Boulder Staple Among Greatest Restaurants of the 21st Century

Many of the city’s new eateries have been getting a lot of national buzz, but one fine-dining stalwart now has another reason to celebrate.

In 2004, a new restaurant was getting ready to open on Boulder’s Pearl Street. “I had scheduled two friends-and-family dinners, but after the first one, I realized we didn’t have enough money to do another whole night of free dinners. So I had to call every guest and say, hey, you’re still invited – you don’t have to come – but we’re going to open on the 4th because Lachlan and I literally didn’t have enough money to do another free dinner,” recalls Bobby Stuckey, master sommelier and co-founder of Frasca Food and Wine.

Over the years that followed, Stuckey and the Frasca team have stayed laser-focused on their mission to share the food, wine and hospitality of Friuli, a region in northeast Italy that guides everything at Frasca. And that focus has paid off big time over the years — especially lately.

It takes a lot of passion and skill to run a restaurant that consistently delivers an experience as special as a meal at Frasca, and it has been doing just that for over two decades. In 2023, Frasca was among the first restaurants in the state to earn a Michelin star (though we still believe it should have gotten a second by now). Last year, Stuckey was named one of the Fifty Most Powerful People in American Fine Dining by Robb Report.

This year brought another significant win for Frasca, which was honored as the Outstanding Restaurant winner at the James Beard Awards in June.

Now Frasca is ending 2025 with another reason to celebrate. Robb Report recently released its list of the 100 Greatest American Restaurants of the 21st Century, “a ranking of the very best places to dine in the U.S. since 2000, voted on by 250 food world luminaries,” the website notes.

Among dining giants like Alinia in Chicago, Eleven Madison Park in New York City and Husk in Charleston, South Carolina, is one pick from Colorado: Frasca Food and Wine, at number 27.

“While working at the French Laundry, master sommelier Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson met,” the description reads. “Within a few years, they had both decamped to Boulder, Colo., to open a restaurant together. It would be fine dining, but not French. Instead, they created a destination restaurant with food and wine devoted to the Northeast corner of Italy that would still use Colorado ingredients. The tasting-menu spot has gathered numerous accolades over the years, from a Michelin star to Outstanding Restaurant at the 2025 James Beard Awards.”

“It’s an honor to be named one of Robb Report’s greatest restaurants of the 21^st century and to have Frasca Food and Wine represent Boulder and the state of Colorado on the list,” Stuckey says. “From Shake Shack to our mentor Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry and so many incredible places in between, this list shines a light on the many restaurants across the country that have helped shape the last 25 years of dining and hospitality. We’re humbled to be included and so grateful to our guests for their dedication and to our team for their continued hard work and hustle.”

This accolade is yet another reminder that we are lucky to have Frasca (and its offshoots, including Denver spots Tavernetta, Sunday Vinyl and Osteria Alberico) so close to home.