Great Denver Restaurants
 

Hi -- I am going to a conference in Denver the end of November for 4 nights. We are staying at the Sheraton Denver Downtown. Ideas for good restaurants? Italian, Asian, steak ---- we are open! Looking forward to your ideas. Thanks

It's only a brewpub, but worth a visit. My wife and I enjoy a meal here when are in Denver, fun part of town.

http://www.wynkoop.com/

You might take a look at 5280.com for reviews of most restaurants. In the downtown/Lo Do area the better restaurants are -- Colt & Gray, Rioja, Vesta Dipping Grill, Olivia. They are all in walking distance of your hotel. There are some excellent new restaurants in the Highlands or Cherry Creek but that would require a taxi ride if you don't have a car.

here are a few in the downtown area--take the 16th Street Mall shuttle

Panzano http://www.panzano-denver.com/ Italian
Rioja http://www.riojadenver.com/ Mediterranean
Tamayo http://www.richardsandoval.com/tamayo/ modern Mexican
Bistro Vendome http://bistrovendome.com/ French

less up scale
Dixons http://www.dixonsrestaurant.com/
Osteria Marco http://www.osteriamarco.com/ one of Denver's chefs--also owns Luca d'Italia and Mizuna--which would be a quick cab ride from downtown http://www.lucadenver.com/ http://mizunadenver.com/

Here's some steak restaurants in the downtown area

Outposts of national chains
Denver Chophouse http://www.chophouse.com/
Sullivans http://www.sullivansteakhouse.com/
Mortons http://www.mortons.com/denver/

Local steakhouse owned by the former quarterback of the Denver Broncos
Elways http://www.elways.com/downtown/

For a really really terrific pizza go to Marco's Coal Fired Pizzeria on Larimer. It is far from a "pizzeria", and they have terrific wings, marinated in limoncello and cooked in their coal fired oven. Artisan pizzas in the brick oven. TERRIFIC antipasto platter and salad plates.
If you go to the Denver Art Museum have a meal at Pallettes--one of Kevin Taylor's restaurants.
Mizuna and Luce are just terrific, as is Fruition, one of their former chefs.
Also Barolo

And you will not have a better steak anywhere than Elway's. Don't mistake that it is a "sports bar" because it is John's!! Fine dining at its best.

Go to -----

http://www.5280.com/magazine/2010/03/dining-denver


In March 2010 issue, 5280 listed Denver area's 25 Best Restaurants. These are all very upscale restaurants. Many of the above "favorites" didn't make it. These listing are always very subjective. One of our favorites is the Wazee Supper Club. It is a hole in the wall, once owned by the mayor soon to be governor, and has very good pizza and great beer. And I don't care for Elways -- over priced and over hyped.

I had the chance to visit Denver twice this summer and I owe a debt of gratitude (and a trip report) to some of those who've responded here and who gave me great advice.

Panzano (we stayed at the Monaco)
Dixon's
Wazee Supper Club
Pallettes

and one that was recommended, which we loved, that hasn't yet been mentioned here:

Le Centrale

Try the Buckhorn Exchange. They serve elk, moose, buffalo, quail, etc. I had the buffalo prime rib and it was the best piece of meat I have ever had. Also, the atmosphere is fun.

I have to agree with fmpden about Elway's. It's a hang out for cougars and wanna be's. The hostesses have an attitude problem although the wait staff is good. While the steaks are usually excellent, the place is over priced. I'd rather go a couple of blocks north to the Cherry Cricket for a hamburger.

OR you might get to hang out with Rascal Flats at Elway's bar. Tell me about the hostesses "attitude" please.
Fmpden's problem with Elway's is with me--and I didn't mention it first. Grass fed Colorado beef cut by their own butcher. You get what you pay for.

I am also in the anti-Elway's camp. We had lukewarm service, were seated next to a table of professional cheerleaders (what a thrill! haha), and it did seem to be a place for aging old guys to oggle young women. Just my impression.

The food was ok and the atmosphere was just ok. We will never return, mostly because we have decided not to patronize any stupid restaurant that charges $35 for a small steak and can't even give you a potato or vegetable with it. The sides are another $7 or so. I hate restaurants that do that.

Elway's needs to get over itself. "Fine dining"? I don't think so.

Otherwise, lots of good recommendations above. Especially The Wazee, Barolo, Le Centrale.

Has anyone mentioned Strings, or Avenue Grill? Both on 17th, so not far from downtown. Both are excellent.

Wow, thank you for so many good ideas! I will definately check out the web sites.

I'll just add that there are two Elway's--one at the Ritz, and one in Cherry Creek. The latter is better.

FYI, my review is for the Cherry Creek Elway's.

PeaceOut..." for aging old guys to oggle young women" or aging women to oogle young guys.:)

If anyone still wants to try Elway's, the Cherry Creek location is better than the one at the Ritz.

I'd REAlLY like to hear about the hostess's attitude.

Hi, Gretchen. Not sure about our hostess's attitude. It was not remarkable one way or the other, except to be kind of brusque, not really personable. That was certainly not my biggest problem with Elway's.

I do recall our server took awhile to come take our drink order. And he never came back to see if we were happy with our hunks of beef, or if we needed anything else.

Just a bad experience all the way around. Over-rated and over-priced.

P.S. I did have the distinct feeling at Elway's that we didn't rate good service, because there were some old farts at the bar and elsewhere, who were being paid copious amounts of time and energy by the staff. They must have been somebody's. Which we are not. Thus, we felt ignored.

Regarding the hostess's attitude...We've been to Elway's on several occasions and never has the hostess welcomed us, smiled or given any indication of being pleased that we were there. We frequent a number of Denver's top restaurants including Fruition ( my current favorite) Barolo Grill and Mizuna to name a few. In each of those places we have been welcomed with smiles and a "How are you tonight" etc. Not so at Elway's. When we give our name, they always ask if we have a reservation ( without even checking the list) as if anyone knowledgeable about Denver restaurants would attempt dining there without one. It is certainly not a big deal, but I find there is a big difference between the greeting at Elway's and every other restaurant I've dined at in Denver. We've lived in Denver for nearly five yers and have been to Elway's including the one at the Ritz about a half dozen times. I'm still waiting for them to make us feel welcome.

The Elway's at the Ritz kept us waiting for twenty minutes even though we had a booking and arrived on time. No comp drinks or anything other than a hesitant apology. At Fruition they always offer Kir Royals to all their customers if they have to wait more a couple of minutes. They even comped our wine and dessert the one time we had to wait.

I agree with PeaceOut that having to pay $35 for a small fillet and then another $7-$8 for each side dish is a bit exorbitant. The steaks are great, but, IMO, Denver has far too many good restaurants to settle for Elway's flaws. The only exception I would make for dining at Elway's was if I was craving one of their fillets. Still looking for a subsitute. Flemings is too far and Elway's is in our neighborhood.