When it comes to upscale yet casual dining in downtown Denver, there are endless options.
Whether we were looking for a steak, Mexican food, or burgers, LoDo and Cherry Creek had everything we wanted.
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We stayed in Cherry Creek which is a tidy little community lined with beautiful well-groomed streets neighboring Lower Downtown Denver. Read my blog about hotels in Denver here!
The sanitation measures and mask requirements in Denver were reassuring. Masks are required to enter and exit all hotels and restaurants. Most require you to keep your mask on if you are away from you table or room. We didn’t have to wear a mask at the pool, or outside if we were socially distant. There was hand sanitizer in most hotels and restaurants.
All my food recommendations listed below are in the Cherry Creek or LoDo area and are walk-able; or incredibly enjoyable riding electric scooters throughout. The side streets in Cherry Creek are so well manicured, many of them have tons of flowers in the front yards, so I was living in a daydream just taking it all in! I recommend downloading the BIRD and Lyft apps and getting payment information setup beforehand.
Casual-Upscale Dining
We started our first night in Denver with dinner at Cherry Creek Grill.
This restaurant was recommended to me by a local, and it turns out a few other people I know love this place too! The wine menu was maybe the best wine list I’ve ever seen.
It included Rombaurer’s Chardonnay, Pride and Duckhorn Merlot, and The Prisoner red wine to name a couple of my favorites.
I got the French dip and Jacob got the crispy chicken sandwich; both were insane. This is a must if you are in the Cherry Creek area. Reservations are recommended.
Quality Italian – located next to the Halcyon hotel on Columbine street. Reservations are recommended.
Duffy’s Cherry Cricket
Voted the best burger in Denver in 2019. The Cherry Cricket has a great outside patio and also served boozy milkshakes. We had some of all of it and we can see why they won the competition.
La Loma
Upscale Mexican food in Lower Downtown. They are known for their fajita’s; Jacob ordered the chicken fajita’s and agrees with this claim! I ordered the cheese & onion enchiladas with a glass of Mer Soleil. Divine. La Loma also has a Mimosa Bar on the weekends! Reservations are recommended.
Elway’s Steakhouse – with two locations; one in LoDo & one in Cherry Creek, I’d pick Elway’s over a chain steakhouse just to have something different, honestly. We ate at Elway’s in Cherry Creek and had fabulous food even though we had the last reservation of the night.
Brunch
Like any big city, there must be a brunch scene with bottomless mimosas, right?
Local Jones – inside the Halcyon Hotel, LJ has an adorable menu with a matching aesthetic. Plants and greenery galore, Local Jones is great brunch option especially if you’re staying inside the Halcyon.
Lucille’s Creole Café – We didn’t get to try Lucille’s, but it’s on our list for next time.
Blackbird Public House –
An American/Mexican fusion with oysters and other random things. This place is a chain apparently, but it was amazing. I had the chilaquiles which is one of my favorite Mexican dishes ever!
VooDoo Doughnuts – though not brunch, who doesn’t love an over the top, cookie covered doughnut?
Bars
ViewHouse – there are locations all over Denver, but I recommend the Ballpark location, with rooftop views of Coors Stadium and the entire downtown with mountains in the distance. Huge beer menu; I had a Botanical Mule!
Ship Tavern – inside The Brown Palace Hotel; if you’re into history at all you should grab a drink in here. This entire hotel and bar/restaurant serves a coastal experience and you really feel like you’re on the East Coast, not in Denver.
With COVID pre-cations and a ton of things still not being open yet in Denver, we know there are so many options we didn’t stumble upon.
Colorado isn’t usually at the top of my list, and I’m not sure why. I hope we get to come back to Colorado and the Denver area soon; next time with our boys! If you're a Colorado junkie or a Denver native, drop me your favorite restaurants below. I'm always looking for recommendations!
Check out my top hotel choices in the Cherry Creek/Downtown area here!
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