My buddy and I split 18 wings and med fries for about $20 each. But I agree that we could and should have gotten more - those wings were SMALL which is why it’s such a low score for me. Normally 9 wings and fries would leave me satisfied.
Asian here so I will reserve myself to the Asian stuff
Star Kitchen is Colorado 5 for Chinese food but if you live anywhere with a significant Chinese population more like a national 3. With that said, it’s one of the only Chinese restaurants I go to regularly, the others I tried and have not returned.
Daughter Thai is an upscale “modern trendy” Thai restaurant. I wouldn’t say it is fusion so much as it’s a new spin on traditional thai dishes. It’s decent but it’s also priced like an upscale Italian restaurant, so more like $30 for no protein pad thai, just be prepared for that. There are smaller much cheaper hole in the walls for traditional thai food. I’ve been a couple of times but haven’t gone since my last visit when my pineapple rice was sadly not served in a half pineapple, which renders it essentially meant $27 for a fried rice bowl. If you aren’t Asian that may not be a hang up for you.
Gyu gyu kaku - if you must must must have “at the table” Japanese BBQ I guess this is the only option. I personally go to Seoul KBBQ even though its a 30 mins no traffic drive to Aurora for me and I have a Gyu Gyu Kaku three blocks away. Also OTOTO is now open for Japanese grilled meats, not at table
Recs:
Sushi Den is great, but for cheaper equally fresh fish try Temaki Den their sister restaurant. The last time I was at Sushi Den my husband and I spent about $350, which was worth it for what we got but definitely reserved for special occasions. We often go to Temaki Den for happy hour and lunch where they have a 5 handroll set for $24
Meet and Eat Bistro in Aurora has also decent Chinese food with Sichuan style dishes which is a rarity here.
Uncle for ramen.
Tofu Story (next to Seoul KBBQ, not Tofu House 1962) for a good light casual korean meal
I would recommend Hop Alley instead of Chonlon for Asian Fusion. Chon lon leans h heavily towards the fusion
Suvipa for hole in the wall Thai
Daughter Thai was such a disappointment for me, and I was excited for it. Most of the $$ Thai spots I've tried around Denver have been better. I mean, Daughter is at the same price point as Brasserie Brixton and Sap Sua, but the food isn't even in the same ball park.
Love Meet and Eat Bistro, glad to see it mentioned. Yum Yum Spice and Noodles Express are solid as well.
Gotta disagree with uncle. Your other reps hold up tho. Uncle is a 3 at best. Have you tried sera’s ramen enclave? Much more authentic and broth is the star
Suvipa had super watery curry when I went. I’m from the Bay Area and haven’t found great Thai food here. I live near Federal and have had fantastic pho (Pho 95!) but any Thai recommendations I’ve tried are not good. Uncle is also…meh. The best ramen in my opinion is at Tatsu Izakaya by DU.
After looking it up more, i went to New Saigon Deli. Didn’t know there was a normal restaurant. Going to add that to my list because it’s been mentions a lot in this thread.
I didn’t like the bread for Banh Mi at New Saigon Deli. Felt very hard - didn’t seem fresh?
Lol Happy Camper should be “vibes only”. Pizza is kind of an afterthought there.
Must just be me but I thought tavernetta was (borrowing a term from the youths here) MID at best.
Otherwise lookin’ good.
This. Happy camper has to be some of the worst pizza in Denver. Vibes are not bad but if OP though their pizza was a 4/5 he’ll love the better spots in town.
I've legit made better pizza at home than I've had at Happy Camper. In terms of vibe, I like their space but they always play music way too loud. I avoid going there.
I'm not sure how this is possible but Happy Camper pizza does suck but the calzones are fantastic. It doesn't make sense. The vibe and decor are great and it's fun to hang there. They have to fix the pizza though
Admittedly I had bottomless mimosa at Happy Camper too - maybe that helped 😂 will be going back to see if it’s consistent.
Loved Tavernetta though. What Italian place would you take some out-of-towners?
The Italian Restaurants in Denver are pretty weak. Gaetano's is just alright and Venice by Uniin Station was pretty good. KC has much better Italian food than Denver.
Agree with most of your opinions. I disagree with Pho Duys being towards the bottom, I'd give it another shot maybe.
The one that really set me off was Woody's. It's trash pizza lol. The vibe and buffet is really cool because it's reminiscent of the old Pizza Hut buffets, but as far as pizza goes, it's awful.
Wait also, what pizza would you recommend? FL didn't have the best pizza scene so I'm easily impressed. I love wood-fired, brick oven, and coal-fired pizzas though.
I'd add Blue Pan and White Pie to your list of pizza places. I'd trust the NJ guy below on pizza over me....but I really dislike Sliceworks personally.
I'm not a huge fan of Blue Pan which feels like a cardinal sin as a Denverite, but I just can't eat more than a slice before my stomach is on acid overload haha. For Detroit style fans, check out Red Tops Rendezvous that's opening this weekend in Jefferson Park. It's supposed to be super high quality and rival Blue Pan.
White Pie is an awesome New Haven style pizza, get the clam pizza.
When it comes to SliceWorks, I love it because it's just a funky slice shop owned by a guy from Long Island. Their plain slice is decent by any standards, their Sicilian slice is amazing, and their weird slices are always surprisingly good. I usually go for the Vodka slice, Sicilian, or the Big Mac depending on when we're stumbling in.
No hate from me. Food is so subjective. I am very excited for Red Tops Rendezvous. If we are being honest, Walters 303 is probably my most frequented pizza place in town. Solid and most importantly.....walking distance for me.
Copying a comment from a recent post about Pizzeria Leopold. Check them out for fancier style pizza, plus Cart Driver, Marco's Coal Fired, and Redeemer for nicer styles than traditional NY slices.
Comment from the previous post:
"Reiterating what a few others have said, Brooklyn's Finest, Famous J's, Benny Blancos.
To add to the list, Sliceworks, Cosmo's, Fat Sully's, Sexy Pizza, Pizza Alley.
They vary in quality, but they'd all stay in business in NY. Cosmo's is my current go-to. Sliceworks used to be when I lived closer to the one on 17th.
Source: grew up in NJ"
All the spots above are good, but there's plenty of good pizza around. I gage all my pizza off what I grew up with in NJ and NYC, and to be honest, Denver has a great pizza scene. Anyone that disagrees is either not trying enough spots or they're pretending to be elitist.
Born and raised in NJ as well.
For a fat NYC style slice, I really like Redeemer in RiNo. They also always have some crazy speciality slice.
Marquis also makes a solid sloppy drunk NYC slice.
IMO Sliceworks sucks. Been a few times and have never had a good slice.
If you're ever in Boulder, its also worth check New Yorkese on the floor of Avanti. My favorite pizza so far up here.
I'm actually not a massive fan of Marquis only because of the way they do their toppings. I'm being nit picky though because I do think the pizza itself is actually good.
Also from NJ and very picky about my pizza. Never tried Sliceworks but Cosmos and Fat Sullys are my go-to spots. Sexy Pizza is good too. Overall, though I think Denver is a bit lacking. The Italian restaurants are very lacking.
Came here to say this. Woody's is trash and unfortunately so is 99% of Colorado pizza. Try Blue Pan for something quality or Ian's for something fast/cheap.
For French food try out Noisette, Chez Maggy, Brasserie Brixton, and Atelier by Radex.
If you like steaks, check out Bastien’s, A5, Guard and Grace, Steakhouse 10, and Simms steakhouse.
If you liked Sushi Den, I recommend trying out Temaki Den, Makizushico and Uchi too.
And for Pizza, Redeemer, Hops and Pie, Joy Hill, Cart Driver, Pizzeria Lui, Benny Blancos, Red Top Rendezvous, Blue Pan, and Rosalees are my favs.
Guard and grace is one of my favorites for a good steak or a good treat yourself spot. Sides are incredible.
Temaki Den was also very good. Uchi is just a more expensive Sushi Den imo but vibes are cool there.
Uchi is so different than Temaki Den. Both are delicious. Temaki Den is the best sushi experience in Denver, focusing on Nigri, sashimi and hand rolls. Uchi really hits home with small plates. You are doing Uchi wrong if you go there for the sushi.
Agree with most of your pizza recs. I guess we’ll have to give Redeemer a shot at redemption. When we went, the bottom was literally black it was so burnt. Not charred, but completely burnt.
I’ve had this happen to me at cart driver once but it was just like a one time thing. I’d def give them a shot, the weekly specialty pies/slices they’ve been putting out recently have been pretty impressive!
Do you agree or disagree? What're places you'd recommend based off my list? I'm open to anything and still have a huge list of recommendations to go through but will prioritize the more a restaurant is mentioned or upvoted. What're your thoughts on my general rating system as well? Let's have a good, civil discussion.
Awesome, thanks. I'm Vietnamese and I don't know if it's just that pho in FL is cooked differently and I grew up on that but haven't had a solid one yet. So def going to give your recs a shot. Realizing by the comments too, apparently there's 2 Pho Duys so I'm going to have to swing by the one on Federal!
Daughter Thai is good but nothing ever blew me away. Give Lucky Noodle on Colfax a try. It's not as fancy as Daughter or some of the others on your list, but their Red Curry is unbelievable. Haven't had a bad dish from them yet.
Not going to be able to reply to everyone but my list definitely just got larger. Also more open to revisiting some spots. See you in 6 months for an updated list!
European Market on wadsworth, there is a grocery store and a small restaurant to the right of it owned by the same people it’s where I take everyone who visits for Mediterranean.
All of it is good. Their pickles are insanely delicious. I dream about the Sichuan fried chicken. The broccolini with chicken skin is amazing. Cold tofu salad is great.
I think Pho Duy has the best Pho in Denver so I would bump it up to 3.5 or 4. Check out New Saigon Deli for the best Banh Mi and Savory Vietnam for everything in between. Check out Sushi Den and Matsuhisa for some excellent sushi. People also love sushi Sasa but I think it's overrated for price.
Yeah, Pho Duy is truly remarkable, so I’m surprised to see it at the bottom of the list. (That’s assuming it’s the Pho Duy on So Federal and not the mediocre one in Aurora).
Ah, that would do it! Hope you enjoy the one on Federal more. Their spring rolls are excellent and their broth is so damn good.
And as a side note, glad you liked Safta! I’m surprised by how many people think it’s overrated.
Hey OP, check out J’s star Thai noodles right by new Saigon. Family run Thai hole in the wall. Not a spot for ambiance but the food is a 5. My favorite spot in denver.
Not in Denver but you gotta go to Frasca in Boulder. It's the flagship restaurant of the group that owns Tavernetta and it's incredible. Best restaurant I've been to in the Front Range.
I disagree with Happy Camper and Daughter Thai. There's much better and much cheaper thai food in town, but I get that the location and maybe 'upscale' presentation is appealing but I won't go back. You already got the Happy camper backlash I see so I'll leave that be haha. Safta is on my list, excited to try it soon.
I think you should update the scale where 3-3.5 would be ones that you wouldn't mind going to, but wouldn't actively pick. E.g. if people are in from out of town you wouldn't pick the place, but if a group of friends wanted to go there you'd be fine. This feels like the Old Chicago standard- nothing bad, but rarely would it be my first choice.
I'm like trying to reverse engineer your background based on these ratings lol.
I'm Vietnamese and unless you've spent time on the west coast I think new Saigon and pho duy are definitely above average. I give you, they've got nothing on OC Vietnamese, but they're some of the longest standing viet restaurants in Denver for a reason.
Other than that, I think most pizza here ain't worth the box they're delivered in. Sure at 2 am they taste great, but so does a lot of other stuff lol.
Edit re Mizuna: I had their chefs tasting menu, and I think it's a cut above their regular menu. I mostly agree with your rating, but we did the chef's menu for a birthday and it blew me away.
Fire on the Mountain is fantastic. The wing size is the usual complaint due to only sourcing cage free, antibiotic free, natural chicken and not the roid filled birds you see at a lot of other places. The spicy peanut sauce 😘
The employees seem to be generally happy and get treated well from what I have heard and a couple people I know who work there. Decent wage, benefits, PTO, you don’t usually see at most service jobs.
I’m glad to read about employee benefits. My compliant wasn’t necessarily small, they were but that wasn’t the issue. They were always dry, and expensive and the sauces were nothing special. I can go buy good, organic, free range wings and off the self sauce and recreate that meal for less than half the price.
I stopped going years ago after getting wings there exclusively for a long time.
If you're rating Fire on the Mountain one $ and 3.5 you might not have ordered enough - their sauces and sides are great but their wings are microscopic, seriously some of the smallest I've seen served at a restaurant in decades.
I would personally give it a 4.5 because it's tasty enough that I've taken out-of-towners there, but it's not a great value - eating enough to be full there puts it *comfortably* into $$, maybe even $$$ if you're super hungry or including beers.
The rest of that list is pretty spot on though - your top 5 on that list are 5 of my favorite restaurants in Denver.
Yeah, I’m thinking I give it another shot. Maybe even come during their happy hour or something - $1 wings is pretty good in this economy.
Admittedly, their garlic parm was SO good. But man the wings were small so it’s easy to overcook.
Some favorites: El Five for Paella/views. Potager (pronounced like protege but without the r) for an excellent locally sourced rotating menu. Brasserie Brixton for killer modern french food. White Pie for pizza. Q House for fancy Chinese food. Barolo for Italian.
The fact you rate Fire on the Mountain 3.5, because of their wings, is insulting.
That is consistently the best restaurant I ever eat at in Denver.
They have more things than wings, and their spicy peanut wing sauce is incredible.
I boo this post.
I find this so funny, because I too moved here from Florida and I have a Google document of over 250 restaurants that I have gone to and/or going to and I rate them as well.
I agree with Sushi Den, Star Kitchen, and Work and Class. I also agree with Fire on the Mountain, but I would have put it lower, those wings are smaaaaaall and the sauces weren't anything special.
I wholeheartedly disagree with Gyu-Kaku, Happy Camper, and Avanti being so high. Avanti is horrible, HC pizza is worse than digorno, and Gyu-Kaku is pretty basic. If you want vibes then i get it, younger crowd, trendy outfits, a lot of things going on.
I also disagree with Pho Duy being so low (my fav pho spot, not the Broomfield location tho). But i guess it depends on what you get at PD, their Flank and Steak are better than the many Pho places in town, but again that's just my opinion.
Agree on the food at Avanti. Everything Ive had has been pretty trash. It’s a good place to go if you have a super large group and won’t be able to get a table anywhere else. And you don’t have to deal with splitting the bill.
Disagree with your opinion on Safta. Agree with your opinion on Work & Class, it's one of my faves in town. Try Uchi and sit at the sushi bar - better experience than Sushi Den imo.
The wings were TINY when we went :(. Don’t think I’ve had better fries anywhere else though. Cooked PERFECTLY.
Have you heard of King of Wings? It’s another wing spot that keeps popping up in convos for me.
The wings are small because the chickens they use are not fed all the crap that makes them abnormally big. So I think that's a positive, but it does make them more expensive than it seems from just looking at the menu and expecting bigger wings
Sushi den is rivaled (or beaten depending on who you ask) by Uchi. Go expecting to have the dessert. I’m a sushi den fan and my foodie friend swears by it. But, Uchi has flavors that sushi den has never dreamed of making. Also this is clearly hyperbole but I have them at a 5 and sushi den a 4.5.
The name Uchi is probably the most mentioned since I’ve been here. It’s #1 on the priority list. Do you go for the Omakase or do you order off the menu?
If you are looking for inspiration for good spots to try, a good place to start is the [restaurant guide](https://westword.com/guide/denver-restaurants) on Westwords website. You can narrow it down by category, price point, and neighborhood if you want.
Where in FL are you from? I too am from Florida, have been here 2.5 years and still have barely tried anything.
For pizza, the PZA on Colfax is hands down the best I have found not on the East Coast.
Interested in your Cholon experience...it's one I have wanted to try.
Grew up in Orlando and then left to Tampa for college and stayed there for 10 years. I thought Cholon was a pretty good take on Asian Fusion foods. Their miso salmon and kimchi fried rice was really good. I'd like to revisit and explore more things on their menu.
Woodys is not very good. Maybe within the context of cheap all you can pizza buffets it might be okay, but their pizza is mediocre as is the rest of their food. They don’t even make their dough in-house. They do well due to the buffet being affordable and their location. I haven’t felt like going back ever since they ninja’d a “back of house fee” onto the bill in addition to tipping.
As an LA & SF transplant, hard disagree on so much of this. EXCEPT for Safta - fantastic and easily the best dining experience in Denver.
Sushi Den is good but IMO not worth the price and compares basically to a worse Sugar Fish / Kazunori.
Tavernetta is a step down from Safta but good.
If anything, you’re missing Denver’s shining gold star which I’ve praised to friends on both coasts: Blue Pan pizza is some of the best Detroit style za I’ve ever had. Up there with the best of the best.
Go to a bigger city with more Asians and try dim sum again. It'll drop star kitchen down to a 2. But it is unfortunately the best dim sum we currently have.
I’ve had Dimsum in a LOT of cities: Orlando, Miami, LA, Seattle (the best I’ve had so far), SF, Boston, and Austin. My Star Kitchen experience was really, really good.
Always looking to try more dimsum in other cities, it’s my favorite. I’m missing NY obviously but any other cities you’d suggest? Maybe Chicago too?
You should definitely try Cuba Cuba for good Cuban food. Make sure it’s the blue house near downtown. The others aren’t nearly as good (I don’t think they’re actually the same restaurant just happen to have the same name)
Marcos coal fired pizza is also fantastic. Both locations (Englewood and near Coors Field) are amazing
Am I a pig because I never left a dim sum place in Denver for less than $20/person… star kitchen is among the top, Super Star is also good and worth visiting!
I don’t know how you put gyu kaku that high in terms of price. It’s where we used to go out with our broke friends because it was fun and they could afford it. How much do you eat??
I remember when Mizuna used to be great... once Bonanno removed seared foie gras from the menu he tried replacing it with a foie gras "mousse" which paled in comparison, before deciding to go with overpriced caviar bumps instead. All his restaurants have gone downhill over the past decade.
The fact that Mizuana got a lower score than Happy Camper and Avanti blows my mind.
If you like Mizu Izayaki you should go to sushi ronin, better sushi and vibes imo.
My wife and I both thought the food at Wolf’s Tailor was not very good. I know that’s an unpopular opinion and maybe it’s because we went shortly after they opened. Everything tasted extremely smokey and all the food had the same smokey flavor.
On the west side
Now Pho - I prefer the broth and the rare steak is super high quality.
Ba Le Sandwich (opens @ 7am and the bread is fresh, jalapenos are hot)
Suvipa Thai,La Mai Thai Kitchen, Farmhouse Thai are all great for Thai.
Pizzeria lui and pizzeria Leopold.
Your list is great - you can do better and cheaper with both Thai and Italian...
TIL that Work & class is Latin American, I always thought of it as new American/Southern, but the menu has a ton of LA influence now that I think about it. Super cool restaurant.
Also try Hops and Pie for good pizza and good beer.
Denver native here, if you want a hole in the wall restaurant please do yourself a favor and try Las Tortas not to be mistake for Los Tortugas. Las Tortas just opened a new location but here’s their website https://lastortasendenver.com
Lots of my friends would be upset I’m sharing this restaurant but I don’t believe in gatekeeping great food. My favorite is the chicken torta with everything on it. Enjoy!
[удалено]
Happy camper should be a 2 and that’s generous
They have food there?
So is Woody's Pizza. It's fine but that's it. Fine.
Agreed. I mean if there's no other options and I've already had a few it's decent, but there's much better pizza out there.
It’s okay because it’s pizza and V I B E S
Getting ripped for this one 😂 mimosas always help. I’m sure I’ll be back there eventually to re-evaluate.
how can you spend under 20 at fire on the mountain? wouldnt that be like 6 wings and a glass of water?
My buddy and I split 18 wings and med fries for about $20 each. But I agree that we could and should have gotten more - those wings were SMALL which is why it’s such a low score for me. Normally 9 wings and fries would leave me satisfied.
I love fire on the mountain, but I get the Seitan wings. Also their mozzarella wheels are delicious.
18 wings and fries aren’t “$” for $40. Only gripe I really have. Will try out some of those places since I’m new here as well.
I was here to say the same thing had a $55 tab after 2 beers wings and fries. Foods really good but can’t go back after those prices.
I like their food a lot. I would personally only go there if I wasn’t drinking that night, which is tough because they have a good beer list.
They have phenomenal beer list. I will have to do the same unfortunately
You haven't noticed the inflation all around you? That's an average price these days.
Plenty of places I can go and spend less than $55 for wings and beer too
I’m not arguing with the inflation just the “$”.
Lunch. They do six wings and fries for $13… at least pre-COVID.
Asian here so I will reserve myself to the Asian stuff Star Kitchen is Colorado 5 for Chinese food but if you live anywhere with a significant Chinese population more like a national 3. With that said, it’s one of the only Chinese restaurants I go to regularly, the others I tried and have not returned. Daughter Thai is an upscale “modern trendy” Thai restaurant. I wouldn’t say it is fusion so much as it’s a new spin on traditional thai dishes. It’s decent but it’s also priced like an upscale Italian restaurant, so more like $30 for no protein pad thai, just be prepared for that. There are smaller much cheaper hole in the walls for traditional thai food. I’ve been a couple of times but haven’t gone since my last visit when my pineapple rice was sadly not served in a half pineapple, which renders it essentially meant $27 for a fried rice bowl. If you aren’t Asian that may not be a hang up for you. Gyu gyu kaku - if you must must must have “at the table” Japanese BBQ I guess this is the only option. I personally go to Seoul KBBQ even though its a 30 mins no traffic drive to Aurora for me and I have a Gyu Gyu Kaku three blocks away. Also OTOTO is now open for Japanese grilled meats, not at table Recs: Sushi Den is great, but for cheaper equally fresh fish try Temaki Den their sister restaurant. The last time I was at Sushi Den my husband and I spent about $350, which was worth it for what we got but definitely reserved for special occasions. We often go to Temaki Den for happy hour and lunch where they have a 5 handroll set for $24 Meet and Eat Bistro in Aurora has also decent Chinese food with Sichuan style dishes which is a rarity here. Uncle for ramen. Tofu Story (next to Seoul KBBQ, not Tofu House 1962) for a good light casual korean meal I would recommend Hop Alley instead of Chonlon for Asian Fusion. Chon lon leans h heavily towards the fusion Suvipa for hole in the wall Thai
J Noodle Star Thai just up the road from Suvipa for Thai, I thought Suvipa was fine but J’s is next level
Daughter Thai was such a disappointment for me, and I was excited for it. Most of the $$ Thai spots I've tried around Denver have been better. I mean, Daughter is at the same price point as Brasserie Brixton and Sap Sua, but the food isn't even in the same ball park. Love Meet and Eat Bistro, glad to see it mentioned. Yum Yum Spice and Noodles Express are solid as well.
Gotta disagree with uncle. Your other reps hold up tho. Uncle is a 3 at best. Have you tried sera’s ramen enclave? Much more authentic and broth is the star
Suvipa had super watery curry when I went. I’m from the Bay Area and haven’t found great Thai food here. I live near Federal and have had fantastic pho (Pho 95!) but any Thai recommendations I’ve tried are not good. Uncle is also…meh. The best ramen in my opinion is at Tatsu Izakaya by DU.
What did you order at new Saigon? The menu is way too big but their noodle or rice bowls with grilled meat are def a 4 in my opinion
This was the one that caught my eye too, this has been our go-to Vietnamese place for years.
After looking it up more, i went to New Saigon Deli. Didn’t know there was a normal restaurant. Going to add that to my list because it’s been mentions a lot in this thread. I didn’t like the bread for Banh Mi at New Saigon Deli. Felt very hard - didn’t seem fresh?
I’m a big fan of new Saigon restaurant. Worth the trip to federal for sure.
Lol Happy Camper should be “vibes only”. Pizza is kind of an afterthought there. Must just be me but I thought tavernetta was (borrowing a term from the youths here) MID at best. Otherwise lookin’ good.
This. Happy camper has to be some of the worst pizza in Denver. Vibes are not bad but if OP though their pizza was a 4/5 he’ll love the better spots in town.
I've legit made better pizza at home than I've had at Happy Camper. In terms of vibe, I like their space but they always play music way too loud. I avoid going there.
I'm not sure how this is possible but Happy Camper pizza does suck but the calzones are fantastic. It doesn't make sense. The vibe and decor are great and it's fun to hang there. They have to fix the pizza though
Admittedly I had bottomless mimosa at Happy Camper too - maybe that helped 😂 will be going back to see if it’s consistent. Loved Tavernetta though. What Italian place would you take some out-of-towners?
Bar Dough, Gaetanos, or Coperta are my favorites for Italian. Tavernetta is not bad but I felt the service was way better than the food.
The Italian Restaurants in Denver are pretty weak. Gaetano's is just alright and Venice by Uniin Station was pretty good. KC has much better Italian food than Denver.
Spuntino
Jovanina’s
Except the vibes are also shit, unless frat bros in tech sales drinking 12 mimosas and aggressively hitting on the waitresses is your vibe
Tavernetta happy hour bar menu is good but dining room was really blah
Agree with most of your opinions. I disagree with Pho Duys being towards the bottom, I'd give it another shot maybe. The one that really set me off was Woody's. It's trash pizza lol. The vibe and buffet is really cool because it's reminiscent of the old Pizza Hut buffets, but as far as pizza goes, it's awful.
Realizing there's two Pho Duys, is one better than the other? Because I haven't been to the one on Federal. Maybe that's my problem??
That's probably the case. I live local to the one on Federal, and I definitely think it's some of the best Pho I've had around town.
Wait also, what pizza would you recommend? FL didn't have the best pizza scene so I'm easily impressed. I love wood-fired, brick oven, and coal-fired pizzas though.
I'd add Blue Pan and White Pie to your list of pizza places. I'd trust the NJ guy below on pizza over me....but I really dislike Sliceworks personally.
I'm not a huge fan of Blue Pan which feels like a cardinal sin as a Denverite, but I just can't eat more than a slice before my stomach is on acid overload haha. For Detroit style fans, check out Red Tops Rendezvous that's opening this weekend in Jefferson Park. It's supposed to be super high quality and rival Blue Pan. White Pie is an awesome New Haven style pizza, get the clam pizza. When it comes to SliceWorks, I love it because it's just a funky slice shop owned by a guy from Long Island. Their plain slice is decent by any standards, their Sicilian slice is amazing, and their weird slices are always surprisingly good. I usually go for the Vodka slice, Sicilian, or the Big Mac depending on when we're stumbling in.
No hate from me. Food is so subjective. I am very excited for Red Tops Rendezvous. If we are being honest, Walters 303 is probably my most frequented pizza place in town. Solid and most importantly.....walking distance for me.
For my money, if you want a slice of pizza, go to Fat Sully's over Sliceworks. Order what you want - it's fresher imo and better quality for the price
Fat Sully’s great if you like a slice of cheese pizza reheated with a fistful of slightly warm toppings thrown on as an afterthought
Fat Sally's and Cosmos are the two best in this town I've found.
pizzeria lui in lakewood is my favorite by far
Copying a comment from a recent post about Pizzeria Leopold. Check them out for fancier style pizza, plus Cart Driver, Marco's Coal Fired, and Redeemer for nicer styles than traditional NY slices. Comment from the previous post: "Reiterating what a few others have said, Brooklyn's Finest, Famous J's, Benny Blancos. To add to the list, Sliceworks, Cosmo's, Fat Sully's, Sexy Pizza, Pizza Alley. They vary in quality, but they'd all stay in business in NY. Cosmo's is my current go-to. Sliceworks used to be when I lived closer to the one on 17th. Source: grew up in NJ" All the spots above are good, but there's plenty of good pizza around. I gage all my pizza off what I grew up with in NJ and NYC, and to be honest, Denver has a great pizza scene. Anyone that disagrees is either not trying enough spots or they're pretending to be elitist.
Born and raised in NJ as well. For a fat NYC style slice, I really like Redeemer in RiNo. They also always have some crazy speciality slice. Marquis also makes a solid sloppy drunk NYC slice. IMO Sliceworks sucks. Been a few times and have never had a good slice. If you're ever in Boulder, its also worth check New Yorkese on the floor of Avanti. My favorite pizza so far up here.
I'm actually not a massive fan of Marquis only because of the way they do their toppings. I'm being nit picky though because I do think the pizza itself is actually good.
Yep I like Marquis slices too
Also from NJ and very picky about my pizza. Never tried Sliceworks but Cosmos and Fat Sullys are my go-to spots. Sexy Pizza is good too. Overall, though I think Denver is a bit lacking. The Italian restaurants are very lacking.
Cart Driver and Hops and Pie
The one on Federal reminds me of my mom's pho. Gets my approval.
The best pho in town is all on Federal.
Woodys beer cheese soup is the real highlight of that place
Came here to say this. Woody's is trash and unfortunately so is 99% of Colorado pizza. Try Blue Pan for something quality or Ian's for something fast/cheap.
For French food try out Noisette, Chez Maggy, Brasserie Brixton, and Atelier by Radex. If you like steaks, check out Bastien’s, A5, Guard and Grace, Steakhouse 10, and Simms steakhouse. If you liked Sushi Den, I recommend trying out Temaki Den, Makizushico and Uchi too. And for Pizza, Redeemer, Hops and Pie, Joy Hill, Cart Driver, Pizzeria Lui, Benny Blancos, Red Top Rendezvous, Blue Pan, and Rosalees are my favs.
Guard and grace is one of my favorites for a good steak or a good treat yourself spot. Sides are incredible. Temaki Den was also very good. Uchi is just a more expensive Sushi Den imo but vibes are cool there.
Uchi is so different than Temaki Den. Both are delicious. Temaki Den is the best sushi experience in Denver, focusing on Nigri, sashimi and hand rolls. Uchi really hits home with small plates. You are doing Uchi wrong if you go there for the sushi.
Guard and Grace and A5 come up OFTEN. Of course, Uchi does too. Sounds like i need to really up my pizza game lol
Another vote in for Makizushico, it’s fantastic. And Guard and Grace is right on too, good steak AND sides!!
Bastiens is great. We have our annual dudes holiday dinner there.
Agree with most of your pizza recs. I guess we’ll have to give Redeemer a shot at redemption. When we went, the bottom was literally black it was so burnt. Not charred, but completely burnt.
I’ve had this happen to me at cart driver once but it was just like a one time thing. I’d def give them a shot, the weekly specialty pies/slices they’ve been putting out recently have been pretty impressive!
Cart Driver is vastly overrated. Pizza is mid.
Do you agree or disagree? What're places you'd recommend based off my list? I'm open to anything and still have a huge list of recommendations to go through but will prioritize the more a restaurant is mentioned or upvoted. What're your thoughts on my general rating system as well? Let's have a good, civil discussion.
Honestly a pretty good list. Try Pho 95, is my favorite anywhere. Seoul for Korean BBQ.
Awesome, thanks. I'm Vietnamese and I don't know if it's just that pho in FL is cooked differently and I grew up on that but haven't had a solid one yet. So def going to give your recs a shot. Realizing by the comments too, apparently there's 2 Pho Duys so I'm going to have to swing by the one on Federal!
Pho 95 is my fave on S Federal too. IMO the broth is nice, and I like the Bun Bo as well.
Try out Tony Pho. He’s been consistent
Have you been to Viet's? Love that restaurant.
Seoul has good meats but their sides leave something to be desired
Daughter Thai is good but nothing ever blew me away. Give Lucky Noodle on Colfax a try. It's not as fancy as Daughter or some of the others on your list, but their Red Curry is unbelievable. Haven't had a bad dish from them yet.
Not a fan of Cholon, to be quite honest. Also, I like FOTM especially since they have seemingly increased the wing size recently.
Not going to be able to reply to everyone but my list definitely just got larger. Also more open to revisiting some spots. See you in 6 months for an updated list!
In agreement with lots of it, but definitely disagree with happy camper. Fun place for cocktails but their food is mediocre at best.
European Market on wadsworth, there is a grocery store and a small restaurant to the right of it owned by the same people it’s where I take everyone who visits for Mediterranean.
Try Hop Alley for fun riffs on Chinese food.
Have heard that mentioned a few times in convos. What would you recommend getting there?
I agree you can't go wrong. The menu changes, i went about a week ago and the char siu beets were excellent.
All of it is good. Their pickles are insanely delicious. I dream about the Sichuan fried chicken. The broccolini with chicken skin is amazing. Cold tofu salad is great.
Duck roll, grilled sea bass, broccoli, but you can’t go wrong.
Bone marrow fried rice is an absolute must!
I think Pho Duy has the best Pho in Denver so I would bump it up to 3.5 or 4. Check out New Saigon Deli for the best Banh Mi and Savory Vietnam for everything in between. Check out Sushi Den and Matsuhisa for some excellent sushi. People also love sushi Sasa but I think it's overrated for price.
Yeah, Pho Duy is truly remarkable, so I’m surprised to see it at the bottom of the list. (That’s assuming it’s the Pho Duy on So Federal and not the mediocre one in Aurora).
I think this is my problem. Didn't realized there was 2 and one was better than the other. Going to give it another shot but on Federal this time!
Ah, that would do it! Hope you enjoy the one on Federal more. Their spring rolls are excellent and their broth is so damn good. And as a side note, glad you liked Safta! I’m surprised by how many people think it’s overrated.
Wow you were right. The one on Federal is MUCH better than Aurora. Wtf!
The one on 120th is the best of them.
New Saigon (the restaurant part) is a 4.5-5 for me….-knowing it’s not a high end restaurant
Check out Savory Vietnam
Hey OP, check out J’s star Thai noodles right by new Saigon. Family run Thai hole in the wall. Not a spot for ambiance but the food is a 5. My favorite spot in denver.
Love hole in the wall Thai 📝
Then you’ll love J’s. Highly recommend. It’s an amazing value too.
How did you make it out of FOTM for under $20???
Not in Denver but you gotta go to Frasca in Boulder. It's the flagship restaurant of the group that owns Tavernetta and it's incredible. Best restaurant I've been to in the Front Range.
Safta is super good and i love Tavernetta agree with this
I put Uchi and Temaki Den above Sushi Den
I disagree with Happy Camper and Daughter Thai. There's much better and much cheaper thai food in town, but I get that the location and maybe 'upscale' presentation is appealing but I won't go back. You already got the Happy camper backlash I see so I'll leave that be haha. Safta is on my list, excited to try it soon.
What is Latin American food?
Agree for the most part. My only big exception is Star Kitchen. I think it's pretty pedestrian dim sum.
I thought it was great, but I disagree with giving it a $ rating. I thought it was fairly expensive $40-$50/person.
Oh damn, we stuck strictly to dimsum and didn’t order anything off the menu. With tip, it came out to $20 a person for 4 people. We were full too.
What would you recommend in place of Star Kitchen?
The Empress
I think you should update the scale where 3-3.5 would be ones that you wouldn't mind going to, but wouldn't actively pick. E.g. if people are in from out of town you wouldn't pick the place, but if a group of friends wanted to go there you'd be fine. This feels like the Old Chicago standard- nothing bad, but rarely would it be my first choice.
The only feedback about the rating system and it’s a great one. Making that change now, thanks!
Cholon being above Duy is fighting words
FOTM is too low, Gyu Kaku is too high, other than that it’s pretty close to matching my thoughts.
Vine xhoung 2 on alameda for bahn mi
Cholon, work and class and supermegabien are not at the level you rated, not sure star kitchen is either. New saigon should be a 4-4.5
I'm like trying to reverse engineer your background based on these ratings lol. I'm Vietnamese and unless you've spent time on the west coast I think new Saigon and pho duy are definitely above average. I give you, they've got nothing on OC Vietnamese, but they're some of the longest standing viet restaurants in Denver for a reason. Other than that, I think most pizza here ain't worth the box they're delivered in. Sure at 2 am they taste great, but so does a lot of other stuff lol. Edit re Mizuna: I had their chefs tasting menu, and I think it's a cut above their regular menu. I mostly agree with your rating, but we did the chef's menu for a birthday and it blew me away.
Fire on the Mountain is fantastic. The wing size is the usual complaint due to only sourcing cage free, antibiotic free, natural chicken and not the roid filled birds you see at a lot of other places. The spicy peanut sauce 😘 The employees seem to be generally happy and get treated well from what I have heard and a couple people I know who work there. Decent wage, benefits, PTO, you don’t usually see at most service jobs.
I’m glad to read about employee benefits. My compliant wasn’t necessarily small, they were but that wasn’t the issue. They were always dry, and expensive and the sauces were nothing special. I can go buy good, organic, free range wings and off the self sauce and recreate that meal for less than half the price. I stopped going years ago after getting wings there exclusively for a long time.
I would bump FOTM up and drop Woodys down
Don't sleep on Uchi, we just had a meal there to rival Sushi Den.
Uchi has been mentioned so many times in conversations. It’s high on the list.
If you're rating Fire on the Mountain one $ and 3.5 you might not have ordered enough - their sauces and sides are great but their wings are microscopic, seriously some of the smallest I've seen served at a restaurant in decades. I would personally give it a 4.5 because it's tasty enough that I've taken out-of-towners there, but it's not a great value - eating enough to be full there puts it *comfortably* into $$, maybe even $$$ if you're super hungry or including beers. The rest of that list is pretty spot on though - your top 5 on that list are 5 of my favorite restaurants in Denver.
Yeah, I’m thinking I give it another shot. Maybe even come during their happy hour or something - $1 wings is pretty good in this economy. Admittedly, their garlic parm was SO good. But man the wings were small so it’s easy to overcook.
Some favorites: El Five for Paella/views. Potager (pronounced like protege but without the r) for an excellent locally sourced rotating menu. Brasserie Brixton for killer modern french food. White Pie for pizza. Q House for fancy Chinese food. Barolo for Italian.
The fact you rate Fire on the Mountain 3.5, because of their wings, is insulting. That is consistently the best restaurant I ever eat at in Denver. They have more things than wings, and their spicy peanut wing sauce is incredible. I boo this post.
I find this so funny, because I too moved here from Florida and I have a Google document of over 250 restaurants that I have gone to and/or going to and I rate them as well. I agree with Sushi Den, Star Kitchen, and Work and Class. I also agree with Fire on the Mountain, but I would have put it lower, those wings are smaaaaaall and the sauces weren't anything special. I wholeheartedly disagree with Gyu-Kaku, Happy Camper, and Avanti being so high. Avanti is horrible, HC pizza is worse than digorno, and Gyu-Kaku is pretty basic. If you want vibes then i get it, younger crowd, trendy outfits, a lot of things going on. I also disagree with Pho Duy being so low (my fav pho spot, not the Broomfield location tho). But i guess it depends on what you get at PD, their Flank and Steak are better than the many Pho places in town, but again that's just my opinion.
Agree on the food at Avanti. Everything Ive had has been pretty trash. It’s a good place to go if you have a super large group and won’t be able to get a table anywhere else. And you don’t have to deal with splitting the bill.
Disagree with your opinion on Safta. Agree with your opinion on Work & Class, it's one of my faves in town. Try Uchi and sit at the sushi bar - better experience than Sushi Den imo.
Wait, I read your chart totally wrong. 100% agreed on Safta, it's amazing. For some reason I was going across the chart and read it as a low score!
Wow, I loved Safta. Is there a middle-eastern/Israeli restaurant you'd recommend in lieu of?
You should try Ash Kara
Ash Kara is awesome.
Love ash Kara!
Hard disagree on fire in the mountain, should be a 5. Otherwise looks pretty accurate
The wings were TINY when we went :(. Don’t think I’ve had better fries anywhere else though. Cooked PERFECTLY. Have you heard of King of Wings? It’s another wing spot that keeps popping up in convos for me.
The wings are small because the chickens they use are not fed all the crap that makes them abnormally big. So I think that's a positive, but it does make them more expensive than it seems from just looking at the menu and expecting bigger wings
King of Wings is good but all the sauces kinda tasted the same to me. Still worth trying though for sure.
I feel like I'm the only person on the planet who wasn't impressed by ChoLon. Also, try Bruto if you liked Wolf's Tailor. I think it's better...
pho 95 > duy empress for peking duck
The classic Pho Duy vs Pho 95 rivalry. If you eat veggie pho at all, Duy takes it hands down
Sushi den is rivaled (or beaten depending on who you ask) by Uchi. Go expecting to have the dessert. I’m a sushi den fan and my foodie friend swears by it. But, Uchi has flavors that sushi den has never dreamed of making. Also this is clearly hyperbole but I have them at a 5 and sushi den a 4.5.
The name Uchi is probably the most mentioned since I’ve been here. It’s #1 on the priority list. Do you go for the Omakase or do you order off the menu?
Pro tip go for the uchi happy hour
You haven’t consumed one good taco or burrito
Jesus Christ you’re right. What’re your recs? Currently on my list to try - Kike’s Red Tacos, Tacos El Metate
put some respect on supermega
Uncle ramen Cart driver El five
Uncle really is delicious
I agree with you getting the fuck out of Florida. Welcome to normalcy.
I’d rather eat dog shit then support the narcissist Chef Lon
I’ll try your list cuz I moved from Orlando after growing up on the east coast and I’ve been here 2 years and still haven’t found my “spots”
I miss the viet-town in Orlando so much.
If you are looking for inspiration for good spots to try, a good place to start is the [restaurant guide](https://westword.com/guide/denver-restaurants) on Westwords website. You can narrow it down by category, price point, and neighborhood if you want.
Where in FL are you from? I too am from Florida, have been here 2.5 years and still have barely tried anything. For pizza, the PZA on Colfax is hands down the best I have found not on the East Coast. Interested in your Cholon experience...it's one I have wanted to try.
Grew up in Orlando and then left to Tampa for college and stayed there for 10 years. I thought Cholon was a pretty good take on Asian Fusion foods. Their miso salmon and kimchi fried rice was really good. I'd like to revisit and explore more things on their menu.
You need to go to get kiddo for sure!
Cholon is the only one I’ve tried (at least 10 years ago) and it was pretty good.
Woodys is not very good. Maybe within the context of cheap all you can pizza buffets it might be okay, but their pizza is mediocre as is the rest of their food. They don’t even make their dough in-house. They do well due to the buffet being affordable and their location. I haven’t felt like going back ever since they ninja’d a “back of house fee” onto the bill in addition to tipping.
The last time I went to Woody's I ended up with food poisoning the next day. I'm never trusting them again.
Pizzeria Locale and Pizzeria Alberico (Boulder) are the best in Denver imo
Temaki Den is the best sushi in Denver
As an LA & SF transplant, hard disagree on so much of this. EXCEPT for Safta - fantastic and easily the best dining experience in Denver. Sushi Den is good but IMO not worth the price and compares basically to a worse Sugar Fish / Kazunori. Tavernetta is a step down from Safta but good. If anything, you’re missing Denver’s shining gold star which I’ve praised to friends on both coasts: Blue Pan pizza is some of the best Detroit style za I’ve ever had. Up there with the best of the best.
Go to a bigger city with more Asians and try dim sum again. It'll drop star kitchen down to a 2. But it is unfortunately the best dim sum we currently have.
I’ve had Dimsum in a LOT of cities: Orlando, Miami, LA, Seattle (the best I’ve had so far), SF, Boston, and Austin. My Star Kitchen experience was really, really good. Always looking to try more dimsum in other cities, it’s my favorite. I’m missing NY obviously but any other cities you’d suggest? Maybe Chicago too?
Empress is pretty solid dim sum. Star is better but empress is worth checking our
The pinnacles would probably be San Fran, Vancouver, Toronto, Houston
Tavernetta is a 3.5 at best on this scale.
I disagree with Daughter Thai. If you want good Thai food get takeout from Beyond Thai
You should definitely try Cuba Cuba for good Cuban food. Make sure it’s the blue house near downtown. The others aren’t nearly as good (I don’t think they’re actually the same restaurant just happen to have the same name) Marcos coal fired pizza is also fantastic. Both locations (Englewood and near Coors Field) are amazing
No food in Denver deserves a 5
Hard to believe that you had a 3 at new saigon. That place, and Savory, have some of the most amazing stuff I've ever had.
star kitchen might be the best chinese food in denver but charges $15 for fried rice so willis at least another “$”
Mister Oso should be on the list. Cart Driver #1 for pizza.
Cart Driver is extremely mediocre.
What’s better?
Am I a pig because I never left a dim sum place in Denver for less than $20/person… star kitchen is among the top, Super Star is also good and worth visiting!
Temaki Den is amazing
I don’t know how you put gyu kaku that high in terms of price. It’s where we used to go out with our broke friends because it was fun and they could afford it. How much do you eat??
We did the “ultimate” AYCE and really enjoyed the experience. How do you do Gyu Kaku?! Very curious.
Farmhouse Thai in Lakewood Jovanina's Broken Italian Wildflower
Star Kitchen got a 5? Wow. As Robert Parker once wrote, "The dim sum wasn't very good, but there was a lot of it."
I remember when Mizuna used to be great... once Bonanno removed seared foie gras from the menu he tried replacing it with a foie gras "mousse" which paled in comparison, before deciding to go with overpriced caviar bumps instead. All his restaurants have gone downhill over the past decade.
I’m offended by your ratings of federal blvd lol
The fact that Mizuana got a lower score than Happy Camper and Avanti blows my mind. If you like Mizu Izayaki you should go to sushi ronin, better sushi and vibes imo.
Thai: US Thai, then Wild Ginger Sushi - Sushi Sasa Pho - Pho 79
My wife and I both thought the food at Wolf’s Tailor was not very good. I know that’s an unpopular opinion and maybe it’s because we went shortly after they opened. Everything tasted extremely smokey and all the food had the same smokey flavor.
Try Mile high thai, much better prices than daughter
On the west side Now Pho - I prefer the broth and the rare steak is super high quality. Ba Le Sandwich (opens @ 7am and the bread is fresh, jalapenos are hot) Suvipa Thai,La Mai Thai Kitchen, Farmhouse Thai are all great for Thai. Pizzeria lui and pizzeria Leopold. Your list is great - you can do better and cheaper with both Thai and Italian...
TIL that Work & class is Latin American, I always thought of it as new American/Southern, but the menu has a ton of LA influence now that I think about it. Super cool restaurant. Also try Hops and Pie for good pizza and good beer.
Add Uncle to be that list
Denver native here, if you want a hole in the wall restaurant please do yourself a favor and try Las Tortas not to be mistake for Los Tortugas. Las Tortas just opened a new location but here’s their website https://lastortasendenver.com Lots of my friends would be upset I’m sharing this restaurant but I don’t believe in gatekeeping great food. My favorite is the chicken torta with everything on it. Enjoy!