When we first decided to visit Denver, one of the most attractive factors was the numerous vegan and vegetarian eateries outs there. Not to forget the dessert finds we bumped into during the course of our research.
We have been enjoying all the direct flights that we have been getting from Raleigh and when we saw a direct flight to Denver, we jumped at the opportunity right away and planned our 3-day trip. Both of us came up with a list of places we wanted to visit and foods to eat while we were there. Not surprisingly, a lot of the food spots we researched overlapped and we were glad to merge our list. Denver is a food-lover’s paradise, so even after all that food we ate, we still couldn’t visit all the restaurants and breweries we wanted to. You know what they say, there’s always something for next time!
If you are a herbivore like us, this is one city where you will love all the attention you get. Most of the places we went to were predominantly all vegetarian or vegan. Even at spots that served meat, the veggie options were top-notch!
Between all the art, nature, national parks, and touristy things that Denver had to offer, we ensured that we had ample time for all our meals (priorities, right?). Without further ado, read along to know about our Denver foodventures!
Breakfast, Brunch, and Lunch
Breakfast is the biggest and first meal of the day. So, it is only obvious that we start our day with the best.
What started as an all-vegetarian cafe in 1998 has now become an all vegan restaurant (source, WaterCourse Foods). The menu is highly intriguing, ranging from vegan Benedict to BBQ pulled pork; basically all things that can be made vegan. We went here early on a Tuesday morning for breakfast and completely lucked out by not only finding great street parking but also had the entire restaurant for ourselves. This place is supposedly packed on weekends and hence we chose to go here during a weekday.
What we ordered:
- Coconut macaroon latte
- Lavender latte
- Big Rig – country-fried seitan, scrambled tofu, skillet hash, big rig gravy, and biscuit
- Benedict – English muffin, tofu Canadian bacon, poached egg, tomato, and Hollandaise
Price Point: $$
Taste:
Great place for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. The breakfast spread is very unique. Even though they look and make a dish sound non-vegan, taste wise they are pretty great. The portions are good and the seasonings are on point. Not a great place for coffee. Both the lattes lacked the punch that one would need in their morning cuppa.
Boy, O’ boy, is this the best place for a veggie breakfast in Denver? Hands down, this was our favorite breakfast/brunch spot. A very early morning flight, two sleep-deprived souls, and two very hungry people meant the breakfast better be worth all the travel. We were so glad we went straight from the airport to this spot for a late breakfast. We were able to snag a spot easily but this place filled up not long after we seated ourselves. Right in the heart of Denver downtown, City, O’ City offers a wide range of vegetarian and vegan breakfast options. This place is also owned by the same management as Watercourse foods and they sure mean business. We loved everything we had here and this place has surely made it to our list of must-visit vegetarian breakfast spots in the USA.
What we ordered:
- Beer mimosa
- Regular mimosa
- Spicy vegan Kimchi Pancakes
- Thai Curry waffles with fried egg
Price Point: $$
Taste:
Worth every penny. This is the sort of place you would want to visit while visiting Denver. Everything we ordered tasted great and was seasoned the way it is supposed to be. The service was great and the place was very open and welcoming. Great for late night eats since this place is open till 2 AM.
This is a collective eatery, very similar to a food hall or a glorified food court. The space is gorgeous and it is made out of shipping containers and they have a lot of outdoor space. We stopped over here for a quick bite and a drink. There are a lot of options here but we felt the food was very expensive.
What we ordered (from Bistro Georgette):
- Couple of beers from the common bar area
- Hand Pies with stuffed mushroom
- Croquettes
Bistro Georgette makes unique French cuisine but in a street-food style form. If you are a fan of traditional hand pies, you will love it. The mushroom hand pies were a perfect choice to go with the beer. The croquettes were also really good and made a great snack. Since we had already gorged on other food throughout the day, we choose to give other spots a skip. If you want to meet a big group of people, this is a great place.
Price Point: $$$$
Taste:
The hand-made pie was really good and so were the croquettes. The beer selection was not that great. If you are a fan of local beers, there were only few to choose from.
Dinner in Denver
While we wanted to explore a bunch of dinner spots, we were successful in visiting only one of them due to lack of time. However, the place we settled for has one of the most unique back stories to it.
If you thought the name sounded weird, here’s why. This place used to be called Olinger Mortuaries up until a few years ago and has now been converted into a restaurant. You can spot the old name in their big sign which has been modified to the new name. We were skeptical at first as to how this place would be but if you are unaware about the history and walk into this place, you will not have a clue. This place serves global cuisine and also has a very nice rooftop (the menu for the rooftop area is different).
When we walked in here, we were greeted by the large open space and we got a really good table by the window with a view overlooking the Little Man Ice Cream that had an endless queue going around the building.
What we ordered:
- Corpse Reviver cocktail (hey, its only fitting and adventurous to order something like this at Linger)
- Green Tea Collins
- Impossible burger sliders and sweet potato waffle fries
- Roasted Beet salad
- Dahi Puri (Indian street food made with puffed semolina shells filled with potato and spices and yogurt)
- Korean Fried Cauliflower
Price Point: $$$$
Taste:
While all we ordered and tasted were really good, we found this place to be pretty expensive. Considering most of the things we ordered were small plates, the price was a little unjustifiable. The cocktails were mediocre. Our favorites from this place were the roasted beet salad and the impossible burger sliders.
Desserts
Our most favorite meal. We can eat desserts for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in-between too. When we researched about the dessert scene in Denver, we couldn’t help but be awed about all the options we had. We were particular about ice creams since that is one of our most favorite things to have. We tasted some of the best ice creams in Denver. Scroll to see where and what all we ate.
If you are an ice cream aficionado, this place is right up your alley. They have flavors ranging from basil to beetroot swirl! Their most interesting offering is the kouign-amann ice cream sandwich. The kouign-amann comes freshly made from Izzio Bakery right across from where High Point Creamery is located in the Denver Central Market in Rino.
High Point Creamery also offers ice cream flights and being the ice cream fanatics that we are, had to buy it, along with the ice cream sandwich so we got to taste the best of both worlds.
Flavors we got:
We also got the kouign-amann to add on to the sugar high! The flakey pastry with ice cream and caramel dipping sauce was out of this world. It certainly set our expectations high for the other ice cream spots.
Price Point: $$
Taste:
Some of the best ice cream you will ever have! We loved each and every flavor we had as part of the flight. You get unlimited samples and the employees are super patient despite the long queue for this place. They are also great at recommending flavors.
Move over cupcakes. This is the ice cream sandwich you need in your life! It is petite and truly one of a kind. We have tasted many ice cream sandwiches over the years but, this was very unique. We got to chat with Pete, the founder and owner of Peteybird and he explained the whole process with so much passion. It is very interesting to note that he was an Engineer before he ventured into this business. Needless to say he sure has used a lot of engineering in crafting these petite ice cream sandwiches and worked on perfecting the cookie to ice cream ratio. They have a small storefront in the Rino district of Denver and the space is so cutely crafted. We went all in for an ice cream sandwich flight and tried almost all the flavors they had. They are easy to hold and eat – Pete has a User Manual at the store on how to eat them! We loved them and wish we could have packed some with us.
Price Point: $
Taste:
Not your average ice cream sandwich. They might be bite-sized but, each piece has a distinct flavor. The ice cream to cookie proportions are great and the ice cream is of the right consistency.
This place showed up as a must visit in pretty much all the websites we went through while looking for best ice cream spots in Denver. It is hard to miss the giant milk can when you pass through this street. This is a traditional homemade style ice cream spot that almost always has a queue around the building on weekends and weekdays alike. When we visited Linger Eatuaries, we were shocked by the queue and decided to give this place a try on a weekday. A few hours before our return flight to Raleigh, we braved the crowd and visited this place. There was still a long queue but, we were confident that we weren’t too far along (oh, the sacrifices we are ready to make for ice cream!). We had seen their menu online but, unfortunately they did not have many of the flavors mentioned online. We settled for scoops of coffee and a vegan horchata. After tasting all those amazing flavors at High Point Creamery, we were a little disappointed by this place.
Price Point: $
Taste:
After much hype and wait, a little disappointed with the flavors or the lack thereof. Employees are super friendly and nice. Will definitely have to go back here the next time to give it another try.
Overall Verdict:
If you are a vegetarian foodie and you plan your travels around food like us, Denver is one of the must visit places in USA. The city is very inclusive and has something that everyone would relish and enjoy. We hope to make a visit sometime again in the future too and get to eat at all the places we missed eating this time.
