214 Best Restaurants in Colorado, USA

With spacious glass windows, this sleek, sophisticated space in Gravity Haus looks as if it belongs in a big city, with only the fireplace reminding you that this is Vail. The menu puts a modern spin on the classic steak house, featuring food from Rocky Mountain ranchers and farmers.

House-made bold and tangy, thick and sweet, and smoky and spicy sauces on every table add extra flavor to the traditional barbecue dishes, perfectly prepared in an open kitchen at this casual restaurant with neutral-hue booths, wood tables, and a wall of windows. Try the mac and cheese topped with smoked pork or load up on southern sides. Unique cocktails complement the hearty entrées.

The line for this ballpark neighborhood joint starts just before the 6:30 am weekday opening and sometimes an hour before it opens on weekends, because the lavish breakfasts are well worth the wait. The hollandaise-smothered creations alone—for instance, the Bella! Bella!, with Taleggio cheese and prosciutto on toasted ciabatta—are a must-try, and the pineapple upside-down pancakes, with vanilla crème anglaise and cinnamon butter, are exquisite. Get a cup of coffee and get to know your line neighbor, or try your luck at one of the other metro-area locations, including Union Station.

With elegant marble columns and clean Italian linens, this posh eatery is the height of opulence. The tasting menu is a perfect sampling of the chef's new American cuisine improved only by the on-site sommelier's perfect wine pairings. Retire for a nightcap to the classically elegant piano bar.

This small cafeteria has a limited selection of hot food, coffee, salads, burgers, and sandwiches. The patio is pleasant, and it's conveniently located across the street from the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum.

Espresso drinkers sip their sustenance here while sitting on leather chairs or at tables. Beyond breakfast, the café serves delicious quiches, salads, and sandwiches at lunch and dinnertime. For dessert, dig into decadent pastries and homemade cakes.

Perennially popular, this restaurant with light-wood tables and simple decor serves delicious fish and other Japanese specialties to a packed house nightly, so grab a table or sit at the sushi bar. Try a Z No. 9 Roll, shrimp tempura wrapped in nori and rice, topped with salmon and avocado; Zanmai invented it, and other restaurants have copied it. The mochi-ice-cream dessert is excellent.

The freshest seasonal ingredients available are used here, so the menu changes about once a month. You might find grilled Muscovy duck breast with pistachio salsa verde and smoked-cherry gastrique, or Berkshire pork rib eye with tapioca corn pudding and chanterelle mushrooms. Pair these entrées with one of the thousands of wines from the restaurant's expansive cellar, which you can view from the dining room. Tables also overlook Gore Creek. Leave room for the luscious desserts.

Round doughnuts as big as your face and the equally huge square-shaped "croughnuts", both with endless sugary toppings, will make it impossible to choose just one. Old-fashioned, gluten-free, and cake doughnuts and fritters are among the many options. Grab a box, or two, and mix up the flavors: try the cinnamon roll topping and the one that combines peanut butter, strawberry, banana, and Nutella. Coffees with or without alcohol and hearty breakfast sandwiches are also delightful.

Inventive tacos, many with an Asian flavor profile, anchor the menu at this casual eatery with edgy, tattoo-parlor-style decor. Gnar's famous side of queso blanco tater tots pairs nicely with the tacos.

Originally a food truck, the name of this taqueria showcases exactly what it specializes in: queso a la plancha tacos and seared ahi tuna tacos, with house-made salsas and tangy margaritas. Get to know your fellow diners at the communal tables or the long bar, or sit on the patio that opens from the dining area through the garage door. There's a second location in City Park.

Chef-owner Richard Sandoval brought his popular concept of modern, upscale Mexican cuisine from New York to Denver, and it's just as welcome here. The food is classic Mexican with a twist, such as seafood tacos, huitlacoche (edible fungus) dumpling soup, and elaborate moles. The tequila flights are a favorite at the large, inviting bar, which is highlighted by a mural made of semiprecious stones by artist and restaurant namesake Rufino Tamayo. Spanish art fills the interior, and in season the outdoor patio supplies a rare view of the mountains.

The large sunny patio in the center of Lionshead Village is the perfect slope-side location for people-watching while enjoying stellar Bloody Marys and poutine, or heartier après-ski fare like the coffee-cured elk, Colorado striped bass, or the Cubano sandwich. Ingredients are locally sourced and the menu aims for an elevated take on comfort food.

Known as "Teo's," this Mexican restaurant is housed in a small, historic building and is a local favorite for tasty takeout (or a claustrophobic eat-in experience). You can get a generous portion of tamales, burritos, or tacos for about $10. Lines can be long, so allow plenty of time.

Harking back to gold-rush days, this casual bar and restaurant is usually filled with skiers in winter and travelers or Denverites year-round who want to meet high-country friends halfway. The beers have a distinctly local flavor and straightforward names like Cream Ale and Nut Brown. In addition to fare such as buffalo burritos and "monster" wings, the brewery has plenty of vegetarian options.

Inside the Viceroy Snowmass hotel, TORO warms up the night after a day of skiing with its craft cocktails, Latin American cuisine, and dining room decorated with wood accents and a fireplace with nearby couches that are the perfect spots for sipping drinks. This spacious restaurant has a daring menu focusing on creative seafood and chops; spicy, smoky flavors pop in many dishes, with milder options for those who can't take the heat.

As the name hints, the café is set up inside three repurposed train cars, including an old circus train from the late 1800s. It serves locally roasted coffee, frozen yogurt, light food such as homemade mini-doughnuts and sandwiches, and kava, a Pacific Island beverage made from the ground roots of the kava plant. Splurge with a malt or go healthy with a green smoothie with chia seeds.

Holistic health guru Dr. Andrew Weil has opened restaurants in select locations in 17 states, and this venture in Cherry Creek, where his intensive focus is on anti-inflammatory preparations and antioxidant ingredients prepared with an international flair, has met with great success. Don't expect all-vegetarian, however; the menu offers plenty of meat, particularly lean bison and turkey, as well as fish, tempeh, and other meat substitutes. Trendy cocktails—cucumber margarita or blueberry acai mojito, for example—and natural sodas add to the appeal for the younger crowds that flock to the communal tables for small plates and thin-crust pizzas. The kids' menu is impressively healthy and appealing with its mini grass-fed burger and chicken teriyaki bowl.

As its name suggests, it's all about the views of Pikes Peak, which can be appreciated from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the second-story dining room, the rooftop, or the courtyard, where you can play volleyball, bocce, horseshoes, and cornhole. Several bars offer excellent craft beer options that complement the menu's varied offerings. Sushi, sandwiches, tacos, bowls, burgers, and pizza cater to all interests with seasonal changes inspired by the kitchen. Try the Thai peanut chicken bowl or blue-crab enchiladas, and don't forget a Nutella pizza for dessert. 

Locals flock to "the Smithy" for such beloved breakfast items (served daily from 7 am until 2 pm) as scrambles or traditional bacon and eggs. Vegetarians are taken care of with a tasty tofu scramble, fresh spinach and wild mushroom omelets, and deep-fried French toast. Wooden tables are packed into every nook and cranny of this brick building that was once a blacksmith shop.

Good vino is not hard to find at Vin48, a casual, upscale wine bar in Avon. Enjoying the benefits of Vin48's Enomatic preservation system, you can explore wines by the glass or half glass (with help from an on-staff sommelier) as you go. Choose from a selection of small plates, or sink your teeth into heartier fare that complements the wine. A wall of glass doors folds open in the summer for fresh air, and young and old wine enthusiasts can savor their pours on the outdoor patio.

In a town known for its beef, WaterCourse stands out as a devoted vegan eatery in spacious digs uptown. This casual, low-key place serves herbivores three meals a day, most of which are based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and meat-like soy substitutes. There are also macrobiotic dishes available. The Reuben, with sauerkraut, portobellos, and Swiss on grilled rye, is amazing, as are the seitan-based faux Buffalo wings and the cauliflower-based "chicken and waffles." They also offer a small but nice selection of organic wines as well as slow-pressed organic juices. The delectable desserts in the case are, surprise, all vegan.

There's little on offer here, just chips, soft drinks, and concessions served on picnic tables under an awning, but it's the only choice on Wetherill Mesa.

Inside Black Hawk's Lodge Casino, this upscale spot serves steaks, seafood such as honey-bourbon-glazed salmon, a top-notch burger, and Colorado rack of lamb. The views from the all-glass enclosure on a bridge above Richmond Street are divine. Garlic-herb mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and rice pilaf can be ordered as sides.

The patio outside this cute, white, Victorian house in the heart of Aspen is a fun, lively place to see and be seen. Locals rave about the sandwiches here, and a great beer, wine, and cocktail menu makes the cozy wood-paneled interior perfect on chilly afternoons or evenings.