Thanks all, this is just what I was hoping for. I have just checked out all the menus and pictures, so many great choices. I plan my trips around the good meals and they don't necessarily have to be fine dining. In general we tend to enjoy non corporate chain restaurants but some of the corporate chains may be fun for lunch and happy hour before a late dinner since we eat small portions.

I'm still considering the second dinner besides Barolo Grill and am leaning towards Bistro Vendome for their french dishes, but would love to hear more opinions from people who have been there. It seems that Mizuna is very highly regarded in Denver but the menu just doesn't appeal to me except for the gamey ostrich and Colorado lamb which may just be perfectly great. I know some of you may be laughing about me reading the menu now, but hey dinner is my highlight and I only have 2 nights in Denver.

In Denver:
Vesta Dipping Grill gets good reviews, though I have not been there.

Shanahan's has amazing beef and seafood, in the tech center.

The Capital Grille on Larimer is good, and Larimer Square is fun shopping.

Strings on 17th street is great.

As is Avenue Grill, for more reasonable prices.

In Boulder, The Kitchen and the Teahouse are unique.

Thanks Peaceout I'm totally sold with both of your recommendations in Boulder especially the Kitchen, had not expected such places in Boulder. My statement about ostrich/lamb might be misleading since our family like gamey food but not looking for steakhouses. Good to know about those places though.

Boulder has great leading-edge restaurants. A friend recommended Shine the other day. More for lunch, I think.

In Boulder, visit the historic Boulderado hotel, or even stay there. Q is a good restaurant in the hotel.

Just saw these Table Tours in Boulder. Could be fun:

http://www.localtabletours.com/

If you are looking for a "gamey" dish, then you should probably go to The Fort--all kinds of wild meat in an amazingly beautiful setting near the Red Rocks Amphitheater.
If it's a steak house, Elway's is better than Capital Grill and Shanahan's, IMO, and isn't all "steaks", but does have the Colorado lamb.

a couple of Boulder restaurants on the Pearl Street Mall that you might want to check out--we've had lunch at both recently and loved the food
http://riffsboulder.com/
http://oakatfourteenth.com/

Gretchen: bison & elk are right down our alley, great idea! the Fort gives more reason to drive out to Red Rock, hope they let us share their huge portions. Have you eaten there? Ever tried their $28 appetizer tray?

Marty: I'll check out riff & oak, their menus look good for lunch. One thing that strikes me is how their places don't really match their names & menu. I still can't imagine what Boulder is like, I expected it to be more earthy & bohemian. My wife's cousin from Brooklyn evolved into a charismatic earthy soul guru after attending CU in Boulder and moved to Santa Fe.

Peaceout: Table tours? Good thought, but I'm not sure about sharing a food guide with strangers, we had some bad experience in the past so I think we'd rather do it ourselves.

DAX, let us know your impression of Boulder after visiting. It is a mixed bag, and very different than its hippie days in the 60s/70s. It seems CU has recruited more students from the East than the West.

Yes we've been there a number of times for family events. The food is good and the view is terrific.

A few more generic tips:
Drink WATER. Colorado is a semi-arid (read DRY) climate as well as a mile high so you want to stay hydrated.
Check out 5280 magazine online for lots of good info on Denver. I'd paste the link but haven't figured out how to do that on my iPad.
If you are on twitter or Facebook, search for denver or boulder for pages/tweets that may have info for you.
If you are on groupon or living social, sign up to get emails on denver or boulder deals. There are sometimes some unique experiences and places with good deals (ie today's living social deal for Roberta's chocolate will become my husbands valentines gift(cheap, I know, but he loves little places like Roberta's and the deal just makes it nicer for me).

Tarfan: Just checked your posting, thanks for the good tips!

Just got back from skiing in Tahoe this weekend, now I'm curious if we can do a daytrip skiing from Boulder. Any ideas?

You can. Eldora just up the canyon from Boulder is a little pocket ski area. Otherwise you have Summitt cty which is about two hours from Boulder.

Glad you found the tips helpful. Your trip must be coming up here soon. Our family also likes to plan around some restaurant meals though we tend to look for them on DDD (diners, drive-ins and dives) as well as roadfood.com. But that was before I found the Fodors forums ;-)

For skiing, keep in mind that Eldora is no Tahoe by far. It is, however, close to Boulder and a much easier drive than any of the Summit County ski resorts. Eldora is by no means a resort - just a close-in day ski area. It is often quite windy as well. If you're going to be in the mountains, you might as well plan a ski day at one of the Summit County options.

Yes, for real skiing, just go on up 70 to Breckenridge or Keystone for the day. Easy trip.

I don't know if I or anyone else mentioned the Highlands area of Denver as a place to eat. Here is a webpage about some. There is also a great ice cream place called Little Man's. And there is a wonderful cheese shop called St. Killian's. This is not Highlands Ranch, but a rapidly gentrifying (or already gentrified) part of Denver sort of above Mile High. We had breakfast at a cute place called Venue, I think. Lola has a terrific view of downtown Denver. Lots of cute shops also.
And don't forget Pearl Street for eclectic shopping.
http://www.denver.com/restaurants/highlands.html

Loveland Ski Area, at the Eisenhower tunnel, is closer than the Summit County areas. It can get windy there, but otherwise is a good place to go for the day. Winter Park is also an option, and many do it as a day-trip.

Yes, those too, but the other "biggies" are not that much further. Just an FYI to OP.

Thanks everyone for your helpful info.
Ideally we only want to ski if it's an hour drive from Boulder or so and if we can rent our equipment there. I was hoping Eldora would do, but is it rinky dink, dumpy, or the lifts are too slow/old? How bad is the wind? Bone chilling cold wind?

I checked out the Highlands website, my 3 sons is closed, maybe we can consider Vita roofdeck for Happy Hour.Thanks