Angelo's Taverna

Angelo's Taverna bills itself as Denver's original pizza and oyster bar — and given that it's been serving central Denver since the Nixon administration, it's safe to say that it's the longest-running restaurant of its ilk. While it was refurbished by new owners in 2013, Angelo's is still all dark woods and stained-glass windows, with the kind of labyrinthine floor plan that suggests the restaurant was built before breezy, cavernous dining rooms became the norm. Oysters still anchor the menu here, and Angelo's offers a rotating menu of mollusks that changes with what's fresh. We're half-shell people, but the restaurant makes a compelling argument for a char-grilled preparation: Your order of a half-dozen can be dressed up with garlic butter, bacon and Gorgonzola or chipotle bourbon butter. Belly up to the bar during happy hour for $1 East Coast or West Coast oysters, or have them grilled for a dollar more.