Short Stop: Butcher Block Cafe on 38th Street Is a Classic in a Changing Neighborhood

Denver's dining scene is making a big comeback — and we're hungering to go out. With so many new ventures and old favorites to visit, the choices can be overwhelming. So we're serving up Short Stop, with recommendations for things that should definitely be on your culinary short list. This week, head to Butcher Block Cafe for nostalgia and giant cinnamon rolls.

What: Butcher Block Cafe

Where: 1701 38th Street, with additional locations at 5002 Washington Street and 4605 East 74th Avenue in Commerce City

When: Open 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday

For more info: Visit butcherblockcafe.com
About the place: A number of classic diners have closed in the past few years, including Tom's Diner, which shuttered in 2020, and Annie's Cafe & Bar, which closed just last month.

But while the diner scene has dwindled, some standouts remain, including the Butcher Block Cafe. Its 38th Street location is a blocky little building in a rapidly changing part of RiNo filled with new hotels and restaurants near the three-year-old Mission Ballroom and an RTD A Line stop. There's even a putt-putt party bar right across the street. The business, which has three locations, was opened over forty years ago by the Michel brothers, who moved to Denver from North Dakota in 1979 with the goal of opening diners that, according to the Butcher Block website, "reflect the small home town diners they grew up loving."

The interior of the cafe on 38th is certainly a flashback to the decades when the diner was a community hub. Patrons walk through the glassed-in vestibule into the dining room, where a classic counter in front of a window to the kitchen lines one wall. Along the other side are booths and vintage tables. On a recent visit, one of the chefs sported a retro paper hat with a Pepsi logo; the soda company still has a bottling facility across the street. Narrow, two-person booths lead the way to a back room filled with retro, silver-bordered formica tables.

There are also some durable booths outside the cafe — a COVID-era addition. Although the booths are next to busy 38th Street, large planters bursting with foliage creates a barrier that feels safe and peaceful.

The diner is bustling, as a diner should be, with limited staff that seem to be running food on a high table-to-staff ratio. That's necessary to make enough tips, but the service is still quick and efficient — plus the staff is generous with the coffee refills, a vital fact for big coffee drinkers (those diner mugs are much smaller than the bowl-sized mug I use at home).
What you're eating: You can't go to a Butcher Block without getting the homemade cinnamon roll ($3.50), an ideal starter for two people to share. More like a cinnamon roll donut than a Cinnabon-type pastry, it is fresh, gooey and delicious. You can also order them by the half-dozen.

The breakfast options include all the standards, from smothered breakfast burritos and omelets to steak and eggs, country-fried steak and pancakes. For lunch, there are burgers and sandwiches like the hot beef and the BLT. Only the 38th Street location serves dinner, with a menu that includes liver and onions and other classic entrees, the most expensive of which is a half-pound grilled sirloin steak, which comes with a soup or salad, roll and butter, and French fries or whipped potatoes for $14.95.
My favorite breakfast menu quirk is the #1, which comes with a pancake or French toast, two strips of bacon and one egg for $6.95, or you can double it for $11.75. The best part of the #1? There is no #2, #3, or any other number.

The egg breakfast with bacon for $10.50 is an ideal meal. I'm picky about hash browns, which are done perfectly for my taste here — chopped, not grated, and cooked so there were crunchy parts as well as plenty of soft, firm potatoes to add contrast to the texture. Expertly made, runny sunny-side-up eggs and four (four!) strips of crisp — not chewy — bacon round out the simple yet oh-so-satisfying meal. For $9.95, my breakfast companion's three-egg omelet, which was folded over sautéed green peppers and onions and served with hash browns, was a winner, too. Pro tip: Split a side of the pork green chili ($2.95 for a cup), which was gravy-thick with a light spicy kick.

In an evolving city with a growing food scene, I'm grateful to know places like the Butcher Block Cafe are still feeding us.