Exploring a destination’s culinary scene is often what draws visitors to it. Once dubbed “America’s Foodiest Town,” Boulder, Colorado, is no exception. As home to the University of Colorado’s main campus, Boulder restaurants provide something for every taste, style, and budget. The backdrop of the majestic Flatiron Mountains adds to the ambiance of the mouth-watering and diverse delights around the city.
Eat Your Heart Out in These Boulder Restaurants
Over 500 diverse restaurants in this town of 100,000 residents are ready for sampling. Locals and travelers to Boulder, Colorado from the Girls Love Travel group aided in our recommendations. The Visit Boulder Convention and Visitor’s Bureau also features a comprehensive guide that assisted our research for this list.
Historic Boulder Restaurants
Boulder’s history dates back to its inception in 1871, followed by the University’s in 1876. Not all restaurants in Boulder have existed for decades, but fortunately, a few iconic ones have. Adding these classic Boulder institutions to a food tour will not disappoint.
Chautauqua Dining Hall
Planning a meal at this iconic Dining Hall, which debuted in 1898, is an opportunity to take advantage of. Enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner, or weekend brunch from their porch with an incredible view of Chautauqua Park and the Flatirons. It also features a full bar to enhance a meal.
The Sink
A visit to Boulder’s oldest restaurant, established in 1923, is a must-do on any trip. This University Hill student favorite is known for its pizza, burgers, and art-filled walls and ceilings. Diners can add their name to those walls where Robert Redford once worked as a janitor in the 1950s.
Dark Horse Bar & Grill
A landmark since 1975, this popular Boulder restaurant is known for its “world-famous” burgers and wings. They are open all day and evening with an adjacent bar and offer salads, fish and chips, and steak entrees. The real highlight is the top-to-bottom decor of movie props and antiques, which they describe as “mind-boggling.”
Illegal Pete’s
IIlegal Pete’s has been a student and local casual staple for nearly 30 years. The menu comprises of customizable burritos, bowls, salads, and other Mexican-style favorites. There are two locations in Boulder: University Hill (the original) and Pearl Street Mall.
Healthy Restaurants in Boulder
Boulder residents, “Boulderites,” are known for loving healthy and clean eating. That makes it easy to find restaurants in Boulder catering to plant-based, paleo, vegan, and gluten-free lifestyles. These are some options for nourishing your body before or after an adventure.
Zeal
This casual eatery serves “food for enthusiasts” made with fresh and organically sourced ingredients. Enjoy menu items such as Vegan Mac and Cheese, small plates, sandwiches, and acai bowls. They also feature a heated year-round outdoor patio and game night every Wednesday night.
Flower Child
This casual eatery on the edge of the University of Colorado campus offers customizable bowls, wraps, salads, and entrees. Enjoy one of their flavored lemonades, kombucha, or organic wine and beer with your meal. They are a go-to place for vegan, paleo, or gluten-free options.
Boulder Farmers Market
Truly a one-stop shop in this foodie town, the Market features 150 farmers and food artisans, live music, and a food court. Experience great food like a local in its prime outdoor location near a park. It is held seasonally on Wednesday evenings from May to October and Saturday mornings from November to April.
Thrive
Located a few blocks from downtown, Thrive’s menu features raw, gluten-free, vegan, and organic food items. Their extensive superfood smoothies and bowls offer a perfect start for a day of outdoor adventures. We also hear the ambiance inside is decked out with crystals, tarot cards, and books for channeling your destiny while waiting.
Michelin Guide’s Best Restaurants in Boulder
The Michelin Guide, a gold standard in restaurant rankings, chose some of the best restaurants in Boulder for its Colorado Guide. Nine Michelin Guide-recognized Boulder restaurants are included for their cooking excellence and sustainability.
Blackbelly Market
This is the first of Top Chef Season Five champion Hosea Rosenberg’s restaurants in Boulder. It focuses on sustainable, locally sourced foods and has an artisan butcher shop attached. Michelin recognized it with a green star for being “at the forefront of sustainable gastronomy.”
Santo
Rosenberg’s second restaurant is on the Pearl Street Mall, boasting a fantastic view of the epic Boulder Flatirons. The menu features southwestern fare based on cuisine from his hometown of Taos, New Mexico. Michelin noted that Santo offers “satisfying, rustic cooking with Mexican roots.”
Frasca Food and Wine
This Pearl Street restaurant features cuisine from the lesser-known Northern Italian region of Friuli with a Colorado flare. It offers prix fixe and tasting menus featuring seafood and pasta, which can be paired with wines of over 200 varieties. Michelin starred it for outstanding cooking and has won multiple awards for service, making it an ultimate date night.
Bramble and Hare
Just off Pearl Street Mall, Bramble and Hare is a farmhouse kitchen and pub inspired by European restaurants in smaller cities. They offer charcuterie boards and three-course tasting menus, rotating seasonally and featuring farm-to-table ingredients from their farms. Michelin recommended them for good food and awarded them a green star for their sustainable practices.
Boulder Restaurants on TV
Several Boulder restaurants and chefs have gained national television notoriety on shows, including Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Triple D), Cheap Eats, and Cutthroat Kitchen. Bravo’s Top Chef filmed part of Season 15 in Boulder, and Rosenberg and Frasca’s Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson on other seasons of the program.
Foolish Craig’s Cafe
A breakfast staple since 1998, its 21-layer butter rum caramel crepe cake was featured on an episode of Guy Frieri’s “Triple D” Food Network show. Crepes and omelets dominate the breakfast menu, while homemade soups, salads, and sandwiches are lunch staples. Tripadvisor travelers ranked it #12 of 533 restaurants in Boulder.
Zoe Ma Ma
This downtown restaurant offers authentic Chinese noodles and street food made from ingredients not typically found in American Chinese restaurants. Besides their noodle dishes, the potstickers are a favorite and often sell out early in the day. It appeared on an episode of Cooking Channel’s Cheap Eats, Triple D, and makes the Boulder Michelin guide.
West End Tavern
This bar and restaurant is a Pearl Street original known for its smoked barbecue dishes, burgers, daily specials, and bourbon and whiskey collection. The year-round expansive rooftop deck is popular with diners for its Flatiron views. It appeared on Cheap Eats and The Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food.
With the dining scene as vibrant and diverse as Boulder’s, it’s easy to see why it’s considered a foodie destination. Whether you’re looking for a casual meal or a five-star date night location, Boulder has it all. Expect to satisfy those hunger cravings wherever you go in “The People’s Republic of Boulder.”
