Budget
Breakfast King
300 w mississippi, +1 303 733-0795. the breakfast king is a late night staple of denver, and one of the best greasy spoons. open 24 hours and it's also walking distance from the broadway lr station.
El Taco de Mexico
714 santa fe dr, +1 303 623-3926 (http://www.restaurantica....). this small mexican lunch-counter offers many delicious food choices for the adventurous palate.
Denver Diner
In an otherwise deserted stretch of an otherwise hoppin' Colfax, this is pretty much everything you would want of an iconic urban dinerâthe sort that achieved just the right balance of neon, grime, tattoos, and cheap greasy food, with an ample dose of authenticity. And crucially, it is open around the clock to feed the morning downtown crowd and the late night intoxicated revelers
Cherry Cricket
2641 e 2nd ave, +1 303 322-7666. once featured on the travel channel's "man vs. food," the cherry cricket is known for having a massive variety of toppings to put on your burger, including such oddities as melted peanut butter, fried eggs, and cream cheese.
Two-Fisted Mario's Pizza
Market and 16th, +1 303 623-3523. two-fisted mario's has excellent east-coast style pizza on the cheap $2 a slice, and it's a big slice, and is open until 3am, so you can grab a pie after drinking microbrews into the wee hours of the morning.
Leela European Cafe
820 15th st, +1 303 534-2255. leela's is a combination bar/coffeehouse/cafe which is a favorite among the college crowd. there's good italian coffee, great music live on some nights, and great panini sandwiches. leela's is open 24 hours as well, and free wireless internet is available, so you can be productive or not while waiting for your friends to arrive.
Jerusalem
1890 e evans ave, +1 303 777-8828. open until 3am, and within walking distance of the university of denver, this small but excellent middle eastern restaurant offers great no-frills food in a laid-back and hip atmosphere.
Casa Bonita
6715 w colfax, +1 303 232-5115. a gargantuan 52,000 sq. ft. mexican restaurant in lakewood known more for the entertainment than for the food it's famous enough where south park devoted an entire episode to the place. it's an inexpensive option for families; the kids will love the cliff divers, trained "gorilla", video arcade and other entertainment.
Heaven Dragon
16255 w 64th ave, +1 720 898-9909. though not in denver proper rather, it's in the suburb of arvada this often-overlooked chinese restaurant may be among the best in the entire state of colorado. with prices that will feed even a large family for under $40, its food is consistently ranked by reviewers as spectacular, to the point where visiting politicians congressmen, governors, even president george w. bush often go out of their way to stop there. the atmosphere is superb--very formal and elegant, despite the low prices. a bit of a hike from the city, however--20 or 30 minutes from downtown on a good day.
Blue Bonnet
457 s broadway, +1 303 778-0147. a noisy bar featuring southwest/tex-mex in denver with most items under $10. there is patio seating and two separate dining rooms that are a bit quieter than the main bar. consistently rated a "best of" in various local polls.
Taqueria Patzcuaro
2616 w 32nd ave, +1 303 455-4389. this neighborhood favorite has the most amazing tacos and green chili.
Illegal Pete's
1530 16th st #101, +1 303 623-2169, (http://www.illegalpetes.com/). a local favorite hangout with great, cheap burritos! its patio is located directly on the 16th st mall, making it a great place to people watch.
Buenos Aires Pizzeria
1319 22nd st, +1 303 296-6710. an argentinean-style pizza joint with unusual topping choices and plenty of $2 empanada small savory turnovers offerings.
Clancy's Irish Pub
Located a wee bit west o' kipling and 38th ave. daily 11am-10pm. clancy's serves a variety of anglo-irish and domestic favorites, including corned beef and cabbage, fish n' chips, listed by westword as the best in town. shepard's pie, rueben sandwiches and pint after pint guinness stout on tap.
Tommy's Thai
3410 e colfax ave, +1 303 377-4244.
Pete's Kitchen
1962 e colfax ave, +1 303 321-3139. (http://www.petesrestauran...) this combination greek restaurant and short-order diner is open 24 hours a day and has a great greek salad and french toast. it's a favorite of local celebrities as well.
Benny Blanco's Slice of the Bronx
616 e 13th ave, +1 303 831-1346. benny blanco's is a classic hole-in-the-wall pizza joint, and in this case the phrase is literal. there's no seating, but big, new york-style slices fresh from the oven can be had for as little as $2 a slice.
Far East Center
On federal blvd between alameda and mississippi. several southeast asian restaurants located in this area offer a wide variety of pho, noodle houses, upscale vietnamese, dim sum and other asian cuisines. pho 95, pho duy, super star asian and saigon bowl are a few of the places to try in this diverse and delicious culinary corridor.
Midrange
Le Central
112 e 8th ave, +1 303 863-8094. a surprisingly affordable french restaurant in central denver offers provence-style french food such as moules et frites mussels and fries. a great choice for the fancy dinner without the fancy check.
Purple Ginger Asian Fusion
A gluten free menu and vegan friendly. Live music on Friday and Saturday. Serves a variety of Asian food, and they also have table side cooking.
Snooze
Inventive, trendy and really good breakfast is the show-stopper at the east edge of LoDo, and you can expect the place to get extremely crowded on weekends. The thick, rich hot chocolate is definitely worth ordering.
Jack n Grill
2524 federal blvd, +1 303 964-9544. excellent new mexico-style food with heaping portions usually soaked in your choice of a green or red chili or for the indecisive, both.
Racine's
650 sherman st, +1 303 595-0418. the restaurant for both denver's power brokers and proletariats with its simple yet elegant american menu and casual yet sophisticated decor.
D Bar Desserts
1475 e 17th ave, +1 303 861-4710. dessert is the main course at d bar, especially with celebrity chef keegan gerhard making the delectable desserts. the menu does includes savory items as well as allegro coffee to go with your sweets.
Imperial Chinese
431 s broadway, +1 303 698-2800, (http://www.imperialchines...). simply put, the imperial is denver's premier chinese restaurant and has been for the over 20 years it's been in existence. dinner entrã©es range from $10-$30, with all but the peking duck and various specials under $22.
New Saigon
630 s federal blvd, +1 303 936-4954, (http://www.newsaigon.com/). denver is home to a sizable southeast asian population that shows off its unique culinary talents at this great vietnamese community institution.
Empress Seafood
2825 w alameda ave, +1 303 922-2822. empress has long been the queen of dim-sum and affordable yet flavorful seafood selections from all over asia.
Top end
The 9th Door
1808 blake st, +1 303 293-2111, (http://www.the9thdoor.com) spanish tapas and wine, desserts and atmosphere.
Lime Restaurant
1416 larimer st # c, +1 303 893-5463â. a favorite for mexican and margaritas.
1515 Restaurant
1515 market st, +1 303 571-0011â. fine dining. reservations are recommended.
Buckhorn Exchange
Denver's oldest restaurant, from 1893, played host to famous guest after famous guest, arguably starting with one President Teddy Roosevelt in 1905. Without a doubt, this is as touristy as it gets, but it is nonetheless absolutely worth a visit. Famous for its game meat, both prosaic and rare, the buffalo tenderloin is exceptional, but more adventurous palates can go after the rattlesnake dip, alligator tail, ostrich medallions, or even yak steak! Call ahead to check ostrich and yak availability. The place is saturated in Old West kitsch, aging wood, and animal heads, and Th-Sa nights Roz Brown stops by to croon old cowboy tunes accompanied by his autoharp.
Venice Ristorante Italiano
1700 wynkoop st. amazing, authentic italian. very expensive. very romantic. very good. reservations highly recommended.
Strings
1700 humboldt st. near the heart of downtown strings is a fantastic restaurant with entrã©e prices ranging from $12-40 or so, and an excellent wine list. reservations highly recommended.
Zengo Restaurant
1610 little raven st, +1 720 904-0965â, (http://www.modernmexican.com). fusion dining in a trendy establishment.
The Black Pearl
1529 s pearl st, +1 303 777-0500, (http://www.blackpearldenv...)
Barolo Grill
3030 e 6th ave, +1 303 393-1040. decadent italian.
Vesta Dipping Grill
1822 blake st, lodo, +1 303 296-1970, (http://www.vestagrill.com/) each menu item at this hip lodo restaurant comes with your choice of three dipping sauces for a unique and interactive meal.
The Fort
19192 highway 8, morrison. though a bit of a drive, the fort is possibly denver's most famous restaurant. it sits just on the edge of suburban denver and is perhaps most famous for hosting a dinner during the g7 conference in 1997. reservations highly recommended.
Mexican food is abundant and satisfying and takes a local Denver flavor. Green Chili is the order of the day: a brown, chunky and spicy sauce made from pork and Pueblo or Hatch green chilies that works well on everything from chorizo and eggs to tamales. Denver is also known for "western" food using ingredients such as angus beef, buffalo, rattlesnake, cutthroat trout and Rocky Mountain oysters. The city also embraces its cultural diversity with a wide-range of ethnic restaurants. Southeast Asian restaurants are especially abundant with a multitude of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in every style and price range. Denver has most types of cuisine as other large cities and has several restaurants recently noted in top food publications. A recently passed bill had outlawed smoking in bars and restaurants statewide. However, some places with outdoor patios still allow smoking there.
The restaurant section of the weekly independent newspaper Westword (http://www.westword.com/) available for free every Thursday at newsstands and locations across the city is a good place to find the food your interested in for your price-range and location. Below is a sampling of some consistently good choices.