Metro Denver’s food scene has never been as vibrant as it is today, something The Denver Post’s food writers and the rest of the staff of The Know understand. That’s why we’re out on the town as much as possible. Each month, we’ll provide you with recommendations about a few of the dishes we tried over the previous weeks. Want to hear about them early? Subscribe to the Stuffed newsletter, where we introduce one of these dishes every Wednesday.
Hop Alley
Hop Alley has been one of Denver’s best restaurants since it opened in 2015, bringing a young vibe as well as modern ingredients and cooking styles to regional Chinese dishes. To keep things fresh, owner Tommy Lee (who also owns Uncle, a ramen shop with two Denver locations) recently expanded his space and added a chef’s counter that has a separate menu and reservation system. On a recent Tuesday and Wednesday (often slow days in the industry), Hop Alley served a special treat: hand-pulled biang biang noodles — a specialty of Xi’an, a city of 13 million people in north-central China — prepared right in front of diners at the counter.
There were three flavors — including the smoked chicken Sichuan mala (pictured) — and the experience was amazing. Chewy, thick and fresh, the noodles were an epiphany, and the sauce clung to them, offering a wallop of flavor in every bite. Hop Alley has hinted that it will bring back biang biang noodle night in the future. If it does, grab a reservation as fast as you can.
3500 Larimer St., Denver; hopalleydenver.com
Alma Fonda Fina
Newly starred Michelin restaurant Alma Fonda Fina is a little smoky, a little loud and a little cramped, but it’s producing some top-notch dishes, like the frijoles puercos and the tacos in heirloom-corn tortillas. But the most stunning menu item was the agave roasted sweet potatoes draped in a broken salsa macha (chiles, peanuts and sesame seeds that have been crushed together to provide flavor and texture) and set into a bed of fennel-whipped ricotta-esque cheese. Sweet, spicy, tingly and crunchy, it was an absolute eye-opener.
2556 15th St., Denver; almalohidenver.com
Tessa Delicatessen
Tessa Delicatessen is truly a neighborhood sandwich shop. Not only does owner Vince Howard live in Denver’s Park Hill with his family, but a few locals were so enamored with his sandwiches that they started a group delivery service during the pandemic — which began four months after Tessa opened — to help it stay in business. One of our favorites is the New York City-style Chopped Cheese, which comes with Angus beef, American cheese, sweet bell peppers, caramelized onion and scallion mayo on a seeded hoagie roll. Rich, steaming hot and cheesy, this beef bomb — and its touch of sweetness — will fill you up and keep you coming back for more.
5724 E. Colfax Ave., Denver; tessadenver.com
Sap Sửa
Sắp Sửa seems to make headlines every week, whether it’s for landing on another top restaurant list — like those in The New York Times, Bon Appetit or 5280 — for its inclusion in the Michelin Guide’s list of recommendations in Colorado, or because of the efforts of owners Ni and Anna Nguyen to confront stereotypes of Asian restaurants. I finally made it there in September with a group of friends — which meant I got to try upward of 10 dishes, ranging broadly in their appeal. Among my favorites: the lip-smacking grilled pork shoulder with lemongrass, tamarind, cucumber and perilla; the creative crispy rice with confit tomato; the surprising shrimp cake with butter and trout roe; and the cross-cultural pork larb tostada with avocado, toasted rice, cabbage, peanuts and herbs. That last one stood out for the play of acid on umami, and for the finger-food fun of eating this classic Vietnamese meat salad in a new way.
2550 E. Colfax Ave., Denver; sapsua.com
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