It's easy to dumb-down kids' food, which is why the team behind Next Door American Eatery strives to make sure that children are offered not just tasty dishes, but healthy ones, too. This isn't surprising, given that the five-location chain was started by Hugo Matheson and Kimbal Musk of the Kitchen Restaurant Group (which owns several outposts of the Kitchen as well as Hedge Row), who also teach childhood nutrition through their Learning Gardens at elementary schools. Their dedication is reflected on the kids' menu, which includes grilled cheese, mac 'n' cheese and cheeseburgers, as well as a beet burger, grilled chicken and a bowl full of rice, beans, chicken, cheddar and tortilla chips. Save for the latter, each comes with a tasty side, be it kale chips, tomato soup, crispy smashed potatoes or a salad. In a nice touch, kids can play with an Etch A Sketch while they wait for their meals.

Readers' Choice: ClusterTruck

When is an all-night diner ever about the food? What night owls yearn for is someplace in the heart of the action, where the freaks come out and the lights never dim, making a corner booth the prime spot for crafting the next chapter of a noir thriller over bottomless cups of java. Pete's Kitchen has been providing pulp-fiction fodder for sixty-some years, all night, every night. Oh, and those hash browns, gyros omelets and breakfast burritos: They still do the trick, soaking up a bellyful of booze and providing sustenance for another red-eyed all-nighter.

Readers' Choice: Pete's Kitchen

The folks at Bacon Social House call their morning meal brunch, mostly because the menu is full of meaty entrees and dishes not normally associated with a modest breakfast. But you'll also find omelets, Benedicts, waffles, pancakes and French toast, most of them accented by bacon, of course. From light to hearty, classic to modern, there's something for every taste. Want a breakfast salad? Bacon has one, complete with a poached egg. And there's hipster chow, too, in the form of avocado toast topped with scrambled eggs and a nest of arugula. You can even get a burger at 7:30 a.m. if that's your thing. No matter what you order, every bite is made with care — because Bacon is first and foremost a neighborhood spot, where friends and family gather to chew the fat. And everything else.

Readers' Choice: Snooze

Who wouldn't want breakfast cooked by a guy named Fred? The Fred in this case previously owned La Fuente (already known for its foil-wrapped favorites), but his namesake eatery has been turning out morning magic since late last summer in far north Denver. Take a load off and stay for a fork-and-knife breakfast burrito smothered in a gravy-like green chile and stuffed with just-right scrambled eggs, molten cheese, potatoes and a choice of chorizo, ham, beans, bacon or sausage. But get this: Fred's also doubles down with a breakfast burrito jammed with all the usual goodies — plus a whole tamale thrown in for good measure. That's a stroke of genius that lifts this tiny shop above the competition.

Readers' Choice: Santiago's

When you're hoofin' it to work on a brisk morning downtown, you don't have time for a sit-down breakfast. Asada Rico, one of many street-food kiosks on the 16th Street Mall, has just what you need: express breakfast burritos stuffed with scrambled eggs, potatoes, green chile, cheese and a choice of meats. They're a speedy silver bullet that will fuel your tank, but if you've got an extra 75 cents and a couple of minutes to spare, you can get your breakfast burrito made to order, with added ingredients to satisfy every craving. Hunger — foiled again!

Readers' Choice: Santiago's

Eggs Benedict were almost invented to be messed with. The basic construction of English muffin, Canadian bacon, a poached egg and some Hollandaise sauce cries out for variations; nearly every one of the ingredients — except the egg itself — can be swapped out for an upgrade from the stodgy breakfast-buffet original. Chef/restaurateur Troy Guard gives tradition its due with a properly executed Benny at his new Stapleton breakfast joint, but he also dashes decorum with a lamb-neck Benedict with Latin flair. Shreds of slow-cooked lamb soak up an almost impossible amount of braising liquid, further augmented by a ladleful of green chile. Purists will be pleased at the sight of sunny-yellow Hollandaise, with some greens peeking out for good measure. Guard stuck his (lamb) neck out for something unique, and the risk paid off.

Readers' Choice: Snooze

Denver's artisan bread scene is thriving, with many a boule and baguette coming straight from the oven. But not all of these items rise to the occasion. Bread dough is tricky and temperamental, but baker John Hinman gets it right, especially in burger buns found on some of the city's best burgers. Pie dough is an equally tricky proposition, though, and it's here that Hinman excels, cooking up whole pies and hand pies — both savory and sweet — whose perfect buttery, flaky crusts ensconce and augment fillings that range from a simple yet extraordinary cherry to whiskey pecan to flights of fancy that reference green chile or biscuits and gravy. Whether you track down his baked goods at this hidden Park Hill bakery or at a Front Range farmers' market, Hinman makes every day Pi Day.

Readers' Choice: Grateful Bread Company

David Kaminer's bakery isn't an efficient, commercial facility with gleaming ovens and mixers, nor is it an artisan storefront in a trendy neighborhood or market hall. Instead, Raleigh Street Bakery is in Kaminer's garage, behind his house on a quiet residential block in northwest Denver. He built his wood-burning oven with the help of friends and family, got approval under Denver's cottage-industry regulations, and in 2014 began turning out some of the city's most beautiful rustic breads. The baker relies on the time-honored pain au levain method to proof his dough naturally over several days, using heritage grains such as einkorn and blue tinge emmer to build layers of flavor. You can track down his crusty baguettes, dense rye loaves and other creations on Raleigh Street every Friday, at Call to Arms Brewing on Mondays, and at select farmers' markets during summer months.

Steven Roland, owner of the Boulangerie, is best known for his baguettes and other crusty French and Italian loaves. But leave it to a guy who once worked as a private chef at the British Embassy in Oslo to put out the best scone in town. These golden, fruit-filled treats are so impossibly tender, you know they're filled with plenty of butter, buttermilk and cream. Flavors vary, so you can drop by for blueberry-almond one day and cherry the next. Settle into the sunny space with something to read and a piping hot Americano and be glad that Roland, a recent transplant, chose to make Denver home.

Whether you drop by Hotbox Roasters Cafe for a shot of caffeine or a beer (taps open weekdays at 7 a.m.), you'll definitely want a doughnut with that. This triple-concept cafe, part of Oskar Blues Fooderies, cranks out roughly twenty hand-cut varieties while you're sleeping, so doughnuts are fresh every morning. Don't miss the glazed, a ring of yeast-raised yumminess that takes two hours to make and is full-bodied thanks to high-protein bread flour. And by all means, venture out of your comfort zone with the Earl Grey-lavender (trust us), with a colorful drizzle of naturally flavored frosting. If you're a cake purist, you'll be hot for Hotbox's cake doughnuts, which are tender but never oily. The blueberry is a fan fave, but we can't resist the vanilla-scented old-fashioned and the chocolate glazed. So don't kid yourself when you're at the front of the line: You'll want a box, not a bag, and whichever side of the raised/cake divide you fall on, you can go home with plenty of both.

Readers' Choice: Voodoo Doughnut