Best Specialty Coffee Drink 2024 | Moonflower Coffee | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Specialty Coffee Drink

Moonflower Coffee

This coffee cart that recently moved into a permanent home at Full Tank Food Park serves a latte that's far superior to the typical mocha, vanilla or lavender varieties. Ube is a root vegetable that originated in the Philippines and is popular in Southeast Asia. Moonflower co-owner Sam Salomon is of Filipino descent and has long been familiar with ube's many uses. When used in a latte, which is available here hot or iced, it imparts a bright-purple hue and a natural sweetness, with earthy, nutty, vanilla-like notes that pair perfectly with acidic coffee and creamy milk.

Best International Cafe

Padoca Brazilian Bakery & Market

When Paula Lowery moved to Denver, it was hard to find a taste of home in the metro area, so she decided to start a business that specializes in dishes that remind her of her native Brazil. She named her colorful, cozy Mayfair cafe after the padocas (neighborhood bakeries) she longed for, and now serves traditional eats like pão de queijo (cheese bread), coxinha (chicken croquettes) and a variety of sobremesas (desserts). In addition to the baked goods and coffee drinks made with beans from São Paulo, visitors to Padoca will also find hearty dishes such as feijoada, a traditional dish with black beans, and plenty of takeaway options.

Best Indian Calzone in a Coffee Shop

Lil Coffea Shop

You've just popped into this neighborhood cafe for a jolt of joe when you notice something in the glass-front pastry case. It's big, it's puffy, it's golden-brown from the oven. A strange place to encounter a calzone, perhaps, but it only gets stranger when you sink your teeth into the soft, slightly bready shell. This is a chicken masala calzone, overloaded with bites of chicken in a cheezy, creamy, spicy sauce that threatens to spill down your chin on the first bite. Mostly, though, it's just too addictive, and the whole thing's gone in a heartbeat, leaving you to wonder how soon you can hustle back in to explore the rest of Lil Coffea's menu, from familiar breakfast burritos to the bharta makhani pizza topped with eggplant.

Best Noodles in a Tea Shop

One More Noodle

Volcano Tea House, shoehorned into a row of shops alongside the Aurora H Mart, started out as a delightfully cheery place to quench your thirst for Taiwanese milk teas and fruity concoctions. It has since changed its name and evolved into a full-on noodle house, where you can slurp your way through a mix-and-match menu of hand-shaved and hand-pulled noodles put to delicious use in soups and stir-fries. Not to be missed is One More Noodle's beef noodle soup, with impossibly long strands expertly pulled to the perfect width for joyous, noisy slurping. The broth is rich, the beef tender, and the bok choy simmered to just the right crunch. Pair it with dumplings or popcorn chicken, then grab a sweet and slushy drink loaded with popping boba or coffee jelly to double down on the slurping action.

Best Bubble Tea in a Bag

Die Die Must Try Beverage Co.

Abigail Bliss

The Chow family lived in Singapore for two decades before opening Die Die Must Try in Cherry Creek North late last year. The multi-generational owners hope to inspire others to experience new things — including bubble tea served in a da bao bag, which they say is the authentic Singapore style of enjoying your drink on the go. Certain offerings like soursop and calamansi fruit tea further highlight the family's roots, as do bottled beverages and imported snacks. Classic options like oolong and taro milk tea also appear on the menu, along with various add-ins including boba, red bean and grass jelly.

Best Food Truck After a Night Out

Amore Pizza

When last call sends you stumbling out of a downtown bar at 2 a.m., your stomach filled with one too many vodka Red Bulls (and little else), Amore Pizza is there with a warm, comforting slice. This food truck, which also has a brick-and-mortar on Santa Fe Drive, dishes out New York-style pizza whole or by the slice — not to mention calzones, cannoli, cheesecake and more to satisfy any late-night craving. It spends most weekends parked at the corner of 20th and Market streets, within a two-block radius of over a dozen bars including ViewHouse, Jackson's, Whiskey Row and Beer Hall. But while tipsy patrons first come for the prime location, they return for the delicious food even after they've sobered up.

instagram.com/amorepizzaco

Best Fried Chicken Biscuit on Wheels

Mama Jo's Biscuits and BBQ

Chris Byard

Ben Polson and his wife, Jodi, who runs the pastry program at Coperta, debuted their Mama Jo's food truck in 2021. The venture seamlessly blends Ben's passion for exceptional barbecue with Jodi's mastery of pastries and her perfected biscuit recipe. While the 'cue is delicious, the showstopper is the team's Nashville hot chicken biscuit. This culinary marvel begins with the truck's signature, flaky smoked Gouda biscuit, which serves as the canvas for a succulent lemon-brined chicken thigh that is delicately coated, fried and immersed in Nashville hot oil. A drizzle of Alabama white sauce, housemade bread-and-butter pickles and a dollop of creamy coleslaw complete the combo. This is one order that leaves patrons a little sweaty — and hungry for more.

mamajobiscuits.com

Best Pizza on Wheels

Outside Pizza

Outside Pizza/Instagram

Ashley Knotek and Ryan Grillaert launched Outside Pizza in August 2021, inspired by their passion for outdoor exploration and the gratifying indulgence of post-hike pizza. From their refurbished vintage camper-turned-mobile pizzeria, they craft everything from scratch, fishing out their interpretation of Neapolitan-style pies and occasionally experimenting with unconventional toppings. Among their innovative creations, the pickle pizza with roasted garlic cream sauce, mozzarella, provolone, homemade pickles and a sprinkle of fresh dill reigns supreme. But even when that isn't available, every pie boasts a light, crispy crust sure to satisfy any aficionado.

outsidepizza.com

Best Oaxacan Food Truck

La Reyna Del Sur

La Reyna del Sur

If you spot a silver Airstream parked in front of a bar or beer joint in the metro area, get hungry. What Chef Ruben Hernandez is serving inside his shiny trademark trailer is a long list of Oaxacan classics straight from his home state's famed food culture in southern Mexico. One of those is the tlayuda: a crispy corn masa tostada the size of a steering wheel slathered with a black bean spread and topped with shredded quesillo, sizzling carne asada and chorizo sausage, pickled red onions and fresh avocado, with a side of dazzling orange habanero salsa. Exquisite banana-leaf chicken tamales, barbacoa street tacos, grilled nopales (cactus) and chile-roasted chapulines (similar to grasshoppers) are also perfectly prepared at La Reyna.

lareynadenver.com

Best New Food Truck

Doublewide

Chris Byard

Chefs Nathan Madson and Kevin Clay met each other several years ago while working in the kitchen at Mercantile Dining and Provision. After bopping around a few other Denver establishments, the two friends decided to venture out on their own and launched Doublewide last summer. Since then, the truck has managed to make a splash thanks to its crispy, lacy-edged smashburgers, but we also love its killer vegetarian mushroom sandwich that highlights the team's ability to turn simple ingredients into tasty creations. This year, Madson and Clay are planning to up the stakes with inventive tasting dinners and new dishes, and we can't wait to see what they've got cooking.

instagram.com/doublewide.co

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