New Denver Cheap Eats You Should Try in 2024

Downtown Denver gets dismissed a lot. Too touristy, too expensive, not enough soul — I've heard it all, and some of it is fair. But there's more going on down here than the usual 16th Street Mall skepticism gives it credit for, and a few spots have surprised me enough to come back more than once. This list is focused on what I'd actually recommend if someone asked me where to eat downtown without overthinking it or spending $80 a head.

Sam's No. 3

This place has been around since 1927, which is either a selling point or a red flag depending on your perspective. It's neither — it's just a solid, no-drama diner that does exactly what it says it does. The green chile is the move here. It's got some heat, real pork, and it goes on basically everything, which is the correct way to approach it. Don't come here looking for an experience. Come here looking for breakfast or a late lunch when you need something real and don't want to spend much. It's on Curtis Street, easy to find, and won't empty your wallet.

3 Margaritas Downtown Cocina Mexicana

I walked past this one on the 16th Street Mall probably fifteen times before I actually went in, which was a mistake on my part. It's a Mexican spot that leans into the classics — enchiladas, fajitas, big margaritas — and it does them well enough that I didn't feel the need to overthink the menu. The room is lively without being loud to the point of frustration. If you're with a group and someone wants a margarita before 3pm, this is the path of least resistance and it's a reasonable one.

Maggiano's Little Italy

Yes, it's a chain. No, that doesn't automatically make it bad. Maggiano's at the Pavilions on 16th Street has been doing Italian-American comfort food for a long time, and the portions are genuinely large enough that splitting dishes makes sense. The chicken parmesan holds up. So does the pasta. I'm not here to tell you it's some hidden discovery — it's not — but if you've got out-of-town family and you need a reliable, crowd-friendly dinner downtown, this works without a lot of stress. Easier to get a table than a lot of the higher-end spots nearby.

Corinne Denver

Corinne is inside the Le Meridien hotel on California Street, which usually means it skews toward hotel-safe food and hotel-level pricing. Some of that is true on the price side. But the food is actually good — the kind of brunch spot that earns its weekend wait rather than just coasting on a nice room. The breakfast sandwich and the avocado toast are both better than they have any right to be in a hotel restaurant, and the space is bright without feeling sterile. My wife and I went on a Sunday morning and waited about 20 minutes, which felt worth it. It's not a cheap eat, but for what you get, the $$ price range is reasonable.

Tavernetta

Tavernetta sits at the end of the 16th Street Mall near Union Station, and it's one of the better Italian restaurants in the city — not just downtown. The pasta is made in-house, and you can tell. The cacio e pepe and the tagliatelle are both worth ordering. It's a $$$-range spot, so it's not a budget dinner, but it's also not the kind of place where you feel like you're paying for the address. The room is good-looking without being self-conscious about it, and the service is attentive without being over-managed. Reservations are worth making, especially on weekends.

Panzano

Another higher-end Italian spot, and yes, downtown Denver has a lot of Italian restaurants — which was completely wrong of it, except that some of them are actually excellent. Panzano on 17th Street is one of those. It's been around long enough to know what it is, and what it is is a reliable upscale dinner with strong pasta and a decent wine list. The butternut squash ravioli is the kind of dish you order and then spend the rest of the meal thinking about. More business-dinner energy than date-night, but it works for both.

Water Grill Denver

The name suggests seafood, and it delivers on that — which is somewhat unusual for a landlocked city. The fish is fresh, the oysters are worth getting, and the space on Market Street has a dim, calm vibe that makes it good for a dinner where you want to actually have a conversation. The price marker says $, which I'd take with a grain of salt — it's not an expensive restaurant, but it's also not a dive. Go for the happy hour if you want to keep costs down.

The Hampton Social

The Hampton Social on 16th Street over in the Platte area has a rooftop and a lakeside view situation that makes it a legitimate warm-weather destination. The food runs toward American coastal — lobster rolls, crab dip, that kind of thing — and it's solid without being remarkable. The drinks are the real draw, and the setting does a lot of the work. It's a good spot for a happy hour when the weather cooperates, less interesting when you're sitting inside.

Ajax Downtown

Ajax is a nicer seafood and steak spot on the 16th Street Mall with a bar program that's actually worth paying attention to. The oysters show up again here, and they're good. The menu isn't cheap, but the lunch service is more accessible than dinner if you want to try it without committing to a full evening spend. The space has an older, warmer feel — wood, leather, the kind of room that's been there a while and isn't trying to convince you it's new.

Stout Street Social

Stout Street Social sits on — you guessed it — Stout Street, and it functions as a solid bar-forward American spot in a part of downtown that can feel a little in-between. The burger is good. The wings are good. It's the kind of place you end up at when you're nearby and hungry and not in the mood to negotiate with a complicated menu. Weeknight crowds are manageable, and the bar is stocked well enough that it's worth staying for a drink after you eat.

Downtown Denver has its limitations — parking on the weekends is genuinely annoying around the Mall, and some blocks still feel like they haven't figured out what they want to be. But the restaurants have gotten better, and you don't have to spend $100 a person to find something worth eating. Sam's No. 3 for a quick, cheap meal. Tavernetta or Panzano when you want to do it right. The rest fall somewhere in between, and most of them are worth the detour.