Boulder restaurants
 

We have kids starting CU in the fall. I am thrilled to get to try some of the restaurants in Boulder when we visit. We have orientation coming up (parents attend) and I am looking for suggestions. We like standard fare, nothing too exotic. So pizza, steak, Mexican, brewpub fare. Not expensive but we will save The Flagstaff House for graduation.

Here are some of our favorites
http://chautauqua.com/dining_overview.html a charming place to have breakfast/brunch on the weekend
http://www.pizzerialocale.com/ authentic Italian style pizza
http://oakatfourteenth.com/ one of my favorites in Boulder—truly exceptional food IMHO
http://www.boulderteahouse.com/ many teas- nice location right by the park where the farmer’s market is held
http://www.qsboulder.com/ especially good for weekend brunch
http://www.raddatrattoria.com/ has a good happy hour
http://www.goldhillinn.com/ west of Boulder in the mountains - not expensive
http://riffsboulder.com/ lovely appetizers – good location on Pearl St Mall
http://www.snoozeeatery.com/boulder great for breakfast – go early or be prepared to wait

Thanks marty, lots of good ideas! Do you think we need reservations for Pizzeria Locale?

difficult to say--you might call them and ask

The Sink, on "The Hill" across from campus-- it's a CU tradition

Red Lion Inn, historic property, up the canyon

The Mediterranean-- great menu and outdoor patio

The Kitchen-- more pricey farm-to-table menu

The Chautauqua Dining Hall-- also fabulous for a special dinner on their front porch

DD loves Illegal Pete's for grabbing a bite

Boulder is a foodie mecca. Lots of good places to eat, and we've only scratched the surface.

You can wander the blocks of the Pearl Street Mall, and nearby, and find many places that are good: these are all in the area, except for Red Lion (which offers early bird specials):
Brasserie 1010 is terrific.
I'd suggest breakfast on the Chautauqua porch; get the atmosphere without the price.
Illegal Pete's has a mexican focus, but is good and fun.
Rio Grande for good mexican and great margaritas.
Walnut Brewery is large, fun (pool tables), and has good food and beer.

I like sampling a few beers at Avery Brewing Company. I love their Lilikoi beer. It is light and refreshing after a hike or moving kids into the dorm. They also have burgers and sandwiches which are pretty good. I'm a little bitter though because they discontinued my all time favorite turkey sandwich.

Some excellent suggestions here - our favorites are...

Lucille's - Cajun Brunch in a charming old house.

Brasserie Ten Ten - Truly great french brasserie - happy hour is crazy good value

The Med - Always excellent food (tapas) and good atmosphere

Rios - Good Mexican - table on the roof awesome. Note that they have community tables so if you show up and there's a long wait, ask if there's room at one of those.

Pizzeria locale - seriously awesome pizza (be warned - it's not typical pizza - quite wet, not cut into slices (meant to be eaten with knife and fork), and expensive. That being said, it's seriously the best pizza we've had outside of Italy.

Snooze - our new favorite breakfast. Super groovy decor - be prepared to wait!

Dushanbe Tea House - the Hibiscus Cooler is great.

Crepes A La Carte - we fell in love with this place in Breckenridge and were stoked when they opened up here in Boulder.

Larkburger - A bit out of 'downtown' located close to the 36 - it's the burger offshoot of Vail's Larkspur - awesome!

If you're over that way, we like Zolo Grill a lot.

Oh - and on Pearl Street, between downtown and the 36 (28th street) - is the super awesome Snarf Sub shop - seriously, the prime rib sub is amazeballs - http://www.eatsnarfs.com/

That should do. Hope your kids (are they twins?) love cu and boulder.

Thanks for all the great ideas! Now have to find excuses to visit! Yes, Hez, they are twins so Boulder may be our vacation spot for a while(all we will be able to afford).

There are worse places to have to vacation!