaurant with the self-assurance to serve Piedmontese vitello tonnato next to mushroom ragu gnocchi and bistecca Fiorentina. It’s Italian, broadly speaking, but not regional so much as seasonal and impeccably precise. The wine list is a commitment to Italian varietals, and the service is the kind that notices not just when your water is low but the precise moment when you're ready for the rum-soaked tiramisu, which is as soon as possible. .
3. Wildflower
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What looks like an antique parlor inside the Life House Hotel turns out to be a wildflower-strewn stage for black truffle tarts and koginut squash risotto. Chef Aiden Tibbett leans into delicate garnishes and layered flavors, with a menu that tastes like someone actually paid attention to the seasons. Even the kiwi tres leches comes with its own dark chocolate exclamation point.
4. Hop Alley
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The party at Hop Alley has been going for years now, but it’s still the kind of place where the bar knows what to do with Sichuan peppercorns and gin. Tommy Lee’s menu riffs on Chinese standards with serious confidence—yes, you should get the duck roll, the tofu in bang bang sauce, and the bone marrow–fried rice. And if you score a seat for the tasting menu at the six-seat chef’s counter, don’t be surprised when the oysters come with heirloom melon and buttermilk sauce.
5. Lucina Eatery & Bar
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Lucina is what happens when a dinner party collides with a Latin American street festival and someone brings mezcal. Partners Erasmo Casiano, Diego Coconati, and Michelle Nguyen built the place to feel communal, and the menu—empanadas, mofongo, cochinita pibil tlacoyos—makes it easy to say yes to everything. Save room for paella, which only shows up on weekends, like a cousin in town with stories.
6. Spuntino
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There’s nothing flashy about Spuntino, and that’s the point. Chef Cindhura Reddy folds Indian spices into elk tartare and kofta-style gnocchi with a kind of quiet genius, while her husband Elliot Strathmann builds a bar program that involves homemade amari and wines from winemakers you’ve never heard of but suddenly want to impress. They run the kind of restaurant that makes you feel like a regular on your first visit.
7. Alma Fonda Fina
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Chef Johnny Curiel named his restaurant Alma, meaning “soul,” which is what he pours into every scallop crudo and Sakura pork belly. The decor leans warm and earthy, the staff pays attention, and the chef’s counter is where Denver’s most sought-after seats are. Enmoladas and frijoles charros aren’t afterthoughts—they’re the main event.
8. Safta
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At Safta, the pita arrives blistered from the wood-fired oven and somehow still manages to be upstaged by the whipped feta with fig vinegar. New Orleans chef Alon Shaya’s modern Israeli menu lives at the intersection of soulful and indulgent—crispy eggplant, duck matzo ball soup, and lamb shank with pomegranate all play starring roles. It’s the pride of the Source Hotel, and for good reason.
9. The Wolf’s Tailor
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The Wolf’s Tailor wants your control issues checked at the door, which is fine—the chefs are better at this anyway. The tasting menu throws Nordic, Italian, and Asian ideas into a blender with Colorado ingredients and turns out dishes like robata-grilled bison and pesto dan dan noodles without a single wrong note. Whether you’re in the clean-lined dining room or one of those camping-chic patio tents, expect to drop real money and feel like it was worth it.
10. major tom
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Tucked next to Beckon, major tom feels like the lounge where someone else always picks up the wine tab—and makes it Champagne. The menu reads short but thoughtful, with seasonal small plates like mushroom-burrata tartines and duck confit in cherry mostarda. Dress like you’re trying and drink like you’ve earned it.
11. Dân Dã
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Dân Dã calls itself comfort food, but that’s underselling An Nguyen’s menu, which covers snails in XO chili crisp, jellyfish salad, and whole fried catfish in ginger sauce. The tight quarters hum with energy, and the bar leans into tropical ingredients like guava, tamarind, and lychee. This is Vietnamese food with the volume turned up.
12. Rioja
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Two decades in, Rioja still feels like the place you book when you want to remind someone you have good taste. Chef Jennifer Jasinski’s pork belly and artichoke tortelloni aren’t going anywhere, but seasonal hits like porcini-cocoa mezzelune and venison with huckleberry jus keep things fresh. The room, the service, the ambition—they all still deliver.
