According to the 2025 Michelin Guide, Denver is home to four Michelin-starred restaurants. Michelin only launched its Colorado guide in 2023, so these stars are a new source of pride for the Mile High City’s dining scene.
Earning a Michelin star is no small feat – it’s a hallmark of outstanding cuisine – and Denver’s chefs have quickly proven their mettle on the global foodie map.
One-Star Restaurants in Denver (High-Quality Cooking – ★)
Denver’s Michelin-starred establishments all currently hold one star – a distinction for “very good restaurants” that offer high-quality cooking.
The 2025 Guide highlights four one-star venues in Denver, each with its own style and culinary vision, ranging from inventive modern Mexican flavors to Scandinavian-inspired new American cuisine.
Below are Denver’s one-star restaurants and what makes each unique:
1. Alma Fonda Fina
A contemporary Mexican restaurant in Denver’s LoHi neighborhood, led by chef-owner Johnny Curiel, who was even honored as Michelin’s Young Chef Award winner in 2024.
Curiel draws on his Guadalajara roots and family recipes, elevating them with modern techniques and fine-dining finesse. The result is soulful Mexican “fonda” comfort food reimagined – think handmade tortillas, rich moles and aguachiles, and creative twists on traditional dishes that are “both satisfying and delicious”.
With its vibrant flavors and warm hospitality, Alma Fonda Fina beautifully marries authentic Mexican cuisine with high-end presentation.
2. Beckon
An intimate 18-seat tasting menu restaurant delivering a seasonal contemporary American dining experience. Helmed by Chef Duncan Holmes, Beckon operates as a chef’s counter in Denver’s trendy RiNo district.
Guests are “beckoned” to take a seat around the open kitchen, where Holmes and his team craft an ambitious multi-course dinner that changes with the micro-seasons.
The space exudes a chic, Scandinavian minimalist vibe, keeping the focus on the food. Beckon offers two menu paths (omnivore or vegetarian), and in either case local Colorado ingredients shine – even humble vegetables are elevated into memorable dishes.
You might savor something like a delicate truffle-laced rice porridge or perfectly seared quail with inventive accompaniments, followed by exquisite desserts. Beckon’s combination of personal service, creative cuisine, and cozy chef’s counter setting makes for a one-of-a-kind fine dining adventure.
3. Brutø
A chef’s counter meets Latin-American izakaya tucked inside downtown’s Dairy Block, Brutø offers an omakase-style tasting menu with a distinctly Colorado character. It’s part of restaurateur Kelly Whitaker’s local hospitality group, with Chef Byron Gomez (a Top Chef alum) running the show.
Here the team takes a serious farm-to-table approach – they source regional produce and heirloom grains, and even maintain a fermentation program to create their own vinegars, misos and more. The kitchen’s centerpiece is a wood-fired hearth, infusing a smoky depth into many courses and making the dining experience feel primal and exciting.
Brutø’s menu is contemporary and globally inspired: you might find a Japanese touch or Nordic technique applied to Mexican-inspired flavors, resulting in dishes like ember-roasted vegetables with tangy fermented accents or perfectly grilled meats with refined sazón.
Notably, Brutø earned a Michelin Green Star for its sustainability efforts, reflecting a “zero-waste ethos” and dedication to local ingredients. This hip little restaurant proves that cutting-edge gastronomy and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand.
4. The Wolf’s Tailor
A truly innovative dining experience blending diverse culinary influences, The Wolf’s Tailor is another creation of Kelly Whitaker, brought to life by Chef Taylor Stark and team. This one-star restaurant offers a multicourse tasting menu that “stitches together” flavors from around the world with playful creativity.
One course might be a Thai-inspired pork dumpling in aromatic broth, followed by a course riffing on Chinese Peking duck made with local squab – signaling the kitchen’s penchant for reinventing global dishes with Colorado ingredients.
The name is a nod to tailoring, and indeed Stark and his crew tailor each dish with meticulous detail and presentation. Equally impressive is their commitment to sustainability: The Wolf’s Tailor has its own garden and a cutting-edge fermentation lab on-site, where they pickle, preserve and upcycle ingredients (from making house soy sauce to creating fruit vinegars) to minimize waste.
This earned the restaurant a prized Michelin Green Star for leadership in sustainable gastronomy. With its intimate atmosphere, artful plates, and a beverage program featuring creative cocktails and natural wines, The Wolf’s Tailor delivers a dining experience as imaginative as it is delicious.
Two-Star Restaurants in Denver (Excellent Cooking – ★★)
Likewise, Denver currently has no two-star Michelin restaurants. Michelin’s two-star designation signifies a restaurant is “worth a detour” for its excellent cooking – still a very exclusive category.
In this early stage of Michelin’s presence in Colorado, all the starred Denver venues have one star each. It’s common for new Michelin cities to start off with one-star awards as restaurants build their international reputations. As Denver’s top kitchens continue to impress inspectors and diners alike, it’s possible we’ll see one of them earn a second star in the future.
For now, however, no restaurant in Denver has achieved a two-star rating – the city’s culinary stars shine at the one-star level.
Three-Star Restaurants in Denver (Exceptional Cuisine – ★★★)
As of 2025, no restaurant in Denver holds the coveted three Michelin stars. A three-star rating denotes exceptional cuisine “worth a special journey” – an honor reserved for the world’s very best dining establishments.
It’s extremely rare to achieve this pinnacle (only a handful of restaurants worldwide can claim three stars), and Denver’s culinary scene has not yet reached that summit.
While none in the city have hit the three-star mark, this simply reflects how extraordinary that level is. Denverites can hope that with time and continued innovation, a local restaurant might someday join that elite club, but for now there are no three-star eateries in Denver.
Final Word
Each of these one-star restaurants demonstrates Denver’s culinary diversity and excellence. From Alma’s heartfelt Mexican cooking to the boundary-pushing menus at Beckon, Brutø, and The Wolf’s Tailor, the city offers food lovers a chance to experience world-class dining grounded in Colorado’s unique spirit.
In just a short time, Denver has firmly planted itself on the fine dining map. And while no restaurant has (yet) reached the two- or three-star tiers, locals and visitors alike are already spoiled for choice.
Whether you’re a Denver native or traveler stopping through the Mile High City, bring your appetite – Denver’s Michelin-starred restaurants promise a memorable gastronomic adventure that’s well worth the trip.
