Restaurants

Even with so many great restaurants opening in 2016, readers were most excited about the return of an old standby: Godfather’s Pizza. But the temporary closure of a RiNo nightclub over a shooting this past fall also drew plenty of attention. Beyond that, we learned that Denverites love breakfast, brunch,…

More than 220 restaurants, bars, breweries, cafes and food halls opened in 2016, adding even more fizz to an already effervescent food scene that has become one of the best in the country over the past several years. But how does that big number break down into something a little…

More than 220 restaurants and bars opened in metro Denver in 2016. Here’s the complete rundown of openings and closings.

“I’ve been on a food journey my entire life,” says Jennifer Peters. That journey led to Just Be Kitchen, the gluten-free, grain-free company that Peters founded in 2015 as a packaged-food business. But the business will soon add a fast-casual restaurant, too: Peters recently signed a lease at 2364 15th Street…

No. 30: Sesame Chicken from Red Dragon Chinese Restaurant Yes, this is sesame chicken, that ubiquitous Chinese-restaurant standby that many people order but that often proves tepid and timid. Yet somehow the owners of Red Dragon (2456 South Colorado Boulevard) in south Denver have managed to add a little wonder…

Some food fads sweep the nation and make us wish we could just flip the “off” switch on the marketing machine; we still remember the 2000s as the decade of bacon, for example. But other trends gain just enough traction that we have fun hunting down great examples — usually…

What were Denver’s restaurant industry pros talking about in 2016? We provided some answers in part one of our second taste of this year’s chef interviews. Here the reflection continues with more observations on what dining in Denver this year was all about. On how Denver’s changing demographics and the…

In late 2014, Small Wonder Food & Wine took over what had been the Coral Room at 3489 West 32nd Avenue; the West Highland eatery gave up the ghost earlier this year, leaving a glaring vacancy in a popular restaurant neighborhood. But now neighbors can get a taste of something…

No. 31: Chicken Tenders at the Fainting Goat Chicken tenders aren’t just for kids — not at the Fainting Goat, a great downhome bar at 846 Broadway that makes its own tenders. A $10 order gets you five big pieces of actual chicken, hand-breaded to order, then fried, along with…

The fast pace of Denver restaurant openings looks to continue at least through the beginning of 2107. Here are eight that will hit in January and February, with moves from old favorites, new locations for Denver chefs to expand their offerings, and newcomers to the Colorado culinary scene. American Grind…

This past year was frenetic — and not just in the political arena. Denver’s dining scene continued to move at a breakneck pace, as seasoned restaurateurs, rising stars and fresh transplants alike all opened ambitious new restaurants. Amid all the activity, what were the Mile High City’s hospitality professionals talking…

Many Denverites took some time off from work over Christmas weekend, but not Matt and Brad Gruber, two brothers who opened Session Coffee at 1340 South Santa Fe Drive on Friday, December 23. The week before, Matt Gruber told us he and and his brother were just waiting for final…

As a restaurant critic, I’m often considering minutiae. Was the steak overcooked? Was the server informed? How were the scallops plated? These details aren’t insignificant; taken together, they determine which restaurants are worthy of our most precious commodities — i.e., time and money. But I often wish I could judge…

As the year comes to an end, we’ve started looking back at the best of what Denver chefs and restaurateurs brought to the table in 2016. Gretchen Kurtz chalked up her final restaurant review of the year — and it was a good one. Read what impressed our critic about…

As in the days of the Denver oil boom, steakhouses are a big part of Denver’s current restaurant renaissance. While old meat palaces are being revived under new leadership, others are stampeding into town from respected restaurant groups. Here are five eateries specializing in the art of grilled beef, from…

What will be the best restaurant to open in Denver in 2016? We just rolled out our list of the best restaurants that debuted before December, and several more contenders have opened in the last few weeks. But some readers already have favorites. Robert is a fan of Matsuhisa, and…

No. 32: Flavorsome Ramen at Sera’s Ramen Enclave Sera Nguyen opened this laidback West Highland noodle joint in the former Bang! spot (3472 West 32nd Avenue) in May, and has been making fans ever since. All it takes is one bowl of Nguyen’s comforting ramen to seal the deal, and a…

No. 33: Bagna Cauda Broccoli Rabe at Dio Mio Handmade Pasta Broccoli rabe isn’t exactly sexy; the bitter vegetable more often than not looks like nothing more than limp weeds on a plate. But the cooks at Dio Mio Handmade Pasta at 3264 Larimer Street turn broccoli’s skinny cousin into…

Chef/restaurateur Jeff Osaka just opened 12@Madison after a two-year period spent building Osaka Ramen, Sushi-Rama and the Denver Central Market, but he says there’s one person on his team who has made the growth of a restaurant mini-empire much easier, someone who takes care of business behind the scenes without…