Denver Restaurant Week is on trend – 10 of them

From the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, Denver’s dining scene has been hot in the press recently, and now residents and visitors will have an opportunity to see what all the buzz is about with substantial savings during Denver Restaurant Week through March 1.

For 10 days, nearly 300 of Denver’s finest restaurants will offer multi-course dinners for the tasty price of $30 per person. Menus and details can be found at DenverRestaurantWeek.com.

With so many choices, how do you decide where to go?  Here are 10 Denver Restaurant Week trends, compiled by the boosters at Visit Denver, to get you thinkin’ eatin’.

1. Gluten-free or vegan? There are 169 restaurants offering gluten-free items and 93 have vegan options.

2. The new kids on the block. It’s always exciting to try a restaurant brand new to Denver Restaurant Week. Here are a few hotspots that should make your list: Cart-Driver, Cebiche Highlands, Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Café, Chowder Room, Dorchester Social Eatery, Timberline Steakhouse DIA, Season’s 52 and Stoic & Genuine.

3. Tried and true. Many of Denver’s top restaurants participate in this culinary event year after year. You can’t go wrong with one of these Denver Restaurant Week staples: Barolo Grill, Bistro Vendome, Broker Restaurant, Carmine’s on Penn, Denver Chophouse & Brewery, Elway’s Cherry Creek, The Fort, The Greenbriar Inn, Luca D’ Italia, Maggiano’s Little Italy, McCormick’s Fish House & Bar, Rioja and The Summit Steakhouse.

4. It’s all about the extras. Many restaurants are offering a bottle of wine, cocktails, beer or a fourth course as part of their restaurant week menu. Here are a few of the restaurants offering something extra: At Southern Hospitality choose a Colorado draft beer, house wine, whiskey or Moscow Mule; enjoy a glass of house wine or house made limoncello at Colore Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria; iFish Japanese Grill & Sushi is offering both a sushi starter and large carafe of hot, cold or house infused sake; share a bottle of wine at Racines and at Limon choose an amuse bouche to share.

5. The spirit of dessert. With most restaurants offering some sort of dessert in their multi-course meal offering, this is not the time to count calories. This year, several restaurants are boozin’ up their desserts with beer, wine or whiskey. Try one of these over-the-top desserts: Modena Wine Café is featuring a selection of alcohol infused ice creams including Left Hand Nitro Stout and a Cosmo Sorbet, the Figgy Pudding Brandy sauce with orange ice cream at Duo, Belgian Chocolate Torte with Housemade Porter Ice Cream at Cheeky Monk Belgian Beer Café and bourbon Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée at Charcoal Restaurant.

6. No shortage of short ribs. Colorado is ranching country, and as you would suspect, beef is what’s for dinner on many Denver Restaurant Week menus. Blackbird, The Berkshire, Coohills, The Dorchester, Spruce Farm and Fish and Spuntino are just a few of the restaurants offering short ribs. Randolph’s Restaurant will feature a buffalo short rib and – not to neglect chicken entirely – Altitude Restaurant is offering a chicken fried short rib.

7. How would you like your mushrooms? Mushrooms are hot in 2015, and some of the tastiest offerings include: Winter Mushroom Ragu from 1515 Restaurant, Crespelle ai Funghi from Panzano, Wild Mushroom Duzelle Arancini from Charcoal Restaurant and Cup of Morel Mushroom Soup from Bent Fork American Grill.
8. There is no shortage of exotic items on Denver Restaurant Week menus. Some of the more memorable ones: Bones is offering Escargot Potstickers, The Nickel will have Squid Ink Cavatelli; Corridor 44 will have Caviar Potato Chips and Coohills will offer Wild Burgundy Snails.

9. There’s something “fishy” happening in Denver. When you realize most fish is shipped by airplanes, then airports become seaports – making Denver one of the largest and busiest “seafood ports” in America and Denver restaurants are offering excellent fish choices during Denver Restaurant Week. For example: Humboldt Farm Fish will be dishing out smoked trout dip with potato chips and sweet onion jam; while Kevin Taylor, Vita and Beatrice & Woodsley will offer their own versions of Colorado Striped Bass with plenty of delicious complementary sides.

10. Some of the restaurants recently featured in articles on Denver in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal that are participating in Denver Restaurant Week include: Rioja, Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen, Bistro Vendome, The Squeaky Bean and Jax Fish House.

See the full list of restaurants and menus at DenverRestaurantWeek.com.