Scruffy Murphy’s

A Ballpark neighborhood mainstay for years, Scruffy Murphy’s has the old-worldness of an authentic Irish pub with its authentic antique stained glass and the dark wood of its back bar and bar top. While it’s warm and inviting at times, the weekends can get a little boisterous when there’s live music. The bar serves a […]

Shake Shack

The famed burger chain opened its first Colorado location in March 2018 to a mile-high mountain of hype and lines out the door of its Larimer Street outpost. It would be easy to dismiss the New York-based outfit as just another carpetbagger in a covered wagon, except that it turns out solid burgers at a […]

Ship Tavern

Once a gentleman’s lounge, this space in the venerable Brown Palace was remodeled into a seafaring bar that opened eight months after Prohibition ended. The fish-out-of-water nautical theme was inspired by a collection of model clipper ships that the hotel’s then-owner brought home from a trip and his wife suggested should shove off. Although recent […]

Smiling Moose Deli

This casual deli chain got its start in the Vail Valley in 2003 and now has locations in six states, with two in downtown Denver as well as stores in Westminster and Arvada. While Smiling Moose is a blossoming chain, the company runs each location as a local restaurant, staffed by employees who live in […]

Smok

Drawing from his childhood memories growing up in Kansas City and Austin, and adding his experience as a professional chef at high-end restaurants, Smok owner Bill Espiricueta turns out deeply smoked brisket, rich pork belly and spare ribs good enough to suck the bones dry, along with a wide array of other smoky options such […]

Snarf’s

Snarf’s Sub Shop, the beloved sandwich spot with a hippie vibe, got its start when Jim Seidel opened his first sub shack in Boulder in 1996. Then, as now, Snarf’s knew to do a few things really right: It has a good filling-to-bread ratio, uses high-quality meats and vegetables, and relies on a broiler to […]

Snarf’s

Snarf’s Sub Shop, the beloved sandwich spot with a hippie vibe, got its start when Jim Seidel opened his first sub shack in Boulder in 1996. Then, as now, Snarf’s knew to do a few things really right: It has a good filling-to-bread ratio, uses high-quality meats and vegetables, and relies on a broiler to […]

Snooze

Brothers Adam and Jon Schlegel launched Snooze on a then-destitute block of Larimer Street in 2006 as a late-night breakfast joint before switching to more traditional breakfast and lunch hours. Denver embraced the first Snooze with such vigor that the stains of spilled coffee and Bloody Marys are visible on the sidewalks outside – if […]

Snooze

When Snooze first hit the Ballpark neighborhood in 2007, it revolutionized breakfast in Denver. The most important meal of the day became one of the most creative meals of the day, with flights of pancakes, re-imagined omelets and Benedicts, and a morning-themed alcoholic beverage list. Snooze nicely filled a niche that Denver hadn’t even recognized […]

Society Sports & Spirits

In 2013, the owners of Stoney’s Bar & Grill moved into the space at 1434 Blake Street, which has been many, many things over the years — from City Spirit to the more recent Full Steam Tavern — and named it Stoney’s Full Steam Tavern. But a year later, Wil Evans, who used to work […]

Sonoda’s Sushi

Come for the Midwestern Benihana-style decor, stay for the sushi — because Sonoda’s prepares some of the finest, freshest fish in the city. At any of this local mini-chain’s four locations, you can be sure of getting the good stuff, assembled by a kitchen that’s spent years trying to get a virtually changeless menu exactly […]