Along the way, we found plenty of new favorites, created the latest editions of our Top 100 Bars and Top 100 Restaurants lists to keep you eating and drinking well into 2025, and dug into hot topics and trends. Here are the biggest Denver food stores of 2024:
Fees, Fees Everywhere
At the start of the year, frustrations with new fees popping up on receipts at restaurants and bars hit a fever pitch. To better understand why some spots were implementing various types of fees, including automatic service charges, we sat down with three of the city's most successful restaurateurs. Bonanno Concepts founder Frank Bonanno, Culinary Creative Group founder and CEO Juan Padró and Frasca Hospitality co-founder Bobby Stuckey each offered a different take — and are all trying different approaches.This month, the Federal Trade Commission announced its final rule for the so-called "junk fees" ban. Groups like the National Restaurant Association and the Independent Restaurant Coalition have been fighting for restaurant fees such as service fees, delivery fees and credit card surcharges to be excluded from the ban. On December 17, those organizations celebrated a win when the final rule was announced with no language that would affect the restaurant industry...for now. But consumers continue to complain about restaurant fees, while owners and operators are still trying to find solutions that work for everyone. One thing everyone can agree on is that the fees are the result of another big story this year: increased costs.
Bonanno Concepts added its Creating Happy People fee as a way to make pay more equitable.
Bonanno Concepts
Rising Costs and Minimum Wage
In February, downtown restaurant Avelina announced it was closing immediately after eight years in business. Among the reasons for the decision listed by the North Carolina-based Urban Food Group: "The minimum-wage increases have been unbearable."In 2019, Governor Jared Polis signed HB19-1210: Local Government Minimum Wage, allowing local governments to enact higher minimum wages within their jurisdictions. Later that year, Denver passed its own minimum wage law, which took effect on January 1, 2020, and set the hourly minimum at $12.85 when the Colorado minimum was $12. The Denver minimum wage has increased every year since and is set to go up again on January 1, to $18.81 an hour — a 46 percent increase in four years. In an industry with already razor-thin margins, this quick spike to a fixed cost has been devastating.
Pair that with rising costs of just about everything else, from rent and property taxes to ingredients and supplies, and it's a recipe for potential disaster for restaurants, especially those within city limits (though it could be a win for the suburbs, where more and more independent operators are opting to open). People in the hospitality community are working with local leaders on possible solutions, but in the meantime...
The Closures Continue
Restaurants have always come and gone, but since the pandemic, the losses seem to hit harder as more and more longtime staples shut their doors for good. So far in 2024, we've reported over 250 openings as well as nearly ninety closures — a number that is actually lower than previous years. But the numbers don't tell the whole story.There's Biker Jim's, which suffered a slow and painful demise after founder Jim Pittenger paired up with a business partner during the pandemic — a decision that ultimately led to his stepping away from the business he built shortly before its Ballpark brick-and-mortar shuttered last month.
Fans lined up for a last taste when Steve's Snappin' Dogs announced the end of its twenty-year run on East Colfax, a closure that came at the same time as the loss of another favorite in the neighborhood, Fox Run Cafe, and not long after Enzo's End on the same block served its last pizza.
Pizza lovers in Capitol Hill also mourned the loss of Benny Blanco's, which is now only serving at its new location in Arvada. Other notable closures include Bistro LeRoux, Cantina Loca, Finley's Pub, Providence at 5280, all but one Sushi-Rama location and the OG outpost of Tacos Tequila Whiskey.
On December 16, award-winning chef Alex Seidel announced that his first restaurant, the eighteen-year-old Fruition, will say goodbye on January 12, and it won't be surprising to see more familiar names make similar announcements in the coming weeks.
In the meantime...
Out-of-State Chains Keep Moving In
Despite all the challenges for small, independent owners in Denver right now, the Mile High continues to be an appealing market for brands looking to expand. Some are more welcome than others, though. While it's become routine to hear about yet another In-N-Out or Sweetgreen coming to the area, we're still hungry for updates about the state's first Portillo's.The appetite of local diners has also attracted some big names that are helping to up the culinary game. Top Chef alum Jamie Lynch debuted an outpost of Church and Union downtown after more than four years of work on the project. Le Colonial recently landed in Cherry Creek. Michelin-starred chef Phillip Frankland Lee and pro skater Neen Williams just brought their viral smashburger to Larimer Square with NADC, which will soon also house Frankland Lee's speakeasy-style sushi concept, Sushi by Scratch.
But there was one expansion this year that really had people talking.
Beaver Fever
While 2023 was all about the comeback of Casa Bonita, people (including its workers, who voted to unionize last month) seemed to be burned out on the pink palace this year, leaving room for another kitschy obsession: Buc-ee's.When the Texas-born travel center debuted its first Colorado location off I-25 in Johnstown in March, fans lined up for Beaver Nuggets, brisket sandwiches and every kind of soft drink you can imagine. The sprawling gas station isn't nearly as magical or memorable as a trip to Casa Bonita — but you don't need a hard-to-get reservation to visit. And soon, Buc-ee's could have something the eatertainment palace probably never will: a second location. It would be off I-25 between Larkspur and Monument, and has become a hot topic for residents of nearby Palmer Lake.
Mexican Food Takes Center Stage
While we love Den-Mex, a new wave of Mexican eateries is creating excitement by combining a modern culinary approach with ancestral techniques and a reverence for corn. That approach is getting national attention, too, as highlighted by LoHi's Alma Fonda Fina, which earned its first Michelin star this year and was named one of the best new restaurants in the country by Esquire.Pop-Ups Are Hot
When COVID shut down indoor dining, some thought it would lead to the rise of food trucks or ghost kitchens. But the hot new way for chefs to feed people is actually via pop-ups like Michael Diaz de Leon's Pinche Umami and Justin Freeman's Monarch. Variations include fun collaborations between pros who may otherwise not get to work together — like a January 12 event at Hop Alley that will bring together its executive chef, Geoff Cox, and Top Chef season 21 alum Manny Barella. We're excited to see more of this approach in the new year.Dumplings Delight
The Asian food scene has been growing rapidly and getting more diverse, bolstered by higher-end places like the very buzzy Sap Sua. But dumpling spots, in particular, seem to be having a major moment in the Mile High. While options used to be limited, there are now a plethora of places to choose from, including recent additions such as Dillon's Dumpling House, Lan's Noodles and Dumplings, Dumpling Kitchen, Oh Dumpling and more.The Bagel Boom
For years, Rosenberg's was considered the top bagel joint in town — but now it has some healthy competition. Among the newcomers, we love Call Your Mother for its bagel sandwiches, Rich Spirit in Wheat Ridge for the best bagel and cream cheese experience, and Odell's for seafood specialties like pastrami lox. There are so many new options, we broke down bagel prices to give better insight into how much bang for your buck each place offers.
Home Slice
In April, Denver was named America's best city for pizza by one study, and people had...a lot of thoughts. But there's no denying that the pizza scene has improved in huge ways over the last decade — and that diners are hungry for pies of all kind; our ultimate guide to the metro area's pizza scene was the second-most-read food story of the year, just behind our burger guide. And there have been more notable additions in recent months, including the giant pies at Little Arthur's and the outpost of Brooklyn-born Roberta's at the new Urban Cowboy Public House.On our radar for 2025: the potential comeback of Pizza Alley, which was purchased by the owner of Himchuli Indian and Nepali next door.
