I got my first Top of the Town assignment in 2010. A fresh college graduate, recent Colorado transplant, and overeager 5280 intern, I was to be responsible for choosing the very best eyebrow wax in the city. Naturally, I panicked. Then, I calmed down and started doing what journalists do: research. I asked well-groomed friends and colleagues where they went. I read up on the latest industry trends and innovations. I scanned Yelp reviews. With my search narrowed, I booked a couple of appointments. I only momentarily freaked out when a chatty esthetician asked what I did for work. (Whenever possible, we do our reporting anonymously to get a true experience.)

In the 15 years since, I’ve gotten better at my cover stories: I’ve removed my wedding ring to pose as a bride-to-be trying on gowns, lied about being a vegan, pretended to be an aspiring yoga instructor to justify asking way too many questions post-class, and invented an infant niece to shop for. Although I still feel the weight of my selections every year, the anxiety no longer overwhelms the sheer fun of going out and falling in love with awesome spots run by caring, hard-working locals. I hope you find something new to try among this year’s 30 editors’ choice selections and all 82 readers’ choice winners—and get as much joy out of your experience as we did. —Jessica LaRusso 

5280 July 2025
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Celebrate our winners and the best stuff in and around Denver at our annual Top of the Town event, taking place July 17 at Cherry Creek North this year. Find tickets and more information here. 

Culture & Nightlife

Top Place to See a Show (That’s Not Red Rocks): The Bluebird Theater

On a Tuesday night in May, New Jersey emo band Phoneboy directed some 500 fans to drop to a crouch, then spring to their feet, giving the 110-year-old Bluebird Theater the feel of a rock ’n’ roll aerobics class. The onetime movie house with the cursive, blue-neon marquee visible for blocks along East Colfax Avenue is adaptable that way: In 2018, 16-year-old Billie Eilish and her songwriting brother, Finneas, performed a new song to complete silence; in 2009, Adele covered Patsy Cline and Sam Cooke to a crowd that was audibly losing their minds.

At the Bluebird, which reopened for live music 31 years ago and has played host to Oasis, the White Stripes, and Vampire Weekend, every seat in the box-shaped main room is a good one, with easy access to the rear bar. This month, the Bluebird flexes its signature malleability by welcoming country legend Ray Wylie Hubbard (July 10), Abba Disco Night (July 12), and Australian soul band Surprise Chef (July 18). —Steve Knopper

Read More: 16 of the Best Venues for Live Music in Denver

Top Place To Watch the Game: Joe Willy’s

It might be named for a former New York signal caller, but Joe Willy’s on Broadway is all Denver. The new sports bar, which opened last summer, boasts a “Colorado-first” TV schedule, meaning the Mile High City’s big four franchises and local universities take precedence among its 12 flat-screens and main audio (which also plays in the restrooms, so you’ll never miss a down). Yes, there are framed Joe Namath jerseys, but one of them hangs beside the threads of a more locally esteemed icon: Peyton Manning.

The latest venture by Ryan Fleming and his cousin Matt Fleming—the latter has been associated with a Hall of Fame–caliber roster of Colorado sports bars, including Spanky’s Roadhouse (University), Reivers Bar & Grill (Wash Park), Wazoo’s (LoDo), and Giggling Grizzly (LoDo)—Joe Willy’s feels just divey enough, with an unassuming black awning along bustling South Broadway. But dip inside and the neighborhood sports bar swallows you whole. Flat-screens wallpaper the dark walls, and pennants, jerseys, magazine covers, and other sports memorabilia decorate the mahogany boards in between (see if you can spot a framed black-and-white photo of Matt’s mom receiving a private lesson from golf legend Jack Nicklaus). An L-shaped bartop and a handful of high-tops, low-tops, and booths provide enough seating for about 100 in the cozy confines, and new this summer, look out for a covered patio with more TVs (and, yes, audio too). —Maren Horjus

Top Artist: Juan Fuentes

Photo courtesy of Juan Fuentes

Juan Fuentes gained a following in his 20s, when he began sharing black-and-white photos of the city and its people on his Instagram account, @olddenver. In recent years, Fuentes, 34, has turned the camera around, focusing on his family’s immigration story.

Photo courtesy of Juan Fuentes

Born in Mexico, Fuentes stood out during a 2022 Denver Art Museum exhibition of Latin American artists for his visuals of the immigrant experience, including a Google Street View screenshot of an older man walking. “After Google Earth came out, I’d use it to travel virtually,” he says. “I was scrolling through the neighborhood near my grandma’s house in Chihuahua, and I recognized my uncle immediately.”

Fuentes’ work has appeared in eight exhibitions since 2023, across Colorado and in Texas, California, and Mexico. His next show will open in October at Breckenridge’s Old Masonic Hall and will document immigrants who live in Summit County. He says his work feels more urgent in 2025, as the federal government cracks down on immigrants nationwide. “We’re portrayed as criminals or victims or political pawns,” he says, “but we all have dreams, goals, and families. I’m trying to show the nuance of our everyday lives.” —Rose Cahalan

Top Kid-Focused Entertainment: Kids Wonder

Photo courtesy of Kid Wonder

In 2016, Cameron Swen got a homework assignment. Tasked with creating a mock business plan while pursuing his MBA, the father of four designed an indoor play space where kids could simultaneously get their zoomies out and learn social-emotional skills. Swen and his wife, Kristi, a former teacher, thought the project showed promise, and the couple self-funded Centennial’s Kids Wonder three years later.

Unlike playgrounds designed to simply tucker tots out, the Swens built an entire miniature city in the 13,000-square-foot space, complete with a post office, grocery store, and library. There, little ones are encouraged to interact, communicate, and flex their imaginations. (There are spots that’ll prepare your kiddos for a no-fuss bedtime, though: Crawling babies can safely tumble in the padded infant area, and older children can careen around in the bounce house room. Parents can unwind with beer or wine served from the on-site cafe.) The Swens are also committed to making Kids Wonder inclusive to children of all abilities. Afternoons are kept quiet for those with sensory needs, the space is wheelchair accessible, and the owners invite pediatric physical therapists to use the facility for their therapy sessions. “We don’t see ourselves as just a transactional place,” Kristi says. “If kids are enjoying themselves and parents are engaged, then everyone in our society benefits.” —Barbara O’Neil

Read More: 10 of the Best Indoor Playgrounds In and Around Denver

Top Distillery: Laws Whiskey House

Photo by Connor Stehr, courtesy of Laws Whiskey House

“Whiskey is my religion” sounds like the slogan on a cheesy T-shirt your uncle bought on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. But Laws Whiskey House’s new 4,000-square-foot Whiskey Sanctuary—attached to its Overland distillery—is anything but tacky.

Photo by Connor Stehr/Courtesy of Laws Whiskey House

Public tours ($25 per person) begin in the Whiskey Church, where pilgrims sit on pews carved by founder Alan Laws. Peering at distilling equipment through two-story Gothic windows, visitors are indoctrinated with Laws’ creation story (a Wall Street financier found a higher calling in 2011) and reverence for Colorado ingredients. After a walk through the production facility, commune over a guided tasting.

A motto Laws has tattooed on his arm fills the curved wall of the intimate bar: “There Are No Shortcuts.” It applies to the distillery’s whiskeys, including Laws Cask Strength Four Grain Bourbon, recognized as the world’s best small-batch bourbon at the 2024 World Whiskies Awards. But it also feels appropriate for the sanctuary, which took seven years to construct.

Blessedly, worshippers in search of speedier salvation—expertly mixed drinks such as a whiskey sour or boulevardier—can follow the elegant spiral staircase to the lounge, where velvet upholstery and mountain views await. —JL

Read More: 15 of the Best Denver Distilleries

Top Patio: Number 38

Photo by Aaron Colussi

Spencer Fronk knows that sometimes, the best part of living in Denver is leaving it. “So many people want to experience the mountains and have that weekend escape,” says the co-founder of RiNo’s five-year-old Number 38. For those who can’t shed the city on Saturday and Sunday, Fronk and his partners set out to re-create the feeling of boundless space in an urban setting by designing the largest patio in Denver, with 20,000 square feet that provide unobstructed mountain views to the west.

Of course, Number 38 also offers luxuries the great outdoors can’t match, including a stage and massive LED wall—which is usually showing Nuggets, Avalanche, or Broncos games with the sound on. During commercials, expect DJs to keep morale high while emcees toss out T-shirts and freebies. There are two bars, plus an auxiliary service bar when things get busy, but even if you do have to queue up for a local lager, there’s not a single inch of Number 38 that doesn’t offer a view of a screen. And should spectating spark your own competitive drive? You can drop in and play on one of the two outdoor beach volleyball courts when they’re free. —Jessica Giles

Top New Hotel: Populus

Photo courtesy of Steve Hall

Boundary-pushing design is divisive. That’s certainly true in the case of Populus, the ultramodern, nature-inspired downtown hotel that opened this past October.

Photo courtesy of Steve Hall

The building’s striking white facade, studded with teardrop-shaped windows, is designed to mimic the scarred trunk of an aspen—but some Denverites think it looks more like a giant cheese grater. Others have compared it favorably to the work of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, and Time, which named the hotel to its 2025 list of the best places to stay worldwide, gushed that Populus “embodies Colorado’s iconic tree inside and out.”

The bold choices extend to the woodland sounds that play in the elevators (“Hearing a bellowing moose without explanation was admittedly a little alarming at first,” noted a Vogue reviewer) and the hotel’s carbon-offset program, which pledges to plant a tree for every night of your stay. That program was widely lauded by the media, until a U.S. Forest Service survey found that 80 percent of spruce seedlings planted the first year didn’t survive. (The hotel vowed to try again.)

Love it or hate it, one thing is clear: Populus has made a stir, and in a city that doesn’t typically make national headlines for its architecture and design, that’s a good thing. —RC

Dining

Top Burger: A5 Steakhouse

Photo by Sarah Banks

At its core, the West Coast–style burger is a humble offering: a thin, chargrilled patty topped with a tangy sauce and served on a sesame seed bun. The success of the dish depends on the flavor of the beef—something you’d expect a steak house to nail, and A5 in LoDo doesn’t disappoint.

Chef Max MacKissock’s six-ounce patty is a blend of Japanese and American wagyu bavette, picanha, and striploin perfectly charred over a wood grill. The house-made milk bread bun, dotted with black sesame seeds, is expertly toasted to retain squishiness, soak up juices, and audibly crunch with each bite. (Added bonus: It sits perfectly flush with the patty, which is oh-so-satisfying.) A concoction of mayo, Dijon mustard, white vinegar, pickles, onion, and Louisiana hot sauce delivers a sharp dose of tang, while a soft German butterkäse melts across the patty like American cheese but isn’t processed. As you might expect, excellence doesn’t come cheap ($22), but at least it comes cheaper ($15) during happy hour. —Perry Santanachote

Top Dessert: Baumé

Photo by Joni Schrantz, courtesy of Baumé

In social media vernacular, the term “sweet treat” has come to encompass everything from an iced coffee to a stale Hershey’s Kiss from the office bowl. To that, we say: Dream bigger, Denver. If you’re going to spoil yourself, do it in style at Union Station’s new dessert and Champagne bar, Baumé.

Occupying the raised center platform of the recently refreshed LoDo hub from 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, it’s a perfect post-dinner spot to see and be seen nibbling exquisitely composed fruit tarts, cheesecake, and layered gâteaux from Michelin-starred pastry chef Kevin McCormick. Pairing notes (“goes well with chocolate”) on the concise list of bubbly options will help you choose what’s in your flute, while live piano music mingles with the chatter of Terminal Bar patrons below.

Just passing through? Snag a pistachio, peanut butter, or chocolate cookie from the retail counter, which opens at noon daily. The decadent $6 pucks come generously and gorgeously topped; we love the pistachio’s white chocolate hunks, dollops of raspberry jam, and hot pink and green nut crumble. But before you take a bite, be sure to snap a photo of your dessert nestled in Baumé’s elegant to-go box (white marble, gold foil trim) and tag it: #sweettreat. —JL

Top Fried Chicken: Blazing Chicken Shack II

Ordering fried chicken requires a leap of faith. You’ve gotta trust the restaurant—that it’s going to give you the crackly-crusted bird that tastes of summer Sundays and passed-down secrets, not the soggy, woeful legs and wings flying out of too many kitchens. At Park Hill’s eight-year-old Blazing Chicken Shack II—helmed by married owners Leola Gant and Rhonda Banks—the Southern-style fried chicken is the gospel truth. The crispy, salty, glistening bird is flavored down to the last crumb, the meat so juicy it’s practically dripping on first bite.

These ladies grew up eating soul food in the Midwest, where their mothers and grandmothers filled their childhoods with collard greens and fried fowl. This lifelong education gives them the know-how to dash the batter with extra seasonings (which ones, exactly, they won’t say) and to lacquer the pieces with buttermilk and yellow mustard to lock in the juices. Finally, they know that each and every piece must be fried to order, which takes time and inspires more than a little agony while you count down the minutes, the aromas from the fryer permeating the cozy space. The chicken is worth the wait, and so are the sides: You get two with your order, and though all are great, the collards (just like the main course) are the best in town. —Allyson Reedy

Top Steakhouse: Carne

Photo by Sarah Banks

As the founder of Super Mega Bien and Work & Class, both in RiNo, and culinary partner of Casa Bonita, Dana Rodriguez is familiar with unique dining concepts. Still, Rodriguez felt Denver was missing a specific kind of eatery: a welcoming steak house that focuses more on culturally diverse dishes than dress codes and dollar signs. That’s why she opened Carne in RiNo last July. “A lot of steak houses feel overly masculine,” Rodriguez says. “I don’t want to leave work and feel like I need to dress up to go to dinner.” At Carne, you won’t find white tablecloths and cigars, but instead boho-inspired interior design (including murals painted by local multimedia artist A.L. Grime), fruity cocktails, and a help-yourself wine wall.

But it’s Rodriguez’s commitment to global fare that makes Carne stand out. The dry-rubbed tri-tip is prepared Argentinian-style, the grilled sirloin Brazilian. That being said, our favorite dish might be the Colorado lamb lollipops, which are coated with a secret umami rub, grilled to order, and served with au poivre sauce on the side. “I want people to come and feel like they’re eating at my house,” Rodriguez says. “It’s unpretentious comfort food that makes you feel good.” —BO

Top Coffee Shop: Coffee Sarap

Photo by Sarah Banks

Denver has no shortage of coffeeshops serving Americanos and breakfast burritos, which is why Coffee Sarap is such a welcome addition to our flourishing cafe scene. The six-month-old RiNo spot offers something entirely new for the metro area, with its Filipino-inspired menu highlighting a number of Southeast Asian ingredients, including pandan (the plant imparts a vanillalike flavor), ube (purple yam), and calamansi (a citrus fruit) in lattes, cold brews, and lemonades. Forgoing caffeine? The Mestiza—in the Philippines, the term refers to someone of mixed Filipino and foreign heritage—is a dairy-free Filipino horchata flavored with cinnamon and vanilla.

Must-try pastries include the sylvannas—cashew-meringue cookies sandwiching sweet buttercream—and a Filipino bread called pandesal. Burritos, like the beef tapa, are made for the cafe by Paborito, a local Filipino barbecue ghost kitchen. If the options sound overwhelming, the staff behind the counter are happy to help, explaining ingredients and sharing their favorites. Such hospitality is exactly what owners and friends Chelsey Solemsaas and Hannah Cambronero envisioned when they started Sarap as a pop-up back in 2022: an approachable venue to share their culture and heritage. —Daliah Singer

Top Vegan/Vegetarian: The Corner Beet

Photo courtesy of the Roots Collective

Well before vegan food was trending on social media, there was the Corner Beet, sitting quietly on Ogden Street in Capitol Hill. Originally started as a cold-pressed juice and coffee spot, the sunlit restaurant has since expanded to serve a mostly from-scratch menu at breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch. Dishes like toast topped with beet butter, an egg-and-mushroom breakfast sandwich, and Thai peanut salad are just as enticing to vegans and vegetarians as to those without any dietary restrictions.

But the real reason the Corner Beet has managed to stay relevant for more than a decade is the community it’s built: open mics on Mondays, a monthly stand-up comedy show, vendor markets, and tarot readings on the regular. The restaurant also anchors the Roots Collective, a quartet of wellness-focused businesses on the same block that most recently saw the addition of a sauna and cold plunge via Garden Sauna. The Corner Beet team gets that a healthy lifestyle may include buying a superfood latte, but it’s really about where and how you spend your time. —DS

Read More: 14 of Denver’s Best Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants

Top Vietnamese: Dân Dã

Dân Dã has only been around for a year, but its history stretches back far longer than that. Sisters An and Thao Nguyen based much of their menu around their mother’s recipes; Ha Pham opened the long-standing, but now-shuttered, New Saigon in 1987. (An co-owned and was executive chef at Savory Vietnam for nearly five years, and another sister, Thoa, owns Bánh and Butter Bakery Café next door to Dân Dã.) Family and tradition flavor every dish at the casual, bustling eatery on East Colfax Avenue, whether you order bone-in catfish fillets slow-simmered in a clay pot or the spicy lemongrass beef shank soup.

But that’s not to say the Nguyens haven’t put their own spin on things. Unique in Denver, the three-tiered spring roll towers are beautiful feasts that arrive at the table bursting with your choice of proteins, fresh herbs, rice noodles, and all the fixings. No matter your order, you’re in good hands as the servers—often An’s and Thao’s husbands—will helpfully walk you through the extensive menu. But really, you can’t make a wrong choice, especially if you pair your pick with a lychee limeade or Vietnamese coffee. —DS

Read More: Dân Dã Successfully Ties the Comforts of the Past to the Present

Top Chef: Johnny Curiel

Raised in Jalisco, Mexico, Johnny Curiel visited all of Mexico’s 31 states, gleaning knowledge from each region’s best chefs and rustic food producers. So though many were surprised when Alma Fonda Fina, Curiel’s first solo effort, received a Michelin star less than a year after it opened in December 2023, the recognition shouldn’t have come as a shock. It was the culmination of a lifetime focused on bringing the variety and complexity of authentic Mexican food to a wider audience: Curiel’s camote asado, a soft-roasted sweet potato served with broken salsa macha and fennel-imbued whipped requesón, tastes like a Mexico most Coloradans didn’t know existed and has become a defining dish in the Mile High City’s canon.

Since debuting Alma, Curiel has quickly built a small empire, adding Mezcaleria Alma, Boulder’s Cozobi Fonda Fina, and Alteño to the family. The menus at each are so filled with uncommon (in the United States, anyway) ingredients and techniques that you may feel the need to keep a search screen open on your smartphone while ordering. But with his flurry of openings and apparent ability to be in four restaurants at once, Curiel won’t rest until his customers no longer need translations and that requesón becomes as familiar as its Italian counterpart, ricotta. Alma means soul in Spanish—and that, at least, needs no explanation. Curiel’s food says it all. —Mark Antonation

Top Mexican: Luchador Taco & More

Photo by Sarah Banks

The name doesn’t lie. At chef Zurisadai Resendiz’s shoebox-size Whittier cantina, expect more punch, more personality, and definitely more than tacos. In fact, there’s such a riot of flavors and ingredients happening here—gathered from the chef’s experiences growing up in Mexico City, leading the kitchens at Cattivella and Shanahan’s Steakhouse, operating a food truck, and traveling with his wife in her home country of Peru—that you may be tempted to skip the tacos altogether. But do so and you’ll miss out on achingly tender lengua, fanciful pulpo (octopus) al pastor, and unapologetic cochinita pibil—slow-braised pork with so much Yucatecan tang and fire that it all but spills out onto the sidewalk outside.

There’s also serious cooking going on with Luchador’s large plates. Resendiz blends a dizzying array of spices and ingredients into the duo of moles (a green and red tag-team of pipian verde and pasilla adobo) on his chicken enmoladas, and he pours his soul into a surprising Old World dish of crispy polenta mounded with mushrooms and touched with the New World flavors of cilantro and pepitas.

Yes, Luchador is a love letter to the Distrito Federal, but don’t miss a Mexican’s take on Peruvian causa: velvety whipped potatoes that Resendiz tops with shrimp ceviche, avocado, chile morita aïoli, and ají amarillo. No matter what you choose, every bite is infused with Resendiz’s masterful mix of bold and subtle, a stunning combo that hits hard—like an elbow drop from the top rope. —MA

Read More: Luchador Taco & More Brings Mexican Street Eats to Whittier

Top Chinese: NBX Asian Cuisine

Things you don’t expect at American Chinese restaurants: a small menu, a complimentary small bite before your meal, and a chef who visits each table. These are all part of the experience at Lone Tree’s NBX, where the Cao family offers warm hospitality to match delicious steamers of dumplings, platters of noodles, and simmering clay pots. Your evening could start with a free dish of pickled green beans or delicate sesame-laden crackers presented by the chef as he reviews the menu—kept tight to showcase the slow braises and subtle sauces of his home region of Shandong and the bolder, spicier plates from Sichuan that are also a focus here.

Start with plum-size steamed or fried buns or the Chinese hamburger, which is akin to a fresh-baked pita stuffed with spiced beef or pork. Liangpi, chilled wheat noodles topped with crisp, julienned vegetables and spicy sesame sauce, is a great follow-up before diving into an entrée of bone-in Shandong chicken in a lush and umami-rich brown sauce, fish with pickled cabbage, or whole braised lamb leg. —MA

Read More: 20 of Denver’s Best Chinese Restaurants

Top New Restaurant: Osteria Alberico

Photo by Connor Stehr, courtesy of Osteria Alberico

Tucked in an Englewood shopping center, Osteria Alberico feels like a surprise. It shouldn’t. A new addition to Frasca Hospitality Group (which includes Tavernetta, Sunday Vinyl, and Pizzeria Alberico), Osteria Alberico specializes in regional Italian cooking from chef de cuisine Russell Stippich, a Frasca alum who went on to helm the Nickel, the Populist, and Bar Dough (among others) before returning to the fold.

Alberico doesn’t aspire to the intricately designed and plated bites that made Frasca famous; rather, the dishes appear minimally manipulated. The handmade pastas—wriggly mafaldine in a hearty tomato-based sauce, thick cassarecce twists carrying typical Calabrian heat—look like Italy on a plate, with flavors just as evocative. Starters and salads come alive with fresh local produce (like Western Slope apples), and entrées, whether a rustic roast chicken or trickier seafood preparations, show equal finesse. Yes, you’ll find trendy items like Burrata, gigante beans, and crudo here, but Alberico’s unerring flavor combinations and respect for ingredients equate to what Stippich describes as “simplicity and quality—what Italian cooking is all about.” —MA

Top Indian: Spice Room

With two locations in Denver and one in Arvada, Spice Room lures guests with a savvy combo of Indian street food favorites and homestyle cooking from executive chef Ashok Joshi, making every visit a choose-your-own adventure of fried, baked, braised, and stewed textures and flavors. The menu is long, but eloquent descriptions provide regions of origin and ingredients to help you decide between, say, masala or sambar sauces on your idli (steamed rice cakes).

Tour India with northern momo dumplings or southern Goan fish curry, but follow our lead with a starter of mushrooms Manchurian—crunchy fried mushrooms in a fire-engine red (and three-alarm spicy) sauce—and a shareable plate of vada pav, sliders stuffed with fried mashed potatoes and colorful chutneys. Every dish is a deep dive into spices, from complex and herbal methi and ajwain to incendiary fresh and dried chiles. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are plentiful, making Spice Room a perfect outing for a diverse group. —MA

Read More: The Best Indian Food in Denver

Services

Top Florist: Blumenhaus

Photo by Sarah Banks

Valen Ibarra’s floral designs have more in common with mixed-media sculptures than with typical flower arrangements. She has affixed rhinestones, pearls, artificial feathers, tulle, tiny seashells, and even gummy bears to the wide, waxy leaves of anthurium, one of her favorite flowers. She’s perfected a range of techniques—such as tinting, spray painting, airbrushing, and hand painting—to transform a petal’s hue. She uses glitter liberally. Together, these elements create a bold, oversaturated style that’s been described as cosmic and avant-garde. “It’s kind of my interpretation of what flowers would be like on another planet,” says Ibarra, who grew up in Aurora, learned to garden from her grandmother, and got serious about floral design in 2020, when the pandemic gave her ample time to experiment.

She devoted herself to Blumenhaus full-time in 2021. Focusing solely on custom arrangements, Ibarra made 96 bouquets in 2024 and hopes to double that number this year. Corporate clients, including La Croix, Olaplex, and Ulta Beauty, often hire her to create eye-catching arrangements for events. Sourcing fresh, high-quality flowers that are also sustainably grown is one of her biggest challenges, she says, with most of her plants traveling thousands of miles to Denver from the Netherlands, South America, and even New Zealand. “Things can go missing, things can die,” Ibarra says. But when it all comes together, it’s worth it: “Flowers don’t have to be boring.” —RC

Top Pet Store/Services: HomeDog

Photo courtesy of HomeDog

Alex Novick is reimagining the modern workday to one that includes your laptop, your latte, and your labradoodle. After years of dreaming up a place where pups and productivity could coexist, he opened HomeDog this summer: a 5,500-square-foot canine-friendly co-working space and cafe on South Broadway, in the former Grandma’s House brewery.

Rooted in Denver’s dog-loving culture, the membership-based concept offers a dog-friendly workspace with reservable booths, a doggy daycare in back, and a separate beer-and-coffee bar up front that’s ideal for breaks from barking and back-to-back meetings. Outside, pup-themed murals—including a Scrappy-Doo tribute—brighten HomeDog’s private, members-only patio, which provides a low-key zone for both hounds and their humans. Inside, there’s high-speed fiber Wi-Fi, and plans are in the works for a mobile grooming partnership—for the times when weekday dog-washing takes a backseat to career-climbing. —Robert Sanchez

Sports, Outdoors & Fitness

Top Yoga Studio: Black Swan Yoga

Photo by Sam Turley, courtesy of Black Swan Yoga

For something that’s supposed to be relaxing, yoga classes can come with a lot of anxiety: At most studios, you must register days ahead of time, then you spend the whole hour wondering if people are judging your inability to tell your left from your right. And that’s not to mention what dropping in costs you (around $30 for a single class at CorePower). Black Swan Yoga, a Texas-born brand with more than a dozen studios in its home state and Phoenix and two in Colorado—a hip, exposed-brick room in Capitol Hill and a cosmic-mural-bedecked space in Englewood—does things refreshingly differently.

If you commit in advance online, expect to pay $12 minimum ($15 is suggested), or give whatever you can as a walk-in. The format means classes can be packed, but circular logos on the floor showing you where to line up eliminate any awkward jostling for position, and once the lights dim and the beats start pumping, you won’t mind the proximity to your neighbors. In fact, being mat-to-mat makes you feel less self-conscious, especially in the signature flow classes, where you’ll move through positions so quickly you barely have time to realize you’re on the wrong side. The temps (around 90 degrees) are balmy, the instructors are cool and inclusive, and the vibes are immaculate. Getting to namaste sans the stress? Sign us up—or, even better, watch us drop in unannounced. —JL

Top Place To Buy Gear: Boulder Sports Recycler

Photo courtesy of Boulder Sports Recycler

With a Who’s Who of technical gear manufacturers opening storefronts on Boulder’s Pearl Street and in LoDo over the past few years, perhaps it’s surprising to see a Who’s That top our list. But here’s the deal: At Boulder Sports Recycler, which debuted new (palatial) digs in East Boulder last fall, you can outfit your gear closet for a fraction of the cost. “We don’t want to price people out of getting outside,” says Mick Tresemer, a longtime seasonal employee who bought the place in 2017.

The 10,000-plus-square-foot warehouse is split into two sides: On one, customers browse name-brand (think: Arc’teryx, Patagonia, and Outdoor Research) used equipment and duds. Items are priced on MSRP, quality, and shelf life, among other considerations. In April, a Sierra Designs Electron 2 backpacking tent (originally $260) was listed for $125. The price tag informed interested parties that the cost would drop to $75 in June, $37.50 in September, and, finally, $12.50 in October.

On the other side of the store, customers may consign their own gear or have it repaired. “It’s a gear shop, repair shop, and consignment shop, but more than any of that, it’s a community,” Tresemer says. “We treat everyone here like family.” —MH

Top Ski Resort: Cuchara Mountain Park

After decades languishing among the state’s ghost ski areas, Panadero Ski Area is back—sorta. Now called Cuchara Mountain Park, the volunteer-run ski spot in southern Colorado officially reopened this past December and offers seven runs (four beginner and three intermediate) and a terrain park, perfect for riders itching to get off I-70. And with $40 day passes and $200 season passes, the price is right.

The catch? There’s no lift—yet. Folks pack into a 22-seat sled pulled by a snowcat, which rumbles up the former Lift 4 path “like a hayride,” says Ken Clayton, a board member for Panadero Ski Corporation, which manages the Huerfano County–owned ski area. After a five-minute trip, shredders cruise to the bottom, where Cuchara Mountain Mercantile dishes up breakfast burritos and pizzas and operates a small convenience store.

It’s blessedly anti-resort: People chat on the sled and often après over warm beers in the parking area. Volunteers help with grooming and snowmaking, allowing Cuchara to operate on Saturdays and Sundays, December through March. Thanks to a grant secured in January, Cuchara could fix Lift 4 this summer. Also in the works: The area hopes to someday ensure every visitor under 18 can ride free. “We want to create skiers for the future,” Clayton says. —MH and Gabe Toth

Top Park: Park Hill Park

We admit it: Park Hill Park isn’t much to look at right now. However, we chose this sprawling parcel of land not for its present, but for its long-term promise. Never before has the city acquired so much private property for an urban park, adding 155 acres to a parks system that already ranks 10th in the country, according to the Trust for Public Land.

Although the city will open the public green space this summer, expect a bit of an untamed environment. Since Park Hill Golf Course closed in 2018, nature has enveloped its fairways and greens, creating a vast expanse of vacant earth dotted by trees and bisected by crumbling cart paths. Denver Parks and Recreation plans to add basic features such as a dog park, picnic tables, and baskets for a disc golf course in the immediate future, but it will survey city residents before deciding on a big-picture vision.

“This is a powerful opportunity to demonstrate that true progress does not come from imposing an outside vision,” the area’s councilwoman, Shontel M. Lewis, said when the acquisition was announced this past January, “but valuing, centering, and co-creating with community at the center of shaping its future.” —Spencer Campbell

Shopping

Top Local Jewelry Designer: Karen Okada

Photo by Sarah Banks

In the 1980s and ’90s, Karen Okada designed glamorous cocktail and evening gowns for Hollywood’s glitterati, even dressing Vanna White for Wheel of Fortune and Marisa Tomei for her Oscar-winning turn in My Cousin Vinny.

Photo by Sarah Banks

Now, from her studio in Boulder, the multifaceted designer is drawn to more natural beauties—and much older ones. Over the past two decades, Okada has worked primarily with 400-million-year-old Herkimer diamonds, so-called because the stones, which are actually quartz crystals, are luminously clear. Combining vintage gold watch fobs and chains with the Herkimers, Okada melds the merely vintage with the truly old, a process she says honors the alpha and omega of the universe. (Prices for her pieces range from $88 for a simple bracelet to $1,000 for select necklaces.) Though clear, Herkimers aren’t flawless: Some have a smoky tint, and others contain water bubbles formed in the Paleozoic Era. These blemishes are part of their beauty. “This is kind of who we are,” Okada says. “We’re imperfectly perfect.” —Charli Ornett

Top Local Men’s Boutique: M.W. Reynolds

The last place you expect to find a piece of the British countryside is 30 yards from 16th Street, yet this downtown boutique fuses the crisp tailoring of English fieldwear with the rugged spirit of American sporting culture. Founded in 2005 by Mark Reynolds, a gearhead with a passion for timeless design, his eponymous shop’s club chairs, exposed brick, and steel fixtures set a mood that’s confident and relaxed in its masculinity, while every item on offer—from Filson’s Tin Cloth Cruiser Jackets ($350) to selvedge jeans from Raleigh Denim ($385) to Fishpond’s Wind River Pack ($230)—is equal parts style and utility.

There’s a full spread of fly-fishing gear in the back, and the bamboo rods and classic reels lend just enough nostalgia to grab a seasoned angler’s interest. Got a loyal retriever back home? The shop sells Barbour-branded bowls, so Fido won’t be left out when you enter your new era of upland cool. —RS

Top Place To Buy Books: Spicy Librarian

Photo by Sarah Banks

Books have always been an escape for Sydney Ivey, so when the former kindergarten teacher decided to leave teaching in December, her next career was clear. The following month, Ivey opened Spicy Librarian, Denver’s first romance-only bookstore, in RiNo. Despite the specificity of the selection, there’s space for every interest within the genre. The first shelves you’ll see—after you follow the painted rose petals through the front door—are dedicated to contemporary romance and local authors. There are also alcoves for fantasy (where the wallpaper transports you to a magical forest), dark romance (adorned with a mirror that reads, “Good girls read dirty books”), and historical romance (look for vintage undergarments spilling out of a trunk). Can’t decide where to start? If you have a quarter to spare, get a book recommendation out of the old gumball machine near the register. Or ask one of the employees: Ivey hopes the shop can be a safe space for women to discuss their preferences—both literary and sexual—without shame.

But Spicy Librarian isn’t just about prioritizing pleasure on the page. If you’re over 18, look for two small disco ball cherries that lead to a secret room behind the bookshelf. Inside “the vault,” you can shop for luxury sex toys and accessories—all of which focus on the female body. But beware, what was meant to be a quick stop can quickly turn into an all-day affair. “I call it the Spicy Librarian bubble,” Ivey says. “You walk in, and nothing else exists.” Sort of like getting lost in your favorite romance book. —JG

Read More: The 10 Best Indie Bookstores On the Front Range

Top Place To Go Thrifting: Strawberry Mountain

The hunt for just the right piece is part of the thrill of thrifting. It’s also part of the pain. Most secondhand stores fill rack after rack with used threads, leaving it up to the browser to dig through the dregs to find the treasures. But that’s not the case at Strawberry Mountain.

Because of the four-year-old shop’s small footprint in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe, Strawberry has to be discerning—and owner Nadia MacKinnon’s taste is certified by a degree in fashion design and merchandising from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. As a result, pastel geometric murals and ’80s-inspired flair consume the store and pay homage to vintage fashion while also cultivating a future-forward vibe. More important than MacKinnon’s style, however, is yours, which is why the shop prioritizes current trends, ensuring that—much like Strawberry’s boutique vibe—you’ll never be out of fashion. —RS

Read More: 14 of the Best Places to Thrift in Denver

Top Baby/Kids Boutique: Wild West Baby Co.

When Britni Jensen was pregnant with her third child, she realized that walking through Target’s baby section was, well, uninspiring. The clothes were made of flimsy fabrics, the brands were too corporate, and construction trucks seemed to dot every onesie.

Jensen, who owns Denver’s Inspyre and April & West boutiques, decided to solve the problem herself, opening Wild West Baby Co. in Berkeley last year. Jensen selects brands that fit her high standards for quality and aesthetics. More important, Jensen makes it a priority to stock mom-owned brands, like Oopsie Daisy, which produces colorful, ’70s-inspired swimsuits.

Her support for mothers doesn’t stop at the items she carries: Wild West hosts free events every month, like baby-and-mom bodywork sessions to help new parents soothe anxiety. “Babyhood is such a short period of life,” Jensen says. “It seems long, but it’s really so fleeting and magical. I want to embody that magic when you walk in the store.” —BO

Readers’ Choice Top of the Town Winners

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FAQs

  • How does 5280 pick Top of the Town winners? Our reporters and editors spend months exploring the city to choose winners for select categories on the ballot. We try to do our research anonymously and pay for all meals and services, where possible. Our readers also pick their favorites for every category by casting votes via our online ballot. The businesses that receive the most votes win.
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