Restaurants in Front Range
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Ruebens Burger Bistro
An owner-operated temple to the all-natural, hormone-free, gourmet burger, all christened with cycling-themed names. The Mountain Biker comes with avocado, arugula and swiss cheese, while the Paris Roubaix is topped with whole roasted green chilis and swiss and cream cheeses. Ruebens also offers intriguing dishes like a build-your-own mac and cheese, and moules frites.
It's a good bet the owner shaves his legs.
reviewed
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Dushanbe Teahouse
No visit to Boulder is complete without a meal at this incredible Tajik work of art, a gift from Boulder's sister city (Dushanbe, Tajikistan) that boasts incredible craftsmanship and meticulous painting. The fare ranges from Amazonian and Mediterranean to, of course, Tajik. Outside is a lovely, shaded patio. It's an intimate place to grab cocktails or dinner on a warm summer day.
reviewed
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Med
A Boulder classic, this friendly, festive joint brings all the many flavors of the Mediterranean under one roof (and patio). Think wood-fired pizza, gyros and terrific tapas from gambas to bacon wrapped dates to bruschetta. There's a full bar and some fantastic deserts. Terrific happy-hour deals and a fun crowd most nights.
reviewed
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Boulder County Farmers' Market
A massive spring and summer sprawl of colorful, mostly organic local food. Here you can find flowers and herbs, as well as brain sized mushrooms, delicate squash blossoms, crusty pretzels, vegan dips, grass-fed beef, raw granola and yogurt. The market stretches from Arapahoe to Canyon along Central Park and around the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, which offers free admission on market days.
Prepared food booths offer gyros and tamales. Live music is as standard as the family picnics in the park along Boulder Creek.
reviewed
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Salt
One of downtown's newest and most happening spots also serves damn fine farm to table cuisine. We're talking small plates like crispy pork belly BLT, heirloom tomato salad and local beet carpaccio. Entrees include fresh fettucine and slow-roasted leg of lamb, and several fresh seafood options. Cocktails are creative and personalized.
The house always feels good, whether you dine downstairs in the basement pub or in the bright brick-wall dining room with a glimpse of the open and rocking kitchen.
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Frasca
Frasca has been considered Boulder's finest restaurant since it opened. The service is top shelf and the rotating menu features the freshest farm-to-table ingredients available. Reservations must be made days or even weeks in advance.
The menu includes dishes like braised pork shoulder canneloni, house made gnocchi and grilled quail served with local peppers, leeks and wilted pea shoots. This restaurant is as fancy and as snooty as Boulder gets.
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Boulder Cafe
Score a sidewalk table and check out the Pearl St Mall street performers while waiting for your buffalo burger. The perennially popular Boulder Cafe is one of those 'all things to all people' kitchens, which means anything from shrimp enchiladas to penne pasta or skillets of trout and teriyaki steak to a damn fine raw bar can be yours.
From 3pm to 6:30pm, all appetizers and drinks are half-price. That's the time to go raw.
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Mateo
A casual new dining hall with minimalist panache, an upscale but not fancy-pants, crowd, and a damn fine kitchen specialising in French comfort cuisine. Think braised lamb shoulder served over pasta, pork belly over organic rice, and moules (mussels) frites. Cheeses are artisanal, ingredients mostly local and the wine is quite fine. Half-priced moule frites ($6) on Mondays.
reviewed
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Dagabi Cucina
Hidden away in a North Boulder minimall off Broadway is this brickhouse of a Mediterranean joint with Italian and Spanish roots, and a popular tapas menu at happy hour (5pm to 6:30pm). That's when you can devour olives, bruschetta, grilled asparagus, steamed clams, and pancetta wrapped shrimp on small plates for just $3 to $6 each. Or there's always paella Mondays ($12).
reviewed
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Sink
- Boulder, USA
- Restaurants › Pub
Waiters bob and weave under the low-slung, graffiti scrawled ceiling of the Sink, a Hill classic that's been around since 1923. Colorful characters cover the dimly lit, cavernous space – a scene almost worth a visit itself. Almost. Once you've washed back the legendary Sink burger with a slug of a local microbrew, you'll be glad you stuck around.
reviewed
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Rio Grande Cafe
Always packed, this Tex-Mex institution consistently delivers potent margaritas, sumptuous beef fajitas and an addictive queso dip. Loud and chaotic but remaining family friendly, it has a buzzing bar scene top-side with awesome Flatiron views from the rooftop deck. Happy Hour (3pm to 6pm) deals include $2 tacos and $3 drafts.
reviewed
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Spruce Confections
Boulder's go-to bakehouse, where the favorites are the Ol' B Cookie (chocolate, oats, cinnamon and coconut) and the Black Bottom Cupcake (a chocolate cupcake with cheesecake in the middle). Pair either with the Spruce Juice, possibly the world's greatest iced vanilla latte. They have sinful scones and filling salads too.
reviewed
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Amuzé
Set in the spectacular 1936 Fine Arts Center (Colorado Springs' excellent art museum), where you'll see two Andy Warhols on the wall, inlaid murals, parquet floors and exquisite Rocky Mountain views (including Pikes Peak) through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
That's a lot of atmosphere for food to live up to, but chef Bill Sherman works magic in that kitchen. There's tempura-fried tarragon goat's cheese; beef carpaccio with fried capers and avocado Parmesan crisp; and red and yellow beet salad with mixed greens, feta, maple-glazed bacon dressed in sherry vinaigrette. And that bone in the ribeye is massive, with a wild mushroom demilglaze sweetened with palisade peaches. T…
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Blue Star
One of Colorado Springs' most popular gourmet eateries, the Blue Star is in the quiet Broadmoor neighborhood just south of downtown. The menu at this landmark spot changes regularly, but always involves fresh fish, top-cut steak and inventive chicken dishes, flavored with Mediterranean and Pacific Rim rubs and spices.
The colorful bar area, with metal and sleek wood decor and booth or high-top tables, is more social than the open-kitchen dining room in the back. There's occassional live jazz here, and the menu is slightly less expensive. Blue Star also has an impressive 8500-bottle wine cellar that includes organic varietals.
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Zolo Southwestern Grill
Zolo has been delighting residents with award-winning Southwestern fare and easy parking (it has its own lot) for 15 years now. The menu is a Colorado take on classic Mexican. Perennial favorites include fundido (warm goat Oaxaca cheese fondue with red pepper jam, roasted garlic, flour tortillas), chicken enchiladas and the tortilla-crusted ahi tuna. Whatever you do, don't skip the tequila. There are more than 150 choices, which can be served neat or blended into what many argue are Boulder's best margaritas. Look for Zolo about 11 blocks southeast of the Pearl St Mall, tucked into a quiet shopping center.
reviewed
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House of Jerusalem
A fabulous Middle Eastern greasy-spoon haunt, and exactly the kind of place you wouldn't expect to find in Colorado Springs. They do cheap and savory shawarma, felafel and 'chickofel' or 'beefofel' (a mix of meat and falafel) sandwiches as well as tasty kebab plates. Veggies will appreciate the veggie plate, with hummus, tabbouleh, falafel, dolmas dripping in olive oil and lemon juice and served warm, and warm pita seasoned with za'atar spice mix. They have sage iced-tea, ice cream, smoothies and Turkish coffee too!
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Nosh
Everyone's favorite downtown dining room. There's color and art everywhere you look. It's in the entry way with those giant red paper clips, across the street in the nearby sculpture garden, on the wide patio with dangling lights and firepits, on the tables and walls, and especially in the kitchen where they create stunning and tasty small plates.
Think: bison dumplings, lentil dumplings, scallop crudo, chili-glazed burgers and all manner of roasted veggies. The best downtown eats by far.
reviewed
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Lucile's
This New Orleans–style diner has perfected breakfast, and the Creole egg dishes (served over a bed of creamy spinach alongside cheesy grits or perfectly blackened trout) are the thing to order. Start with a steaming mug of chai or chicory coffee and an order of beignets. The powder-sugar-drenched French Cajun doughnuts are the house specialty.
Lucile's operates in a few towns, including Fort Collins.
reviewed
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Pikes Perk Coffee & Teahouse
With a fantastic rooftop boasting unobstructed views of Colorado Springs' signature mountain, Pikes Perk is our all-time-favorite regional coffee shop. Read a magazine, write a novel or just a chat with friends in the cozy 2nd-floor lounge or on the rooftop deck when the weather's nice.
Pike's Perk serves the usual range of espresso drinks, all excellent quality, as well as a range of pastries, bagels, breakfast burritos and other light meals.
reviewed
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Phantom Canyon Brewing Co
In an old exposed warehouse building saved from the wrecking ball in 1993, this local brewery serves a variety of pints and American cuisine in a casual atmosphere with wood floors and furnishings, and an antique bar.
The appetizers can be large enough for a meal, happy-hour pints of house-made blondes, IPAs and stouts are just $2.50 and the downstairs dining room is family-friendly. Locals flock to the upstairs billiards room at night.
reviewed
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Happy
One of Boulder's better restaurants, Happy serves up what they call, 'Asian inspired comfort food', which means flavors like wok-seared scallops, a bahn-mi (short rib) burger, griddled pork buns, tofu udon and fried brussel sprout leaves (surprisingly memorable). And nobody in town does finer cocktails than the men and women behind Happy's Bitter Bar.
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Sushi Zanmai
As fun and fresh as sushi gets in Boulder. The chefs shout with delight as customers fill the space, which they do early and often. The chefs shout again as they complete platters of cut sushi, grilled and brushed eel, toro hand rolls and specialty house rolls like the Colorado, made with raw filet mingnon. Trout, a common sushi out in the mountains of japan, is available here. Get it!
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La'au's
Tucked into Spencer Center, near Colorado College, and the Fine Arts Center, this creative minimalist, Hawaiian taco shack offers tasty, fast and healthy fare in the form of taco, bowl, (massive, brain-sized) burrito or salad. Choose your protein (shrimp, steak, mahi, chicken or pork), and your salsa and toppings style (Baja, Kona, Hilo or Maui) and grab some coconut flan for dessert.
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Kitchen
Clean lines, stacks of crusty bread, a daily menu and lots of light: Kitchen is one of the finest kitchens in town. Fresh farmers-market ingredients are crafted into rustic tapas: think roasted root vegetables, shaved prosciutto and mussels steamed in wine and cream. The pulled-pork sandwich rocks, but save room for sticky toffee pudding. Thirsty grown-ups dig the upstairs bar.
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Adam's Mountain Cafe
A groovy new age Colorado cafe with a slow food ethos. They do veggie burgers and burritos at lunch, orange-almond French toast and huevos rancheros at breakfast, and an eclectic dinner menu that ranges fom udon noodles to Senegalese veggies to Brazilian spiced barramundi. The interior is airy and attractive with marble floors and exposed rafters, and there's patio dining too.
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