13 Best Restaurants in Boulder and North Central Colorado, Colorado

Feast your eyes on the intricately carved walls, pillars, and ceiling at this unique teahouse, a gift from Boulder's sister city Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Tajik artisans decorated the building in a traditional style, with ceramic Islamic art and a riot of colorful wood. The menu presents a culinary cross section of the world, with dishes including North African harissa chicken, spicy Indonesian peanut noodles, and Tajik shish kebab.

Located on the boardwalk, this cozy family-run café serves up hearty helpings, as well as advice on local sightseeing. The weekend breakfast buffet includes nearly 50 items—including biscuits and gravy, huevos rancheros casserole with house-made green chile sauce, and a wide selection of scones, pastries, and pies that are baked in-house.

Falling-off-the-bone, melt-in-your-mouth barbecue pork, chicken, and beef draw local and out-of-town attention to this homey café. Munch on peanuts (and toss the shells on the floor) while dining at tables with cowhide-patterned tablecloths set against a backdrop of license plates from across the country.

This farm-to-table restaurant inside the Elizabeth Hotel has a full wine market, so you can select bottles on-site at retail price for your meal. It all adds to the homey yet hip, slightly retro vibe and look—complete with tile floor and wood throughout—that matches well with food that is some of the city's best, including the Wagyu beef burger, bison bourguignon, and elk Wellington with puff pastry.

An Estes Park staple since 1972, this family-run outfit is where the locals go for breakfast. Try a double-cheese omelet, huevos rancheros, or grits before heading into the park in the morning. The owners are happy to pack a lunch for you—just place your order along with breakfast, and it will be ready when you leave. This homey spot also serves lunch and dinner, with specialties such as house-smoked pulled pork, house-made meatballs, and rib eye cut on-site. Expect a wait in summer.

For comfort food in a historic atmosphere, stop by this charming, bustling café with diner counters, some boxy booths, dozens of tables, and an inviting, year-round patio. Operating in its current location since 1933, it serves a wide selection of breakfast food all day, such as omelets, Benedicts, biscuits and gravy, hotcakes, steak and eggs, and burritos, while lunch features delicious sandwiches, soups, salads, and burgers.

Espresso drinkers sip their sustenance here while sitting on leather chairs or at tables. Beyond breakfast, the café serves delicious quiches, salads, and sandwiches at lunch and dinnertime. For dessert, dig into decadent pastries and homemade cakes.

This bohemian-style café two blocks west of the pedestrian mall serves bagels, muffins, pastries, and oatmeal for breakfast, and panini sandwiches and soups for lunch; do try the locally roasted, organic espresso. This is where Boulder's creative community and young tech entrepreneurs rub shoulders, sometimes literally, thanks to the tight seating. There are multiple other branches in town.

As the name hints, the café is set up inside three repurposed train cars, including an old circus train from the late 1800s. It serves locally roasted coffee, frozen yogurt, light food such as homemade mini-doughnuts and sandwiches, and kava, a Pacific Island beverage made from the ground roots of the kava plant. Splurge with a malt or go healthy with a green smoothie with chia seeds.