COLORADO | THE WEST
These 14 Restaurants Prove Aurora is a Legit Food Destination
By Eric Barton | Dec. 16, 2025
Annette
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.
Aurora isn’t a restaurant scene like some cities, where there’s a compact downtown or entertainment district where you find every single good restaurant. Here, it’s a grid of strip malls and markets where the best meal of your life might be in a place that shares a parking lot with a gas station.
And while that’s exciting for any of us who are food obsessed, it means it can also be hard to navigate this massive suburb, a place where the old “restaurants near me in Aurora” search just might give you nothing but chains.
Luckily, this list has been cultivated and improved and researched over the course of years, my 14 favorite restaurants right now in Aurora.
Annette
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Annette is the Stanley Marketplace live-fire, scratch kitchen run by chef Caroline Glover, whose cooking has the calm confidence of a James Beard winner. What’s on the menu when you visit depends on what’s fresh, like skewers of lucious baby eggplants, melons so sweet all they need is a squeeze of lime over top, and heirloom carrots with tahini, all feeling like stars rather than sides. The room is warm and busy without being chaotic, where a stop in for cocktails and apps will turn into dinner.
Best for: A date-night that ends with a walk around Stanley Marketplace
Bánh & Butter Bakery Cafe
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Bánh & Butter is a Vietnamese bakery-cafe with banh mi, croissant sandwiches, pandan-scented sweets, and strong coffee drinks. The move is a lemongrass pork bánh mì on a crackly baguette, followed by something with pastry-laminated ambition, like a strawberry croissant or a pandan cupcake. It is counter-service, bright, and unapologetically snack-forward, which is exactly what you want from a place with “butter” in the name.
Best for: A cheap lunch that turns into an accidental dessert run
Cheluna Brewing Co.
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Cheluna is a Stanley Marketplace taproom built around Mexican-inspired brewing and a hangout-first attitude, founded by Jen and Javi Pérez Koch. The Lowrider Mexican Lager is a solid starting point, and the vibe is more community patio energy than precious “beer lecture,” with trivia nights and a big-screen sports setup. If you want to eat, Stanley makes that easy: grab food from nearby vendors and treat Cheluna as your home base.
Best for: A low-effort group meet-up where everyone can wander and reconvene
Dân Dã
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Dân Dã takes Vietnamese flavors seriously enough to dress them up without dumbing down the flavors. Chef An Nguyen’s menu has big-ticket, tell-your-friends plates like Chilean sea bass, plus showier signature moves like the Dan Da Tower and those garlic crab cream puffs. It feels like a night out—dim, stylish, and intentionally paced—rather than a quick noodle stop.
Best for: Celebrations when you want Vietnamese cooking with some theater
Megenagna Grocery
$$$$$ | MAP | INSTAGRAM
Megenagna is the kind of Ethiopian spot that does not waste time on vibe because it is too busy feeding you properly. Trust in the kitchen and order the spiced minced beef dish kitfo, or build a platter around stews and sautéed dishes that show off how much depth fits into berbere and clarified butter. It is casual, generous, and built for sharing.
Best for: A communal meal where injera bread the only sensible utensil
Monsoon Cuisine of India
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Monsoon is a reliable Aurora Indian kitchen when you want classics done with care and enough spice options to match your mood. The “Tour of Tandoor” is a smart table-order if you are indecisive, and the menu has comfort anchors like lamb vindaloo and garlic naan that show up the way you want them to. The vibe is relaxed and family-friendly, which makes it an easy default when you need a sure thing.
Best for: A crowd-pleasing dinner with leftovers that still taste good tomorrow
Sabores De Mi Abuela
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Sabores De Mi Abuela is a mother-and-daughter-run Aurora food truck that started in 2021, and it is built around a small, tight menu rather than a thousand-item taco chart. The signature move is the three-taco set: shrimp a la diabla with salsa macha and a creamy mango-habanero salsa, a grilled tilapia fish taco with the same punchy toppings, or the suadero cousin taco: slow-cooked brisket with a guajillo drizzle, cotija, and a cilantro-cabbage crunch. It is the kind of truck where I’ll order choriqueso or nachos, then end with churros and be glad I did.
Best for: An inexpensive taco run that still feels like a full meal
Seoul Korean BBQ & Hot Pot
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Seoul is the Havana Street destination that understands the joy of cooking your own dinner at the table. There’s Korean BBQ, hot pot, and even sushi in one stop, which is basically the “why choose?” philosophy in restaurant form. It is loud, lively, and built for groups, but it also works when you just want your own bubbling pot and zero small talk.
Best for: A social dinner where the table becomes the entertainment
Tacos El Metate
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
El Metate is taqueria that’s been feeding Aurora since 2017, and it feels like a real neighborhood place—clean, bright, and built around a big chalkboard menu and a salsa bar. I usually order the fish or shrimp tacos, but the quesabirria set (four tacos with consommé, onion, cilantro, and lime) is the one that turns a quick stop into a full sit-down meal. Go in the morning and the breakfast burritos are a cheap, practical move.
Best for: A casual, inexpensive sit-down taco meal with enough menu range to make it a repeat spot
Tacos Selene
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Tacos Selene started as a food truck and still orders like one—fast, focused, and built around meat choices that do not pretend to be polite. The Aurora menu keeps it classic with tacos (including al pastor with pineapple, lengua, and tripa), plus burritos, tortas, and the kind of salsa bar that encourages reckless confidence. It is cheap, satisfying, and weirdly easy to turn into a weekly ritual.
Best for: No-frills tacos when you want variety and value
Tofu Story
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Tofu Story is the Havana Street Korean spot where the tofu is the point, not a supporting actor, and the menu makes that very clear. Start with soon tofu stew, then branch out into dishes like dolpan bibimbap or the soy sauce crab if your table is feeling brave and hungry. It is busy, comforting, and designed for repeat visits, because nobody tries one tofu stew and quits.
Best for: A cold-night meal that makes tofu the focus
Traveling Mercies
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Traveling Mercies sits upstairs from Annette and leans hard into the correct pairing of oysters and cocktails, with the kind of intimate bar mood that makes you lower your voice without being asked. The drinks are serious, the seafood is the draw, and it has earned the rare distinction of feeling like a neighborhood spot that also lands on national “best bars” lists. If Annette is the main event, Traveling Mercies is the move when you want to linger.
Best for: A martini-and-oysters night that turns into two rounds
Urban Burma
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Urban Burma is one of Aurora’s signature meals, serving Burmese food inside Mango House at the address that quietly explains why this city’s dining scene is different. Chef Siri Tan’s menu is a greatest-hits tour—laphet thoke (fermented tea leaf salad) when you want crunch and funk, plus dishes like chicken curry noodles that make you understand why people get obsessed. It is fast-casual, deeply flavorful, and the kind of place you start recommending to friends like you discovered it yourself.
Best for: Introducing someone to Burmese food with zero risk and maximum payoff
Wood Paddle Pizza & Tap
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Wood Paddle Pizza & Tap turns out wood-fired pizzas in a room where a wall of paddles stares down the oven like décor with a purpose. I order the prosciutto pizza (garlic oil, roasted garlic, prosciutto, artichoke, Parmesan, truffle oil, oregano) or the Armando (Italian sausage, broccoli, fennel pollen), and I keep an eye on whatever Prater’s Pie is doing that week. The menu has enough side-quests to keep a table happy—baked meatballs, mac of the week, and a cast-iron cookie with gelato that tends to “accidentally” become dessert.
Best for: A casual pizza-and-beer dinner that still feels like a night out
The Best Los Angeles Restaurants: 12 Must-Try Spots for 2025
Dining in Los Angeles isn't just about eating; it's about navigating the delicious chaos of a city obsessed with reinvention.