Oprah May or May Not Dine at These Local Restaurants This Weekend

Maybe you’ve heard: Oprah Winfrey is coming to Denver with her “Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour” on March 7. And while you could ugly cry while learning how to live your best life with 15,000 fellow fans at the Pepsi Center, wouldn’t it be even more squeal-inducing to eat in the same restaurant with Lady O herself?

That’s what happened to a lucky group of diners at Miami’s Lil Greenhouse Grill when Oprah and BFF Gayle King paid a surprise visit during the first stop of the cross-country arena tour. (Yes, there were the expected shrieks and tears.) The tour is sponsored by WW (Weight Watchers: Reimagined), and they’ve rounded up a handful of restaurants with WW Favorites menu items that align with the weight-loss program’s points system in each city Oprah will hit.

The WW Favorites-approved restaurants for Denver are: Sushi Den, SAME Cafe, Cherry Cricket, Olive & Finch, Avanti Food & Beverage, Comal Heritage Food Incubator, and True Food Kitchen. Oprah seems to be gracing one of each city’s chosen restaurants with her presence ahead of each speaking engagement, so your chances of seeing her at one of these six spots are better than, say, being given a free car at the Pepsi Center event.

“We’re ecstatic! We love her!” gushes Heidi Ziepprecht, general manager of the Cherry Cricket in Cherry Creek. “We were really quite thrilled. Sam (GM of the Ballpark location) and I have been fighting over which location she’ll come to…I was just short of doing cartwheels in the restaurant.”

Workers at pay-what-you-can SAME Cafe are similarly excited at the prospect of Oprah stopping in.

“Our staff, volunteers, and guests would be thrilled to welcome Oprah into our cafe. They would love to tell her how inspiring she is to them for all the good she does for so many people and for her wonderful voice that speaks to the value of everyone,” says Letisha Steele, operations officer for the cafe.

Here is the full list of WW Favorites menu selections for Denver so you, too, can eat like Oprah. (And maybe stake out the restaurants this weekend for a not-so-chance encounter with her royal O-ness.)

Sushi Den: Sashimi lunch with two pieces of tuna, yellowtail, salmon, amberjack, and octopus; miso black cod

SAME Café: Ancient grain, kale, roasted veggies, and garbanzo bean bowl

Cherry Cricket: Veggie green chile and the Nice Little Salad

Olive & Finch: Sheaney toast with goat cheese basil pesto, smashed avocado and roasted tomatoes; Mama Phams salad

Avanti Food & Beverage: Charred kale quinoa bowl (Street Feud); Lauren’s Lettuces (Bistro Georgette); Forager salad (Brava! Pizzeria); Steak N’ Rice (Meta Asian Kitchen); La Original (Quiero Arepas); Peri Peri chicken bowl with greens (The Rotary)

Comal Heritage Food Incubator: Tinga roja with shredded chicken in red chile sauce served with Mexican rice, beans, and homemade tortillas

True Food Kitchen: Cauliflower polenta with vegetables