Best Fried Chicken Entree 2024 | Duo | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Fried Chicken Entree

Duo

Molly Martin

Duo is a Denver farm-to-table OG. It's been a consistent presence in LoHi since 2005, and eighteen years into its run, its longtime chef, Tyler Skrivanek, became its owner. He's made a few small changes here and there, and he's always updating the menu to highlight whatever fresh produce his farm purveyors are harvesting, but there are a few staples that have stuck around for years, including the buttermilk fried chicken. Crispy, moist and perfectly seasoned, it's the definition of comfort food and is served over mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies with a Colorado twist in the form of a creamy green-chile gravy. Whether you're eating it for the first time or the hundredth, this is one meal that always elicits a satisfied "Yum."

Best Fresh Salads

Farm & Market

Molly Martin

Lots of restaurants in the metro area use farm-fresh produce, but this one actually is a farm. Brothers Davis and Austin Breedlove opened their RiNo spot in 2023 with dreams of feeding people healthy food in a highly sustainable way using vertical farming. Farm & Market's on-site hydroponic setup — which you can see through a glass partition as you dine — uses 95 percent less water than traditional farming and is 100 percent wind-powered. The focus for now is on growing a wide variety of greens and herbs that are utilized at the fast-casual counter. The salad-centric menu is full of choices that leave you energized rather than in need of a nap. Plus, you can grab lettuce and many other goods from the market to take home for even more feel-good meals.

Best Porchetta Sandwiches

The Porchetta House

Molly Martin

Porchetta, a boneless pork loin wrapped in pork belly and slow-roasted, yielding crispy skin, is a thing of beauty when done right. And AJ Paloni does it right. Inspired by the porchetta sandwiches often served as street food in Italy, he launched the Porchetta House out of the Spices Cafe space in 2023. Along with an homage to the traditional version of the sandwich, he also serves two more creative spins — an al pastor take paired with caramelized pineapple pico, and a spin on banh mi with red miso porchetta on bread from Vinh Xuong Bakery.

Best Meatball Sandwich

Belfiore Italian

Molly Martin

This little Italian deli serves some very big sandwiches, but it's not just the size that's impressive. All of the options, which include both hot and cold sandwiches, are built on hefty slices of ciabatta baked fresh at the nearby Dolce Sicilia bakery. While the Penny Lane, with Belfiore's housemade hot Italian sausage links, is a top-notch choice, our favorite is the Eleanor Rigby, loaded with flavorful meatballs (also made in-house), red sauce, Romano and a balsamic drizzle. Don't forget to pick up some frozen ravioli and imported olives when you snag your sandwich.

Best Philly Cheesesteak at an Iron Maiden Bar

Aspen Lodge Bar & Grill

Molly Martin

Mesut Cetin has some pretty specific passions, and he's managed to combine them all in a bar that feels like a fever dream come to life. Christmas lights sparkle year-round as Iron Maiden concerts play on the television, and a huge collection of lava lamps glow from seemingly every corner. The food menu is an adventure, too, jumping from breakfast classics like French toast to typical bar fare like wings and burgers to dishes from Cetin's native Turkey. But a banner out front proclaims that Aspen Lodge also makes "the best Philly cheesesteak in a 666 mile radius," and while that's a bold claim, it's a damn good sandwich, made on soft bread with gooey melted cheese along with plenty of meat and caramelized onions.

Best Place to Escape for a Midday Meal

Bodega

Bodega Denver

In 2022, longtime hospitality pro Cliff Blauvelt introduced Bodega, a funky little Northside sandwich shop that's quickly become a beloved neighborhood staple. Whether you're popping by at 11 a.m. for its spin on a chopped cheese made with breakfast sausage, a late-afternoon cheeseburger fix or one of its tantalizing specials, it's a daytime slam dunk every visit — especially when paired with its mixed bag of fries on the side. Soon, RiNo will have its very own Bodega: Blauvelt will debut a second outpost in the Novel RiNo building this fall.

Best Place to Splurge on Dinner

Stone Cellar Bistro

Molly Martin

When we want to go out for a special occasion or just want a regular night to feel a lot more special, Stone Cellar Bistro, founded by longtime friends Jordan Alley and Brandon Kerr in 2022, always delivers. You could come in just for the Wildfire Fried Chicken — inspired by Kerr's time cooking at Husk — and leave very happy. But why stop there when every single thing on the menu is a hit? Order generously and you'll be rewarded with more than just a stellar meal, because an experience here is one you'll remember long after.

Best New Neighborhood Market

Congress Park Market

What happens when longtime hospitality pros decide to turn their attention to nourishing people via neighborhood markets instead? Very good things, it turns out. Husband-and-wife team Jake Riederer and Cecelia Jones became part-owners of Spinelli's after years in the restaurant industry and followed up that move by revamping a longtime market in Congress Park in 2023, giving the place new life with a smartly curated selection of household staples, specialty items, fresh produce, wine and a new deli counter with some top-notch sandwiches. Now they're getting ready to debut a third, brand-new market in Aurora that will also bear the Spinelli's name, and we're sure they'll do it proud.

2620 East 12th Avenue
303-333-7094
spinellismarket.com

Best Old-School Butcher Shop

Oliver's Meat Market

Molly Martin

Stepping inside Oliver's is a nostalgic experience. It's the kind of classic butcher shop that there aren't many of these days, and even more impressive is that it truly is a classic. The shop celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023 and is still run by founder Ed Oliver's great grandsons Rich and Jim, who dole out cuts of beef, lamb, pork and housemade sausages from behind the counter, trading quips with each other and customers as they work. As much of Denver continues to change, it's places like this that we hold on to even more dearly.

Best Place to Buy Salmon

Alaskan Salmon Company

Evan Semón

Duffy Fanganello knows how to tell a good fishing story — and he also knows good fish. At an easy-to-miss shop called Town & Country that was once a convenience store run by his uncle, the salmon man of East Colfax gets deliveries of Alaskan salmon and other sea creatures from his network of suppliers that he's built relationships with for decades. Those in the know stop by year-round for big filets of the good stuff and a chat with Fanganello, whose family roots in Denver run as deep as his love for supplying fish to his many loyal customers.

4300 East Colfax Avenue
303-333-4298
alaskansalmon.com

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