Here are six Denver restaurants that debuted in 2024 and quickly became my top recommendations for dining out.
Like many of you, I’m tired of perfunctory “best of” lists churned out at year’s end to hit content quotas or please algorithms. That said, I put a lot of care into this roundup because I believe well-crafted lists are valuable. Most people don’t track every new opening (even I can barely keep up), and a quick, curated recap of the past year can be a great resource for discovering your next favorite spot.
As in the past, I’ve set parameters to keep the list focused: only locally owned, independent restaurants are considered. Outposts or riffs of existing concepts, including those that originated outside Colorado (now happening with increasing regularity), are ineligible. Seasonal food stands and trucks with regular service are included, as many of Denver’s most promising concepts begin without a year-round presence or brick-and-mortar location.
Each restaurant on this list earned its spot because of its delicious, satisfying food. Beyond that, they each offer something unique to Denver’s food scene. Together, they reflect a shift that began in Denver about a decade ago, when chefs started focusing on translating their personal stories, heritage, and philosophies into their cooking, trusting that diners would meet them at the table and embrace their vision.
Some real talk: Compiling this list without outside help or funding does have its limitations. I never write about or recommend places I haven’t experienced. This means I’m restricted by my ability to personally visit every interesting restaurant that opened in the last year prior to sitting down and writing this story.
I want to underscore that no one list can be definitive. The fact is that worthy places have probably been missed for one reason or another. If you know of a spot that would have been a great fit but doesn’t appear, please leave your thoughts in the comments. The rest of us will benefit from your suggestions as someplace we should consider checking out in 2025.
Also check out my other guides to my picks for Favorite 9 Denver Dishes of 2024 and Denver’s Best New Restaurants of 2023.
BaekGa
May 2024. Lowry
Given his experience working at Matsuhisa in Vail, Colorado as well overseeing locations of SBE’s glitzy Katsuya chain in the Middle East, it would have been a natural fit for Sean Baek to turn his first restaurant into a high-end palace for wealthy status seekers. Instead, the Korean chef went low key and opened BaekGa in a modest space at Lowry Town Center that was formerly a Qdoba.
The design is quiet and simple, with clean lines, gray tiles, and warm wood accents. While the space is sleek, the menu is accessible, offering a dining experience where you don’t need an expense account to enjoy a meal.
Here, the top server is the owner himself. Baek, a softspoken man who often sports a baseball cap as he stops by to take orders, will wheel over trays of piping hot food to your table and later inquire with earnestness if you’re enjoying your meal. The lunch menu is especially tempting, with the pork galbi tender and perfectly smoky from the grill, accompanied by a regal spread of banchan and a hearty bowl of soup. You can also pick up excellent renditions of Korean staples like kimbap (including crispy shrimp and bulgogi versions) and pork and vegetable mandoo.
200 Quebec St Bldg 600 unit 115, Denver, CO 80230. baekga.net
Dân Dã
April 2024. Aurora
After closing her last restaurant in 2023 due to rising rent, An Nguyen teamed up with her sister, Thao, and their husbands to open Dân Dã. With just 50 seats, the new spot offers a more intimate experience than her previous, larger restaurant. The Nguyen sisters, Denver food royalty whose parents ran the beloved New Saigon for 30 years, bring a modern sensibility to the Vietnamese dishes Denverites have come to love over decades.
The menu of over 65 items can be overwhelming to first-timers. Take a cue from the restaurant’s name — a term for rustic, traditional food — and order one of the homey claypot dishes. Each version has your protein of choice (the catfish fillet and lemongrass chicken thigh versions are popular) arriving in a vessel of still boiling caramel sauce and served with a bowl of steamed rice.
The three-tier spring roll tower will turn heads as it makes its way to the table – designed for two but easily serving four when paired with other dishes. The “Bốn Mùa” option features shrimp, chicken, pork egg rolls, and marinated beef worth fighting your table mates over who gets to use it for the last do-it-yourself spring roll. While meat works its way into a good portion of the menu, pescatarians will find comfort in the satisfying tofu and black mushroom spicy lemongrass dish found on the “timeless signatures” section.
9945 E Colfax Ave, Aurora, CO 80010. dandavn.com
Dos Caras / Carnitas de Cobre
May 2024. May – Oct, various locations
Eating Dos Caras requires an early weekend wake-up call and a trip to either the City Park or South Pearl Street farmers markets. Sometimes dodging produce-squeezing yoga moms and caffeinated dog walkers is what it takes to be rewarded with some of the city’s most refined Mexican food.
Founded in 2011 by brothers Alberto and Alejandro Rodriguez as corn milling business, they primarily sold hand-pressed tortillas and salsa macha until this year, when they expanded to offer ready-to-eat food at their stand.
The menu, updated monthly from May to October, celebrates the farmers market’s best – think sweet corn and melons at summer’s peak. Their confit-enoki mushroom tacos with smoked bean purée are so good you’ll wish it would stick around longer. And to keep things interesting, the brothers did a solid for carnivores by also launching Carnitas de Cobre: a pork-only summer pop-up on Fridays, serving juicy, flavor-packed tacos, tortas, and burritos, made even better by a generous spoonful (or two) from the house-made salsa and dressings bar.
instagram.com/molinodoscaras | instagram.com/carnitas_de_cobre
Luchador Taco & More
Aug 2024. Whittier
No one seems to be having as much fun this year as Zuri Resendiz. His first brick-and-mortar restaurant, named in tribute to his father’s stint as a lucha libre wrestler in the ‘90s, originally started as a food truck. Fittingly, the permanent location is alive with playful nods to the sport. These include a striking mural of a luchador on one wall and two sparkly masks with an iridescent cape hanging by the door, presumably available in case of a wrestling emergency.
The high-energy vibe also permeates the menu, a blend of Latin and Mexican cuisines with Peruvian influences inspired by his wife’s heritage. While tacos may draw you in, the shared plates and entrées are where you’ll find the most reward. An earthy roasted mushroom medley atop creamy polenta gets a herbaceous pop from a heap of fresh dill. The Colorado striped bass has a satisfyingly nutty finish thanks to a generous smear of pipián rojo. If you like your desserts to toe the line of sugary sweetness without crossing it, (if available) the candied pumpkin with condensed milk sauce is the perfect way to finish the meal.
2030 E 28th Ave, Denver, CO 80205. luchadortacoandmore.com
Mezcaleria Alma
Nov 2024. LoHi
The latest addition to chef Johnny Curiel and wife Kasie’s growing restaurant empire is a godsend for anyone who prefers to sit at the bar. Here, an uninterrupted slab of stone stretches the length of the narrow space, giving the 10 diners who snag those seats a front-row view of both the bartenders and the cooks bustling around the galley kitchen.
At Mezcaleria Alma, the warm glow of the lights creates a sexier vibe, with food that’s a bit more freewheeling than at its Michelin-starred sister restaurant, Alma Fonda Fina, next door. Curiel and CDC Jordan Tehrani pull inspiration from Mexico City’s food culture, building a menu around snacks and bites made for sharing with your companions. Dashes of luxury are subtly woven into the dishes, adding a polished touch to the straightforward offerings.You’ll find dry aged kanpachi ceviche served in a fennel and celery broth; neat cubes of New York strip in the carne apache atop a vibrant hoja santa purée, served on a massive chip; wild mushroom rice made creamy from a mixed in cured egg yolk, that you can top off with an optional truffle shavings.
2550 15th St, Denver, CO 80211. mezcaleriaalma.com
Xiquita
Aug 2024. Uptown
Owner and chef Erasmo Casiano’s vision for Xiquita goes back – way back – drawing from the deep-rooted contributions of ancient Indigenous Mesoamericans to Mexican cooking and bringing them into the present. For his follow-up to Park Hill’s Lucina, Casiano partners with Executive Chef René González Mendez to honor these roots by employing time-honored techniques and ingredients, with a focus on the complementary “Three Sisters” crops: corn, squash, and beans.
The regular menus are entirely in Spanish, so if you’re a bit rusty on Español, look for the fully translated English version. Every meal begins with a complimentary masa course: freshly pressed and grilled tortillas wrapped in a cloth napkin, served alongside a luscious herbed butter. The dishes delight the senses with vibrant flavors and colors, from the golden hue of sweet corn in a light, velvety tamal to the peppery notes of verdant hoja santa leaves encasing an ooey-gooey center of Oaxacan cheese, perfectly balanced by the spice of morita salsa.
500 E 19th Ave, Denver, CO 80203. xiquita.co
Know of another great restaurant worth checking out? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.