Sassafras American Eatery

As anyone who's gone out for breakfast lately knows, Denverites love their morning meal: Hours-long waits at joints that serve up a mean pancake aren't uncommon. Sassafras opened its first location on West 26th Avenue in 2012 to immediate success, but relocated to the Highland neighborhood in 2019. Not one to mess with a good thing, owner Julia Grother kept the same menu, emphasizing classic Southern comfort foods like grits (from pimiento cheese grits to scallion grits with fried oysters and smoked bacon); a few varieties of mac and cheese (who can resist breakfast mac?); gumbo, which gets its deep, earthy kick from filé powder; and fried green tomatoes, which are featured in a Benedict and as the stuffing of a sandwich. And then there are the biscuits, so light and flaky it's almost a shame to cover them up with the delicious sausage gravy. Recently, Sassafras added dinner service a few nights per week for late, late risers.