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We’ve all read the news about Denver’s old guard restaurants closing their doors. From early fine-dining standouts like Fruition (18 years) to comfort staples like Cafe Brazil (32 years) to beloved standards like New Saigon (42 years), the list of familiar favorites seems to grow shorter every day.
They were among the pioneers of Denver’s restaurant scene, opening doors before the Michelin Guide came to town and before James Beard paid attention—and operating in the echo of Anthony Bourdain’s proclamation in Kitchen Confidential that Denver had “nothing worthwhile to eat.” Given the unlikely combination of expertise, consistency, and luck needed to build a lasting institution, it’s understandable to feel a bit shaken when we see one shutter.
So it is encouraging to be reminded that we still have some left, with few as equally nostalgic and relevant as Barolo Grill, one of Denver’s first modern fine-dining establishments. It now celebrates 32 years in its original Cherry Creek location.
“Before social media and before any of that, we’ve been the heartbeat of the community,” says Barolo Grill owner and wine director Ryan Fletter. “We have three generations of people coming here. We’ve had people who’ve moved and come back, different businesses have opened and closed. Media outlets have opened and closed. So it’s a celebration after 30-plus years.”

Fletter started at Barolo Grill as a server just 18 months after the restaurant opened in 1992, eventually becoming bar manager and then general manager. In 2015, he bought the restaurant from founder Blair Taylor, determined to continue the restaurant’s legacy without major disruption.
“A lot of different changes in management and other things will kick a business off its track if it’s not careful,” he says. “This business has luckily stayed on track because it stays really connected to its inspiration and its core business: five nights a week, fine-dining restaurant but with casual flair, and comfortable. We’re not trying to do lunches. Not trying to add more periods of service. Not trying to dilute the brand by adding multiple outlets or doing other things like that.”
Barolo’s focus remains on northern Italian cuisine and a menu that changes with the seasons. Staples like veal with tuna sauce (vitello tonnato), wine-braised duck (anatra di barolo), and various versions of what might be the best gnocchi in the city are almost always available. But the details change depending on what’s fresh and available. For instance, the agnolotti—a stuffed pasta originating in the Piedmont region of Italy—may feature roasted squash in the fall but shift to braised beef with demi glace in the summer. Risotto might showcase mushrooms in the winter but peas in the spring. A delicate balance of expected hits that are refreshed regularly keep the three-decades-old menu from becoming too familiar or dated.
These details are informed and inspired by annual staff trips to Italy that began in 1995, primarily to the Piedmont, home to the restaurant’s namesake Barolo wines. During this pilgrimage, both the front- and back-of-houses sample foods across the region, compare notes, and bring back plans for updating the menu. “Very little on the menu hasn’t been inspired from going,” says Fletter. “Some of it is just reconnecting with fresh, seasonal components, not necessarily to absolutely replicate a dish or plagiarize it, but to execute our version of it.” Guiding the menu is the other bedrock at Barolo Grill: executive chef Darrel Truett, who started on the pasta station in 2004 and, in December, celebrated his 20th year at the restaurant.
When Barolo Grill first opened, its northern Italian focus was unique in a market that at the time was dominated by red sauce and pizza joints. Today, it’s less of a differentiator as others like Venice Ristorante & Wine Bar have entered the scene with a similar angle. However, one area where Barolo Grill continues to stand apart in Denver is its wine program, perhaps not surprising for a restaurant named after what many consider the most prestigious Italian wine. In 2018, Wine Spectator honored Barolo Grill with its Grand Award, given “to restaurants that show an uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine programs,” according to the magazine.
Barolo Grill is the only Denver restaurant to receive the distinction and just one of three in the state and 96 in the world. What’s more, Fletter and sommelier Erin Lindstone earned Barolo Grill the only Michelin Sommelier Award in Denver, although not the coveted star. (“We believe we have arrived at a one-star level,” Fletter says.)

With more than 2,200 selections spanning 115 pages, nearly all of which Fletter has sampled personally, Barolo Grill’s wine list could intimidate even the most seasoned oenophile. But the restaurant also offers a truncated, two-page “greatest hits” version, along with wine recommendations listed after each dish on the menu. “We have that auxiliary list for those who are enthusiasts, but we don’t want anyone to feel like they need to flip through 100 pages of alphabetical listings. That would be inappropriate,” Fletter says. “So that has taken a lot of the intimidation out of it. But our clientele has always been really wine-centric.”
So how has Barolo Grill continued to thrive while so many other local restaurant institutions have closed?
“The clientele, because they’re the ones who come in so regularly and keep the place busy and full,” Fletter says. “It’s always been a very welcoming, friendly place. People can just drop in, but we’ve also had every governor, every mayor, every sports star. It’s a kind of magic. I don’t really know how else you could actually scientifically break it down.”