A block west of I-25, near the 15th Street bridge, Forest Room 5 is just hip enough to be cool without seeming trendy. With its dim lighting and intimate tables, this eclectic spot attracts a youthful crowd most days of the week, especially on the weekends. While the place is spacious and houses a few […]
Highland/Lower Highland in Denver
Showing 23 - 44 of 67
Most of the red-sauce joints that once proliferated in northwest Denver have dried up, but Gaetano’s is now more than seventy years old. Of course, it’s gone through some changes over the decades after being founded by the Smaldone mob family, who installed bulletproof glass in the front door and ran illegal poker games in […]
At Denver’s Happy Bakeshop, the focus is on gourmet cupcakes, but the bake shop also throws down a few other goodies, like French macarons, whoopie pies, cake truffles, cookies and cakes. Owners Laura Reynolds and Sara Bencomo were partners with the dream of opening a bakery when they met Lisa Herman through a mutual hair […]
When Highland Tap & Burger opened in 2010, it was designed as a watering hole for a neighborhood in flux: Northwest Denver was rapidly gentrifying, displacing much of the Mexican-American community that had been there for multiple generations (most of the Italian families were already gone). But Highland Tap wanted to bring everyone to the […]
Since opening in 2006, this hip, low-maintenance LoHi watering hole has attracted a large fan base of regulars, some of whom come in with their scooter clubs or kickball and hockey teams. It’s a neighborhood bar through and through; many of the patrons are locals or newcomers to the area. That said, the Highland attracts […]
advertisement
In September 2023, Brasserie Brixton co-founder chef Nick Dalton and friends William Steck and Simon Rochez debuted their take on a neighborhood French bistro in LoHi. The space is decked out with luxurious deep-green booths, marble-topped tables and plenty of gold accents. While Jacques feels upscale enough for a special occasion, any reason is a […]
The Tiffany-blue interior of this tiny Highland spot is as soothing to the eyes as the menu is to diners who are trying to avoid grains. From paleo devotees to celiac sufferers, owner Jennifer Peters offers support with her gluten-free, grain-free kitchen that turns out tasty food no matter what diet you’re following. Roasted veggies, […]
Inspired by Japanese izakayas, chef/restaurateur Bill Taibe founded the original Kawa Ni in Westport, Connecticut, in 2014. Nearly a decade – and many dumplings, bao buns and inventive plates – later, he debuted the second Kawa Ni in LoHi after falling in love with the neighborhood, which has embraced it right back. The buzzy dining […]
Named for family patriarch Enrique Silva Figueroa (aka Kiké), who spent much of his life working in restaurants and managing kitchens in Jalisco, Mexico, this business started as a food truck in 2021, just as birria tacos were taking hold all over social media and restaurant menus. In 2023, it moved into a brick-and-mortar location, […]
Corey Baker has had a two-decade-long career in some of Denver’s most renowned sushi spots, so when he teamed up with chef Max MacKissock and the Culinary Creative Group in 2023 to open a new spot in LoHi, the bar was high. What this team has delivered is a place that should be on every […]
advertisement
Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. But at least the fern bars and private clubs of the ’70s and ’80s were done up in style, making a little (or a lot of) historical pilfering perfect for a new generation of LoHi bar-goers. Forest green, burnished gold, palm trees and cherrywood finishes can […]
They don’t make them like they used to – but Lechuga’s marches on anyway, an old-school Italian joint where you can order pasta by the bucket, square pizzas, and Denver-style cannoli, with your choice of a meatball, sausage or sausage-and-jalapeño combo wrapped in dough with a little bit of cheese in the mix, baked and […]
Built from the bones of the old Olinger Mortuary building, Linger burst onto the scene in 2011 with an international menu and a theme to match the surroundings (cocktails listed on toe tags, tables built from gurneys, water served in apothecary bottles). Although newer buildings have blocked some of the view from the rooftop bar/deck, […]
Paul Tamburello, a developer who’s doing several projects in northwest Denver, drew inspiration from his own past when he created Little Man Ice Cream. His grandfather had owned an ice cream store in Chicago in the 1930s, and he thought LoHi could use a store of its own. But not just any store: Tamburello created […]
The cozy Maci Cafe is a neighborhood coffeehouse focusing on the breakfast-and -lunch crowd, offering up assorted coffee drinks, award-winning breakfast sandwiches and panini. Chef/partner Massimo Ruffinazzi, who was born and raised in Italy, makes sure there are always great breads on hand, as well as salumi plates and salad.
What started out as little more than a cottage-industry bakery working out of a tiny Lakewood storefront in 2011 has evolved into an empanada mini-empire, thanks to the recipes and dedication of founder Lorena Cantarovici. In 2014, the chef moved her Argentinean cafe to a sunny corner on South Broadway, expanding her offerings and adding […]
advertisement
What’s an izakaya? In short, it’s a Japanese pub with food intended to go with drinks. But to experience for yourself how the izakaya concept translates to the hip LoHi neighborhood, head over to Mizu Izakaya, which opened at the end of 2016 in a corner space that had once seemed doomed and now is […]
Denver’s currently on a hot dumpling streak, and Nana’s has stood out among the new options since opening in the former longtime home of Old Major in LoHi in October 2023. It’s since added offshoots in Boulder and Aurora, but we love the bustling energy of the Tejon Street spot. You may have to wait […]
Noisette opened in 2022 in a revamped restaurant space that’s distractingly elegant – though not in a stiff, white-tablecloth kind of way. The white decor with pops of pastel and a mix of modern and vintage is inviting and transportive. Small vases of flowers on each table add a romantic touch, as do the mismatched […]
When owner Sean Kenyon grabbed the address next to award-winning speakeasy Williams & Graham in order to create a more casual bar, he wondered if Occidental would mostly function as a waiting room for its sibling. But this bar has created an identity and a following all its own. Occidental’s punk-rock vibe and open seating […]