Best People-Watching 2019 | Denver Diner | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best People-Watching

Denver Diner

There's always plenty to watch at the Denver Diner. At one table you'll see politicians negotiating, at another club-goers arm wrestling, while the shiny, squishy booths host side-by-side vignettes of families fighting and Tinder dates getting somewhere. Outside, Denver Fire Department Station 1 regularly gives diners a sound and light show, and there are always at least two dudes fighting on the sidewalk next to the restaurant. The soaring windows and well-lit space provide the perfect platform for people-watching, whether you're outside looking in or inside looking out (in which case you really should pay some attention to the hearty fare on your plate).

Best Place to See and Be Seen

Racines

Looking for that legislator who didn't respond to your email last week? Don't bother checking his office: Head to Racines, where this city's movers and shakers have been hatching plans over eggs Mazatlán and breakfast salads for decades. While Racines is certainly the power brokers' breakfast spot of choice, you'll also spot familiar faces at lunch and dinner: city councilmembers who need sustenance after long meetings, reporters from nearby television stations, lobbyists ringing up their clients' bills, and regular Joes who've been coming here for years. Even if your meeting proves unsatisfying, Racines will guarantee that your meal is delicious.

Best 24/7 Restaurant

Breakfast King

Maybe it's the orange booths and wood paneling that make the Breakfast King seem so inviting, or the waitresses with their consoling smiles. It's definitely the constant flow of coffee, heaping helpings of mashed potatoes and chicken-fried chicken with country gravy, hundreds of possible breakfast combinations served at all hours, and the swirls of whipped cream that float atop shakes, malts and slices of pie. Food-delivery services may be all the rage, but the irreplaceable, in-person value of these distinctly diner-y things make the Breakfast King a welcome spot 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The more Denver changes, the more the Breakfast King stays the same — and thank goodness for that.

Readers' Choice: Denver Diner

Best Breakfast Spot

Four Friends Kitchen

Danielle Lirette
Huevos Rancheros at Four Friends Kitchen.

Four Friends Kitchen is now four years old, and the lively eatery feels like a Stapleton staple, where you're likely to run into your neighbors on the weekend and maybe make some new friends if you stop by during the week. The Southern-style dishes — whether New Orleans-inspired beignets, hush puppies or shrimp with cheesy overnight grits — seem just a little decadent. But Four Friends also knows its Colorado flavors, serving them up in bulky breakfast burritos, zingy huevos rancheros built on tostada stacks, and a thick and savory green chile. Mid-morning drinks on the rooftop patio while the kids zone out on pancakes and Etch-a-Sketch are the neighborhood's new family tradition.

Readers' Choice: Snooze

Best Breakfast Burrito

Chickee's Lil Kitchen

Mark Antonation

Chickee's Lil Kitchen may advertise its Cajun cuisine most prominently, but this wee Sunnyside establishment serves mostly as a morning stop, when it turns out a concise list of breakfast burritos that include some combination of eggs, rice, beans, potatoes, cheese and meat (don't miss the peppery housemade chorizo). The baseline here is a handheld, foil-wrapped roll dense enough to counter even the most stubborn hangover — and if you need a little more zip, smothering your burrito with the porky green chile should help. Another good thing to know about Chickee's: It may be tiny, but it can fill catering orders, and it's one of our go-to brunch party tricks on mornings when cooking for a crowd is impossible.

Readers' Choice: Illegal Pete's

Best Bakery

La Fillette

Molly Martin

La Fillette was founded in 2014 but has been under new ownership since 2016, and the little east-side bakery has just kept getting better with age. Croissants are the spotlight-stealing diva of any pastry case, and here they shine, whether as unadorned croissants with flaky, mahogany crusts hiding myriad tender layers within, or as pain au chocolat, with a dark, hidden and oh, so delicious secret. Baguettes, boules and batards are a Parisian's dream, and there are enough desserts at La Fillette to keep any sweet tooth happy, from all-American cookies to the cutest macarons. Breakfast sandwiches fill those crackly croissants with omelet-like layers of egg, cheese and other ingredients. Just say "Oui!"

Readers' Choice: Grateful Bread Company

Best Bakery for a Tube Steak

Tokyo Premium Bakery

Mark Antonation

There's no doubt that the team of Japanese bakers who run Tokyo Premium, which opened last fall on Old South Pearl Street, are masters of their craft. Light and buttery pastries filled with glazed fruit or custard are as good as they get anywhere in town, and savory buns decorated with eggs, corn, bacon and other lunch-ready toppings make the bright cafe a recommended stop to satisfy a nosh. But beyond the matcha green-tea lattes and delicate sandwiches made on impossibly airy clouds of shoku-pan bread awaits a goofy treat sure to put a smile on the surliest bakery shopper: hot dogs wrapped in toothsome house dough squiggled with ketchup and mustard before being baked. They're the Japanese answer to Chicago bagel dogs, and you can also find mini-sausage bites in the bakery's pan d'epi, a French pull-apart specialty that here gets a meaty addition. Just tell everyone they're for your kids — then stuff your face on the drive home.

Best Doughnuts

Hotbox Roasters Cafe

Beer and doughnuts? That's just what you'll find at this perky coffee shop run by the folks who founded Oskar Blues Brewery. Every day the menu offers a fun array of specialty doughnuts, including strawberry-pink lemonade and Earl Grey lavender; the regular lineup includes both cake and yeast-raised doughnuts in flavors ranging from glazed and cinnamon to maple, blueberry cake and more. The cafe also serves full-on breakfast, in case you need to balance out your sugar with something savory.

Readers' Choice: Voodoo Doughnut

Best New Coffeehouse

Spur Coffee

Courtesy Spur Coffee

When Spur Coffee closed its original location in Littleton, the community it had been part of for five years went into mourning. Luckily, central Denver got its own Spur last year, and the reason for its popularity quickly became obvious. The shop is dedicated to quality in every aspect of coffee, from roasting its own to crafting unique housemade syrups and making food-pairing suggestions. Spur's scratch-made pastries tend to the savory and are never overly sweet in any case, and the menu offers unusual items such as traditional soft-boiled eggs served in the shell in egg cups, something you don't see much outside of English kitchens. Spur will soon extend its hours for late-night sipping, so who knows? Your favorite coffee shop could become your favorite cocktail bar in the near future.

Readers' Choice: Torpedo Coffee

Best Coffee at a Non-Coffee Shop

Buchi Cafe Cubano

This west Denver cafe has made it onto many of our "best" lists, but never for its coffee. Sandwiches pressed to deliciousness are its claim to fame, but the coffee is a surprising treat and worth a trip on its own. Buchi serves traditional Cuban coffee sweetened with raw sugar, but also mixes up an eye-opening cafe con leche with espresso and steamed milk. The non-pretentious environment, complete with plastic silverware and paper plates (or no plates at all) creates a comfortable environment for relaxing, practicing your Spanglish and sipping away the day.

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