Restaurants: 2015 in Review, What’s Up for 2016
January 7, 2016 • Restaurants
I like to think I’m “in the know” about the Denver restaurant scene. I keep tabs on what Andra Zeppelin is writing about for Eater, what Lori Midson is covering for Zagat, and what Amanda Faison and her team are focused on for 5280. And yet for all of my good intentions, I just can’t seem to make a dent in my list of “must try” restaurants in Denver. It’s not for lack of trying, let me assure you! I checked out no less than 14 new places in 2015 – and considering that I was out of the country for about 10 weeks this year, and out of commission with knee surgery for another 6 weeks, that means I hit those 14 restaurants in just 8 months. So here are my lists – what I loved in 2015, what I’m not sure I’ll return to, and what’s up for the coming year.









Others – and my thoughts on the experiences:
Chop Shop (lunch) – not great location, not that exciting.
Brazen Denver (brunch) – seems pretty much like the standard brunch dishes everywhere else.
Sartos – not a great meal, although in all fairness they fired their chef the next day.
Blackbird – great for families, but not my kind of spot.
Avanti – Farmer Girl – Avanti is an interesting concept, and if I were young and living in this ‘hood, I’d be a regular – but not worth the drive and hassle for me to head there for basically food truck service.
And now for the real challenge – there are no fewer than 20 spots on my “want to try” list for this year, plus another 6 highly anticipated new openings, and at least 10 spots that I do love that I’d really like to get back to this year. That means I have 3 dozen restaurants to make it to. I’ll be away for probably 2 total months this year, so that means I pretty much need to dine out somewhere new nearly once a week if I’m going to make it through this list. Well, wish me luck and call me if you’re hungry!
To Try in 2016
Bacon Social House
Bar Dough
Brik on York
Cart Driver
Desmond Bar & Grill
Honor Society
Humboldt Farm Fish Wine
Glaze
Lena
Ophelia’s
Osaka Ramen
Ototo Den
Rebel Restaurant
Solitaire Restaurant
Telegraph
To the Wind Bistro
Uncle
Williams and Graham
Yum Yum Spice
Z Cuisine
Coming Soon – somehow I need to try these too!
Coperta – Paul Reilly of Beast & Bottle
The Way Back
Vital Root – Justin Cucci
Might Might Sparrow & The Sea Maiden
L5
New venture in Denver from the folks at Frasca
And then there are these great places – I’d sure love to get back to them soon!
Acorn
Bittersweet
Cholon
Duo
Fruition
Guard & Grace
Mercantile Dining & Provision
Mizuna
Rioja
Stoic & Genuine
Comments
2 Comments • Comments Feed
Kath says:
Thanks for taking me along on another great tasting!! I blurted out what I thought of my beautiful food but you didn’t chime in – do I have to wait a month or a year for the review or can you give me a hint?
Happy travels on your cat,
Kath
January 7, 2016 at 9:18 pm
Michele says:
Kathryn, I’ll be reviewing our lunch at Humboldt soon – stay tuned!
January 12, 2016 at 11:46 am