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Golden, the first territorial capital of Colorado, is experiencing unparalleled growth in food and dining choices as more and more chefs and restauranteurs discover this beautiful little historic mountain town.
Located just 12 miles from downtown Denver, Golden is a world away in an atmosphere offering every type of dining experience, from restaurants in old historic buildings, food halls with free parking, outdoor dog-friendly beer gardens with food trucks, fine dining, raw bars, craft cocktails from local distilleries, streamside dining and outdoor cafes along an “Old West” main street that looks like a movie set for small-town America.
The home of Coors Brewery, Golden has long been famous for producing more beer than any other place in the world. In addition to the planet’s largest brewery, Golden has eight craft breweries, each with an outdoor, dog-friendly beer garden and a changing array of food trucks.
But today’s Golden is also bursting with many food choices, which makes it the perfect place for a night out. From just about anywhere in Golden, you can watch the sun set behind Lookout Mountain, park your car for free, and walk to an unbelievable choice of dining options. Here are some ideas.
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Casual Dining in Golden
Woody’s Wood-Fired Pizza
Woody’s Wood-Fired Pizza is a local legend with one of the best Western views in town since it sits under South Table Mountain – the famous western butte featured on billions of cans of Coors Beer. The world’s largest brewery, Coors, sits at the base of the rocky butte.
Woody’s is known not only for their pizza, but also for the slow wood-fired pulled pork and whiskey sauce sandwiches, and all the pizza you can eat lunches.
D’Deli
D’Deli Consistently ranked as the No. 1 sandwich shop on the Front Range, D-Deli offers all the traditional subs but is also the place to get a true Colorado sandwich that you can’t find elsewhere — a Buffalo Ruben or smoked elk sandwich.
Get it to go and head to a picnic table along nearby Clear Creek. This beautiful stream flows through the very heart of downtown Golden, and there are many picnic spots along it where the only noise you will hear is the rushing of water and the clouds sailing by overhead.
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Bob’s Atomic Burgers
Bob’s Atomic Burgers has only one mission: this locally-owned burger joint wants to give you the best burger at a reasonable price in a fun setting. And that’s why they have become a downtown Golden legend for burgers.
Located opposite Coors Brewery, this locals hangout has so many trimmings, that just picking them out is half the fun. It’s also popular with students from the local School of Mines.
Read More: 5 Free Things to Do in Golden, Colorado
Trailhead Taphouse & Kitchen
Trailhead Taphouse & Kitchen is a great place to go before a blues concert at Red Rocks or the Buffalo Rose. They dish out jambalaya and gumbo – the perfect accompaniment to blues, blended with a huge variety of Colorado craft beers on tap.
The Golden Mill
The Golden Mill is where locals meet up and hang out in the summer. This popular eatery is located at 1012 Ford Street in a revitalization of the old historic mill that sits right along Clear Creek.
Walk by the Golden Mill on any given night and you’ll find the place hopping with people out enjoying the warm sunshine on the rooftop deck, which offers sweeping views of North and South Table Mountains.
There is a 40-tap self-pour pour wall filled with popular home-grown brews, wines, ciders, cocktails and sake, so you can sample and enjoy a wide array of drinks.
You can choose to purchase food from any of the five onsite dining options: Rolling Smoke BBQ, Happy Cones (New Zealand ice cream), Tacos al Chile, Republik of Chicken, and Sushi Sora.
Grab a seat on the outdoor patio and watch tubers float down Clear Creek while enjoying some good food and drinks. It’s a restaurant custom-made for Colorado’s wonderful summer evenings.
Fine Dining in Golden
Abejas
Located in Downtown Golden, Abejas (pronounced ah-bay-haus), is a community-focused restaurant dedicated to seasonality and new American dishes. Opened in 2015, they use fresh local produce, organic meats, and sustainable fish. The beverage program features local craft distilleries and breweries, small production wineries, and classic cocktails.
Longtime friends and now co-owners, Brandon Bortles and Barry Dobesh (the “B’s”, as they are known) chose the name Abejas to convey the meaning behind the bee: agriculture, nature, and “Abejas” means “bee” in Spanish, of course.
Try the Lamb Chop with Farro, Sun-Dried Tomato, Eggplant, Cucumber, Tumeric White Bean Puree, Leek Yogurt, or the Bone-In Pork Porterhouse New Potatoes, Baby Zucchini, Morel Mushrooms, Spring Onion Puree, Roasted Fennel.
They also do lunch and a brunch with such delights as Smoked Steelhead Trout Benedict with Dill Creme Fraiche, Spinach, Hollandaise, Poached Eggs, Greens, and Potato.
Bella Colibri
Bella Colibri offers rustic elegance and five-star, creative Italian cuisine to Golden and pay tribute to Golden restauranteur Dean Valdez’s Italian heritage.
Indulge Bistro & Wine Bar
Whether for their excellent wines, served by the glass, even at Happy Hour, or for a weekend brunch, lunch or dinner, Indulge Bistro & Wine Bar is little bit of elegance in downtown Golden.
It’s the place to go for flatbreads, and handheld sandwiches like Prime & Cheddar, Shrimp Linguini or Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast.
Bridgewater Grill
Bridgewater Grill is another creekside dining beauty where you can relax on the porch to the pleasant sound of the river while nibbling on Colorado Proud ingredients.
The fresh menu includes Rocky Mountain Miners Salad, the Summer Spinach Salad with White Truffle Beets, Blackened Ahi Tuna Street Tacos, Rosa’s Award-Winning Pork Green Chili, the Pepper Seared Pacific Salmon BLTA, a variety of craft burgers and much more.
Start with Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Smoked Trout Dip and House-Smoked Pulled Pork Nachos. Entree selections include Grilled Bone-In Ribeye, Coors Beer Battered Cod Fish and Chips, Sautéed Trout and Mac and Cheese with Herman Joseph Bison Short Ribs.
Read More: How To Have a Perfect Golden, Colorado Getaway
Iconic Golden Restaurants
The Buffalo Rose
Speaking of buffalo, The Buffalo Rose, which has been a center of food and entertainment since the days of frontier scout and showman Buffalo Bill Cody (who is buried on nearby Lookout Mountain), has been completely redesigned with new skylights, patio, and a new concert hall. Generals Grant and Sherman of Civil War fame once stayed in this historic building.
Today, it has been completely transformed, preserving its exposed brick walls and historic atmosphere. Delicious food items include the Wild West Burger, pulled lamb sandwich, Bison ribs, pan-seared Salmon, and Arroz con Pollo, as well as signature cocktails and craft beers.
The attached concert hall attracts some of the biggest names in rock, country & western, and blues.
Red Rocks Dining
Southwest Golden is now home to the Origin Hotel, the official hotel of Red Rocks Amphitheatre, perhaps the most famous outdoor concert venue in the world having hosted everyone from the Beatles to Bruce Springsteen with 160 concerts and events in 2019.
Across the street, the brand new Over Yoder Brewing Company (Golden’s seventh brewery!) has food trucks and craft beer, while next door is Vice Kitchen Wine Whiskey, a perfect pre-Red Rocks dining option for Rocky Mountain Specialties like Elk Tenderloin, Golden Breaded Trout, Salmon BLT, Buffalo Ribeye and Beef and Bison burgers. It’s an easy Uber down the hill to Red Rocks.
Old Capitol Grill & Smokehouse
Old Capitol Grill & Smokehouse is where to go to have history with your pulled pork. The brick building that houses this BBQ emporium was the first capitol building of Colorado territory! Back then it was a frontier saloon. Today, it mixes great pub fare and BBQ.
Try a Barmen Pilsner, a specialty German-style beer made at Coors and only available in Golden and a few other select places. It takes seven minutes to pour this beer, which can only be served in a special pilsner glass. So you may want to order a quick Colorado craft brew first, while you dig into a whole Colorado trout, steaks, and their specialty, smoked meats.
Miner’s Saloon
Right in downtown is a modern-day Miner’s Saloon reminiscent of Golden’s mining days in the late 1800s. With a rustic, cozy interior and a perfect balance of period details and modern comforts, Miners provides an old West saloon feel with a contemporary edge.
They have 24 taps (the most in downtown Golden) and more than 50 beers in bottles and cans, as well as their signature Miners Margarita on tap. Try the cheese or homemade sausage boards, spiced candied bacon (there goes the diet!), wild game chili and salads and sandwiches.
Table Mountain Inn Grill & Cantina
A visit to Table Mountain Inn Grill & Cantina is like taking a trip to the Southwest. The adobe exterior blends with beautiful indoor tile, rugs, lamps and fireplaces to offer a variety of dishes that blend Mexican foods with the tastes of New Mexico and Colorado.
Relax over brunch with the famous Mesa Bloody Mary, dig into a succulent TMI burger with sweet potato fries over lunch, indulge in happy hour or dive into a flavorful dinner with Rocky Mountain trout or fire-roasted chile rellenos.
Golden Diner
The Golden Diner is an old-fashioned, family-owned downtown diner serving breakfast all day with eggs and corn beef hash browns, omelets, chili, pancakes, burgers and sandwiches in a classic diner setting.
International Cuisine in Golden
Nosu
Brandon Bortles and Abejas chef de cuisine, Max Kofoed, (both born in Golden) opened a new ramen eatery called Nosu in late 2019. “Nosu,” is short for “hachinosu,” the Japanese word for “beehive.” Bortles and Kofoed, who previously worked at the acclaimed Cholon Modern Asian in downtown Denver, plan to serve a menu of both traditional and non-traditional ramen bowls, plus gyoza, yakitori and several other small plates, bento boxes and cold noodle dishes.
Ali Baba Grille
For a small town, Golden offers a worldwide array of tastes. The Ali Baba Grille, offers Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fare in a true Arabian Nights setting of carpets, old lamps, and ceiling wall hangings.
Thai Gold
Thai Gold is located in an historic house from 1907 with a full bar and patio and a menu of traditional Thai items ranging from soft shell crab and Thai Jasmine rice to a wide variety of noodle dishes.
The Sherpa House
The Sherpa House recreates a farmhouse from Nepal with menu offerings from India and Nepal that include Yak stew, naan bread cooked in a traditional clay oven, curries and lamb and chicken Daal Bhat. Don’t miss the tremendously popular lunch buffet of a wide range of dishes, which can be taken outdoors to sit by their fountain and beautiful patio setting.
El Dorado
The family-owned El Dorado Mexican Restaurant has wonderful mountain views from their patio and tasty Mexican dishes homemade from scratch. They are a local favorite because the food is excellent and the service is fast. If you love Mexican food, put this establishment on your must-visit list.
If You Go to Golden:
Visit www.visitgolden.com
Planning a trip to Colorado? Head to our Colorado Travel Guide for the inside scoop on where to go, eat and stay in Colorado.
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I usually have dinner at 1. Table Mountain Grill and Cantina · 2. Indulge Bistro and Wine Bar – Golden · 3. Bella Colibri