The Fifty-Year Club: Old Denver Restaurants Still Worth It
By Gil Tabor, November 7, 2026
Nine Denver restaurants and bars that have been open fifty years or more, and why each one is still worth a table now, not just a memory.
1. The rules of the club
Every few months somebody publishes a list of old Denver restaurants, and every one of those lists is a eulogy with a reservation link. This is not that. Denver was never cooler back then. It was just cheaper. The only test here is whether the place is worth your Friday night today, and it has to have been serving somebody for at least fifty years. Several of these have changed hands, kitchens or furniture along the way, and where that matters, it says so. Hours move around at old places more than new ones, so check before you drive.
2. Buckhorn Exchange, since 1893
Denver's oldest restaurant sits at 1000 Osage St, a block off the light rail, and it is exactly as many dead animals as you have heard. The walls are the reason people come once. The menu is why they come back. The best seller right now is the Rocky Mountain oysters, which the kitchen will tell you about with a straight face, but the order is the buffalo prime rib or the elk. It is dinner-forward and priced like a steakhouse, so book it for the night your parents are in town and let them think it was their idea.
3. My Brother's Bar, since 1873, more or less
There has been a bar at 2376 15th St since the 1870s, though the paperwork is murkier than the regulars admit, and the current name dates to 1970, when two brothers from Detroit bought it. There is no sign out front. There are no TVs. There is classical music, which in a sports town is a form of protest. Get the JCB, a burger with jalapeño cream cheese, and let the condiment tray do the rest. Bring some cash just in case; accounts differ on what they take.
4. Sam's No. 3, since 1927
A Greek immigrant named Sam Andrews opened it in 1927 across Curtis Street from where it stands now, at 1500 Curtis St. The menu runs past a hundred items, which in most restaurants is a warning and here is the whole point: omelets, eggs Benedict, burritos smothered in green chile and a Greek streak that never left. Business Insider called it Colorado's best diner in February 2026. Weekend brunch has a line. Weekday breakfast does not, and it is the same food.
5. Bastien's, since 1937
The Bastien family opened a burger stand called the Moon Drive Inn on East Colfax in 1937 and turned it into a steakhouse in 1958, and the family still runs it from the same address, 3503 E Colfax Ave. Order the sugar steak, which is exactly what it sounds like and better than it has any right to be. The Colfax bus-lane construction has made the last couple of years hard on the businesses along that stretch. This one is worth the detour around the cones. Check the day before; it does not open every night.
6. The Cherry Cricket, since 1945
It opened in 1945 as Mary Zimmerman's Bar, took the Cricket name in 1950, and survived a kitchen fire in 2016 that closed it for about five months, so the room is newer than the reputation. The order has not changed: the Cricket Burger with green chile, built from a list of more than thirty toppings that reads like a dare. It is at 2641 E 2nd Ave in Cherry Creek, and it is the only place in that neighborhood where you can eat well in a hoodie.
7. The Ship Tavern, since 1934
The Brown Palace opened its ground-floor bar in August 1934, about eight months after Prohibition ended, and the timing tells you how long the hotel had been waiting. It is at 321 17th St, inside the hotel. The honest note: the Brown Palace has new owners, and Westword caught diner-style furniture moving into the old room. The bones are still there, and so is a martini in a bar that has been pouring since the week Denver could legally have one again. Go for one drink before the Paramount or the Buell and decide for yourself.
8. La Fiesta, since the early 1960s
The Herrera family opened La Fiesta in a former Safeway at 2340 Champa St in Curtis Park in 1963 or 1964, depending on whether you trust the occupancy permit or the anniversary party, and Robert Herrera still runs it. This is the place to understand the Denver-style chile relleno, the one wrapped in a wonton skin, and the Mexican hamburger, a dish that exists nowhere else and should. It is mostly a lunch place with short evening hours, so plan for daylight.
9. The Fort, since 1963
The Fort is an adobe replica of Bent's Fort, the 1830s trading post, built into the foothills at 19192 Highway 8 in Morrison, and it has been serving bison, elk and quail since 1963. The founding family sold it in January 2026; the buyers say the restaurant stays the same with gentle upgrades, and the early reviews agree. Order the bison steak with herb butter. It is in the foothills off Highway 8 and pairs well with a Red Rocks show, if you get the timing right.
10. Casa Bonita, since 1974
It opened in Lakewood in March 1974, closed in 2020, and came back in 2023 under the South Park creators, with a real chef running the kitchen for the first time in anyone's memory. The cliff divers are the same. The food is finally not the joke. It is at 6715 W Colfax Ave, reservations only, released in batches, and they go fast. The Stub reviewed it about every eighteen months for twenty years. This is the first stretch where the review would be about the food. It rules.
11. Who did not make it
Bonnie Brae Tavern closed in 2022, and the building came down in 2025. Patsy's Inn closed in 2016 after 95 years. El Chapultepec closed in 2020, and the Mercury Cafe in 2025. A list that pretends these are still around is not a guide. Go to the nine above while they are. (Gil)
Quick answers
- What is the oldest restaurant in Denver?
- The Buckhorn Exchange, open since 1893 at 1000 Osage St. My Brother's Bar has served drinks at its address since the 1870s, but as a bar.
- Which of these need a reservation?
- Casa Bonita is reservations only. Book the Buckhorn Exchange, Bastien's and The Fort for weekend dinners. Sam's No. 3, the Cherry Cricket, La Fiesta and My Brother's Bar are walk-in.
- Are these still run by the original families?
- Bastien's and La Fiesta are. My Brother's Bar, the Cherry Cricket, the Ship Tavern, Casa Bonita and The Fort have changed owners over the years, some recently.
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