12 JANUARY 15-21, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Cimera RiNo 3330 Brighton Boulevard cimeradenver.com The rooftop of the Source Hotel fi nally has a restaurant with food, vibes and drinks that rival the stunning views. Helmed by Geoff Cox, former executive chef of Hop Alley, Cimera debuted in the fall of 2025, completely transforming the space with bright murals, rich textures and moody lighting. The Pan- Latin menu with a Peruvian focus was created with consulting chef Diego Muñoz, and it’s fi lled with bangers. The raw seafood dishes shine, as do the anticuchos, a variety of Peru- vian coal-fi red skewers. And don’t miss the papa rellena, a potato croquette stuffed with braised beef and served with an emulsion made with rocoto, a chile from the Andes. We also love that Cimera is open for brunch and lunch in addition to dinner, unlike many upscale eateries in town. Duo Restaurant LoHi 2413 West 32nd Avenue duorestaurants.com When Keith Arnold and Stephanie Bonin, founders of one of the city’s fi rst farm-to- table eateries, decided to move on, they entrusted Duo to exactly the right person. Tyler Skrivanek had been the longtime chef at the restaurant when he became owner in 2023, and he’s made the best possible move, keeping things pretty much the same while making thoughtful improvements that maintain its timeless charm. Last year, Duo celebrated twenty years of holding down its spot in LoHi, where trendy restaurants have come and gone while it continues to serve comforting seasonal fare, including some of the best fried chicken in town. Hey Kiddo Berkeley 4337 Tennyson Street hk-oy.com Id Est Hospitality is a powerhouse, op- erating such spots as the state’s only two Michelin-Starred restaurant, the Wolf’s Tailor, and Brutø, which has one star. But we love the ease and excitement of visit- ing the ever-intriguing Hey Kiddo (and its adjoining bar, Oh Yeah), which debuted in 2023 in a third-fl oor space that overlooks the Berkeley neighborhood. This Michelin- recommended eatery offers à la carte selec- tions, but it also features a “Walk With Us” menu option of chef’s picks built around your choice of Korean fried chicken, wagyu beef or pork belly paired with curated sides like kimchi, chicken liver mousse, chili crunch cucumbers and red miso ice cream. A glob- ally inspired wine and spirits list — plus oyster and caviar offerings — add even more depth to Hey Kiddo, which fully lives up to its mission to be “good and fun.” Kawa Ni LoHi 1900 West 32nd Avenue kawanidenver.com In 2023, restaurateur Bill Taibe brought his vibrant Japanese izakaya, founded in Westport, Connecticut, to a former fi re station that had been converted into apart- ments in Denver, and it has been a thriving hotspot ever since. The high-energy atmosphere is matched only by the highly addic- tive bites, which include the aptly named Addic- tive Cabbage, cold sesame noodles in a punchy peanut sauce, fried onigiri served in a red curry sauce, and kung pao karaage (try the curry version served with a creamy coconut sauce). In early 2025, former Frui- tion executive chef Jarred Russell landed in Kawa Ni’s kitchen, raising this LoHi spot even higher. Molotov Kitschen City Park 3333 East Colfax Avenue molotovdenver.com While we still miss chef Bo Porytko’s long-gone Rebel Restaurant and the more recently closed Misfi t Snack Bar, we love digging into whatever he’s cooking at Molotov, which he opened in 2023 as a gushing love note to his Ukrainian heritage and Eastern European fare. The tiny dining room is packed with personality, including a cuckoo clock collection, and the ever-changing menu manages to make even the unfamiliar feel like comfort food, from smoked trout dip and short rib borscht to rabbit in a clay pot and pumpkin blintz. Pair your meal with a creative house cocktail or an infused frozen vodka shot, and you’ll be enjoying a moment only Molotov can deliver. Pig and Tiger Five Points 2200 California Street pigandtiger.com A friendship led to the launch of the origi- nal Pig and Tiger inside Avanti’s Boulder location in 2020, which may explain why the brick-and-mortar iteration that debuted in Five Points in August has so much heart. Tai- wanese American chef Darren Chang (born in the year of the pig) met Top Chef alum Travis Masar (born in the year of the tiger), while working in Los Angeles. Masar’s Colorado roots led them back to the Centennial State, and now Denver is lucky have easy access to this duo’s talents. The menu is fi lled with personal touches, like the salted plum spritz named for May Mei Chang’s mother, and the food is as punchy is it is thoughtful, including the star: double-fried Taiwanese fried chicken sprinkled with the restaurant’s signature spice mix, drizzled with orange honey and served with luscious chicken fat rice. Potager Capitol Hill 1109 Ogden Street potagerrestaurant.com Executive chef Paul Warthen and his wife, Eileen, took over ownership of farm- to-table OG Potager in 2019 from longtime owner/chef Teri Rippeto, but their shared mission to serve a superbly prepared menu built around carefully sourced ingredients and paired with a precisely curated wine list has not wavered. The menu at this spot, which will celebrate 29 years in business in 2026, changes seasonally, with specials rotating more often than that depending on what’s fresh and intriguing to the kitchen team. Classic hospitality and a reverence for the simple pleasures in life are all the more reason to visit this classic Capitol Hill eatery for the fi rst time, or the hundredth. Sap Sua City Park 2550 East Colfax Avenue sapsua.com Since its debut in 2023, Sap Sua has carved out a distinct place in Denver’s food scene with its non-traditional take on Vietnamese cuisine. The Colfax staple has a knack for transforming deceptively simple dishes like trÐng và trÐng (a humble pairing of soft-scrambled eggs and trout roe over rice) or tàu hÐ ky cuÐn tôm (a delicate shrimp cake) into some of the most memorable bites in the metro area. To the delight of its devoted following, the restaurant recently revived its Saturday morning bakery program after a two-year hiatus, with tasty treats like oxtail hand pies, pecan monkey bread and apple fritters. Som Dee Thai Kitchen & Bar City Park West 1598 East 17th Avenue somdeethaikitchen.com There’s no shortage of Thai restaurants in the metro area, even in the neighborhood surrounding Som Dee, but it stands out for its dine-in experience. Orrapan Botthaisong moved to Denver from Thailand a decade ago with little money and little knowledge of the English language. Now, she’s the owner of the more casual La Mai Thai in Edgewater as well as this newer venture, which opened in late 2024 and is named to honor her father. Bot- thaisong put a lot of care into designing a special occasion-worthy spot complete with light fi xtures from Thailand, cozy booths and an expansive bar. Even familiar dishes like green curry and pad Thai deliver a satisfying experi- ence, but you’ll be well rewarded if you order less common options, like the pineapple duck curry that was recently added to the menu. Spuntino LoHi 2639 West 32nd Avenue spuntinodenver.com “The heart of Italy possessed by the spirit of India” is how a server at Spuntino re- cently described this downright delightful Highland eatery. Open since 2011, it was purchased by husband-and-wife duo Elliot Strathmann and Cindhura Reddy in 2014. He orchestrates the front-of-house — and has an impressive knowledge and collection of amaros — while she leads the kitchen, imbuing notes from her Indian heritage to small plates, pastas and larger entrees, all served in a charming atmosphere driven by old-school hospitality. This place has loads of neighborhood regulars; if you’re not one yet, it’s highly likely you’ll want to become one after visiting. Xiquita Restaurante y Bar North Capitol Hill 500 East 19th Avenue xiquita.co Chefs Erasmo Casiano and Rene Gon- zalez Mendez opened Xiquita in 2024 and have since helped usher in an undeniable appreciation of Mexican fine dining in Denver. Their world-class standards and hyper focus on traditional nixtamalization for the eatery’s masa plates have earned them numerous local and national culinary- industry accolades, including Xiquita being named Westword’s Best New Restaurant in 2025. The duck carnitas taco has reached legendary status, the happy hour is killer, Pasta dishes shine at Marigold in Lyons. MOLLY MARTIN Cafe continued from page 11
