These nine spots opened within just the past year—and we just can’t get enough of them.
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Daughter Thai Kitchen area & Bar
Opened: October 2019
At Daughter Thai, model and substance are what is for supper. Beneath the discerning eye of chef-proprietor Ounjit Hardacre, the vibe at the Platte Avenue place is lively and hip, and even the common Thai food menu suspects activity taste upgrades and confront-lifts. (You can credit score Hardacre’s upbringing in Western Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province for the former and her kitchen tenure at upscale spots in San Francisco for the latter.) Count on intelligent twists—and lovely presentation—on every little thing from massaman curry (with Colorado lamb and lychee) to pla larb (a salad laced with fresh new mint, chiles, lime, and roasted rice, which Hardacre elevates with fried frog legs). It all meshes wonderfully with Daughter Thai’s urbane cocktail system, creating this LoHi day-evening gem so much far more than your average takeout joint.
Dimestore Delibar
Opened: December 2019
Chef Tim Dotson (previously of the Spouse and children Jones Spirit Property) and partner Chris Fuentes (a Tacos Tequila Whiskey vet) could not have forecast the pandemic, but their deli/advantage keep/bar/cafe was undoubtedly perfectly-stocked for it. Promoting almost everything from Tylenol and hand sanitizer to home-treated pastrami and dried rice noodles, Dotson and Fuentes have produced a model that works—and then some. The superb extras arrive in when you contemplate that Dimestore is also a attractive full-assistance restaurant and bar featuring $11 craft cocktails by bar manager Mas Morrison, Dotson’s genius dimerolls (stuffed, rolled focaccia sandwiches) and refined compact plates (try the spicy fried rooster nuggets with slaw, blue cheese mousse, and very hot honey served in a Minor Guy waffle cone). Toss in the large, social-distancing-helpful rooftop patio, and it is a new plan whose time has evidently arrived.
Misfit SnackBar
Opened: December 2019
Chef Bo Porytko has a knack for novelty, a talent that enables him to riff on pub classics—burgers, popcorn, fried fare—through his very own quirky lens. The consequence? Playful, edible artwork showcased from a 120-square-foot kitchen area inside the Middleman cocktail bar on East Colfax Avenue. Exhibit A: Fried complete clusters of Worcestershire-marinated enoki mushrooms, Porytko’s take on the bloomin’ onion, and a BLT crafted from tomato aspic, braised bacon, and pickled lettuce. If you’re searching for what is funky and entertaining in Denver appropriate now, Misfit is it.
Restaurant Olivia
Opened: January 2020
Late past year, a few Mizuna vets—chef Ty Leon, barman Austin Carson, and hospitality ace Heather Morrison—transformed Cafe Marmotte on South Downing Street into a charming however modern day trattoria motivated by Morrison’s eponymous (and similarly charming) 10-12 months-previous daughter, who loves Leon’s superb handmade pastas just about as considerably as we do. His modern Italian choices operate the gamut from consider-and-bake lasagna spouse and children foods to dine-in and takeout tasting menus, all created to go with Carson’s wild grape French 75s or fig previous fashioneds. With Morrison working the flooring, Olivia is the total package—a community place in which each and every food feels like a celebration.
Home for Milly
Opened: February 2020
It’s a tragic bit of irony to open a cocktail bar primarily based on a fantastic flapper-era traveler just months right before a no-a lot more-visits, no-much more-bars pandemic struck. It surely rocked Room for Milly’s globe, offered how very small the beautiful Platte Avenue room is and how most of it is taken up by a long bar. But coronavirus could not prevent the good minds powering this transportive new beverages-and-compact-plates vacation spot. Home for Milly does every little thing nicely: Zoom cocktail courses luxe products shaded patio brunches and happy hours and some of the ideal sips, snacks, and decor in Denver.
Someone People
Opened: September 2019
Tricia and Sam Maher’s vegan, no-waste-influenced, Miami retro Overland cafe blows away all anticipations. Tricky-main omnivores won’t miss a matter when introduced with chef Artwork Burnayev’s magically creamy almond skordalia, umami-bomb mushroom toast, and hearty semolina pastas. Of training course, his vegetable plates are the true stars, each and every as vibrant and layered as the following. Oenophiles can romp by the natural wine record, and even people of us not cozy with dining in have cause to go, for Someone Individuals has turned its lobby coffee bar into a market where by you can choose up vino veggies from Oxford Gardens dips and pickles and dried noodles and spices, tiffins, and T-shirts.
Sunday Vinyl
Opened: December 2019
It arrives as a shock to no one particular that Frasca Hospitality Group’s latest baby—a European-type wine bar behind Union Station that spins only vinyl—is the coolest child in city. The prolonged, slim space (and practice-track-facet patio) is sophisticated and attended to by best-of-the-ideal restaurant and wine pros dressed in their very best kicks. There is a higher-low detail coming out of the kitchen, with juicy pork burgers, beef-unwanted fat fries, and deviled eggs residing on the very same menu as lobster hand pies and steelhead trout with smoked onions and pole beans. And, oh, the wine! Permit sommelier Clara Klein steer you through the Outdated Environment satisfies New Earth list and make a suggestion or two she’s bought a story for every pour, which you are going to be able to clearly hear her deliver due to the fact the beautiful acoustics at Sunday Vinyl may be its most beloved factor of all.
Uncle
Opened: July 2019
The only way Tommy Lee could have enhanced upon his authentic LoHi ramen store would have been to develop it. Enter: Uncle’s 2nd area in the Speer community. Not only are there a lot more seats (these times, on a large tented patio), but Lee additional more eats, also, by way of tsukemen and mazemen ramen applications like celery salad and kimchi-butter-dressed fried potatoes and Thai-type curry. Go on Tuesday or Wednesday for the 15-program yakitori tasting menu, courtesy of chef Sean May possibly, in the course of which grilled rooster-bits-on-a-stick get their rightful thanks.
Yuan Wonton
Opened: August 2019
Chef-owner Penelope Wong is a carb whisperer—and Denverites will comply with the Mile Significant Metropolis native’s foodstuff truck everywhere for a taste of her extraordinary wontons, dumplings, buns, rice dishes, and hand-pulled noodles. With her husband and husband or wife, Robert Jenks, Wong parks at breweries and nearby gatherings across the metropolis, often steaming and pan-frying up to 1,700 dumplings in a night. She figured out to fold all these great pleats from her Chinese grandmother and now places her expertise to use making xiao prolonged bao stuffed with six-hour bone broth and chive-studded pork crispy-bottomed, emerald-hued vegan Sichuan eggplant pot stickers sesame noodles and her silky, signature shrimp-and-pork wontons in chile oil. So, adhere to the leader (and the well-deserved hoopla) to Instagram (@yuanwonton) and get completely ready to pay back for your food the moment on-line pre-orders open—Yuan Wonton usually sells out.