Where Should Mayor Mike Johnston Wine and Dine Visitors to Denver?

At the September 12 ceremony celebrating the restaurants honored by the first Michelin Guide Colorado, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, not even two months into his first term, offered the most energetic, engaging speech of the evening. Off the stage, he was equally enthusiastic when asked for his list of go-to spots in Denver.

Tops on that roster: ChoLon, El Taco de Mexico, Tommy’s Thai, Brothers BBQ, Little India, Esters Oneida Park and Dang, the soft-serve ice cream spot near his Park Hill home. He’s also a fan of Annette, the restaurant in Stanley Marketplace that wasn’t eligible for Michelin consideration because Aurora boosters chose not to participate (read: pay) in the project’s first year.

Johnston’s date, his daughter Ava, is a big fan of the options at Stanley Marketplace, too.

As mayor, Johnston frequently has to host guests of the city. And after we asked about his favorite restaurants, he had his own question for us: Where would you take out-of-town visitors to Denver?

Here’s a starter set, all geared to offer a taste of both this city’s cuisine and its history (they’re listed in order of age, sort of):

My Brother’s Bar, 2376 15th Street. My Brother’s occupies a building that marked its 150th anniversary this year and has housed a bar through that entire span. My Brother’s has been there just over fifty, but it feels like forever; today it has the patina of age and legends, but no sign outside and no TVs inside. Beat icon Neal Cassady hung out here when it was Paul’s Place; today you’ll find regulars chowing down on great bar burgers from morning through late night.

Buckhorn Exchange, 1000 Osage Street. Henry H. “Shorty Scout” Zietz founded the Buckhorn in 1893, making it a relative newcomer – but it boasts Colorado Liquor License #1, thanks to some fast work after Prohibition was repealed. Teddy Roosevelt hung out here, as did Dwight Eisenhower; the upstairs bar is the best spot to get a taste of how it might have looked over a century ago, though if you eat downstairs, the taxidermied ancestor of your entree might be hanging overhead.

Sushi Den, 1487 South Pearl Street. It may seem odd that this landlocked state has boasted one of the best sushi restaurants in the country for four decades, but you can thank Yasu and Toshi Kizaki for that. A third brother back in Japan makes sure he sends the freshest possible shipments of fish to Denver, where it’s served in a series of restaurants that the brothers have opened in the charming Old South Pearl neighborhood. Veterans of their empire have gone on to open their own spots, and Denver is swimming in great sushi as a result.

El Taco de Mexico, 714 Santa Fe Drive. This favorite of Mike Johnston’s might be a little casual for some visitors, but if you want to serve them an authentic taste of Den-Mex, it’s hard to beat the green chile at El Taco de Mexico, an exemplary version of a uniquely Denver dish. El Taco got its start in a trailer in 1985, then moved to Santa Fe Drive, in the heart of the city’s historic La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood (Su Teatro is right across the street); in 2020, it received an America’s Classics award from the James Beard Foundation.

Rioja, in Larimer Square. Denver’s oldest retail block is going through a major renovation right now, and although many of the storefronts are not only scaffolded, but empty, you can see the bones of what one day could again be a thriving retail and restaurant destination. And in the meantime, you can enjoy the delicious Mediterranean-inspired eats served up by James Beard Award-winning chef Jennifer Jasinski for over two decades.

A5 Steakhouse, 1600 15th Street. This longtime LoDo storefront was once home to the Wazee Lounge and Supper Club, the sibling to My Brother’s Bar. (The upstairs was also once Westword‘s office.) But after the Karagas brothers passed on, the restaurant space went through a couple of incarnations before it wound up with a winner: A5 Steakhouse, which would give the mayor’s guests a real feel for this part of Denver’s warehouse past, as well as a true taste of a smart revisioning of a steakhouse for the future.

Forget Me Not, 227 Clayton Street. Some of Johnston’s visitors will no doubt be staying in Cherry Creek, which is booming these days, with new retail and residential complexes popping up all over. So are restaurants, many of them links in national chains, but Forget Me Not is an offshoot of the local Culinary Creative Group, which also brought us A5. The food and drink menus are not just creative, but contemporary, and in a town full of great patios, it’s hard to beat this one.

And yes, another undeniable Denver dining draw: Casa Bonita, although it wasn’t officially mentioned at the Michelin celebration, much less included in the guide, and it’s not technically within Denver city limits. But another Colorado booster is definitely a fan: Governor Jared Polis, who hosted the August 2021 Facebook Live when South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced that they were buying Casa Bonita. He hit the revived pink entertainment palace this summer. “Governor Polis was thrilled to visit Casa Bonita a few weeks ago with his family and enjoyed a delicious meal of enchiladas, ceviche, and sopaipilla,” says spokesman Conor Cahill. “Unfortunately, he did not dive into the pool this time but like many Coloradans, the Governor has often dreamt of becoming a cliff diver for the restaurant.”

Who hasn’t?

When you have visitors to Denver, where do you take them? Where should Mike Johnston go to show off the city? Send suggestions to editorial@westword.com.

This story originally appeared in Food & Drink, our glossy restaurant guide; grab your copy in the current issue of Westword.