16. The Sink
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 444-7465
Address: 1165 13th Street
Description: This college hangout has been gathering character since the 1930s. But without that college grunge, it just wouldn’t be authentic. “Ugly Crust Pizzas” with various toppings; a huge selection of munchies, including nachos and pizza bread sticks; Sink-Burgers; and soups and salads fill the menu. There’s live music, great beer, happy-hour specials, and an unsurpassed youthful exuberance. After all, many of the patrons have only recently reached legal drinking age. Organized graffiti serves as decor. Robert Redford was the janitor here before he scuttled art at CU-Boulder and went on to make a few major motion pictures. The Sink is open for lunch and dinner daily.
17. Sobo American Bistro
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 494-7626
Address: 657 South Broadway
Description: South Boulder is finally becoming a place for great restaurants. Sobo pairs excellent food with a diverse selection of wines, beers and spirits. Seasonally evolving menus ensure a memorable evening for all guests.
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Address: 2805 Pearl Street
19. Dolan’S Restaurant
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 444-8758
Address: 2319 Arapahoe Avenue
Description: Boulder businesspeople voted Dolan’s the best lunch restaurant, with the prime rib special featuring mashed potatoes a sure bet for closing the deal. There’s a cozy wood-paneled bar, perfect for watching sporting events in the afternoon and yet elegant enough for appetizers or dinner in the evening. There’s also a separate dining room. Both the bar and restaurant serve seafood and steaks, soup, and salads. The ahi tuna quesadilla with sliced blackened rare tuna, cilantro, Monterey Jack cheese, and pickled ginger is a huge hit. Live Maine lobster is the special every Wednesday and Sunday. Lunch and dinner are served Monday through Friday; dinner only on Saturday and Sunday.
20. 14Th Street Bar And Grill
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 444-5854
Address: 1400 Pearl Street
Description: This bustling, sunny restaurant serves gourmet pizza baked in a wood-burning oven, along with fine salads and rotisserie chicken. Salmon might be accompanied by a cantaloupe salsa during the summer. The turkey sandwich is like a Thanksgiving meal. The vanilla-bean cheesecake is only one example of the knockout desserts. Everything is consistently good, fresh, and innovatively prepared. The patio seating lets you be part of the mall scene. It’s open for lunch and dinner daily.
21. Jax Fish House
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 444-1811
Address: 928 Pearl Street
Description: The winner of several awards, Jax is the place people want to be when they’re hungry for fresh seafood. Or is it the martinis? Local newspaper readers say Jax makes the best martini in town. Chef Hosea Rosenberg’s restaurant resides on trendy Pearl Street, just west of the Pearl Street Mall. The raw oysters and clams are exceptional. You can doodle on your crisp butcher-paper “tablecloth” while you wait for your spicy gumbo, clam chowder, soft-shelled crab linguine, steamed mussels, and vegetarian specials. Save room for the key lime pie. Jax is open daily for appetizers and dinner only.
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Address: 1039 Pearl Street
23. Q’S Restaurant
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 442-4880
Address: 2115 13th Street
Description: Q’s was a 2003 Mobile Award winner, and receives a four-star rating in the Zagat Survey. Q’s is regarded as one of Colorado’s finest restaurants. Chef-owner John Platt offers changing monthly menus that might include grilled asparagus with arugula, lobster-stuffed gold potato, roasted pheasant breast, chile-crusted Colorado trout, or adobe-grilled pork loin with peach salsa, all presented like a 3-D food sculpture. Organically grown green salads accompany all dinners. A fabulous dessert menu and wine list are standard procedure at the hotel. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served daily.
24. Zolo Grill
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 449-0444
Address: 2525 Arapahoe Avenue
Description: Zolo Grill is regularly named the “Best Southwestern Restaurant” in Boulder, and regulars rave over the duck tacos and chicken enchiladas. Since opening in 1994, Zolo has become known not only for its food but for its decor, which is eclectic electric, from the copper wires crossing the ceiling to the huge abstract murals on the walls, all with a hip Santa Fe underpinning. The food is spicy and visually exciting. Start with a Zolorita, the house margarita, and finish with a dessert from a list that includes incredible grilled banana cream pie. Zolo is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and for brunch and dinner on Sunday.
25. Ai Sushi And Steak
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303)440-9600
Description: A full-service, sit down Japanese restaurant/sushi bar with restaurants in Denver and now at 29th Street located on the southwest corner of 29th Street & Canyon Blvd. Every Monday night is family night! Come in with your family and kids six years of age and under receive a free kid’s plate! Also open for lunch!
26. Bimbamboo
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 442-4575
Address: 1710 Pearl Street
Description: Conveniently located on Pearl Street, Bimbamboo is a modern Asian restaurant inspired by the unique and bold flavors of Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, and East India. Their signature recipes are prepared with great care and enthusiasm and they offer a comfortable, modern dining space with both traditional and communal seating options.
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Address: 1770 13th Street
28. Chez Thuy
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 442-1700
Address: 2655 28th Street
Description: This pretty restaurant, with deep green, brocade booths and a big, carved dragon-and-peacock motif mural, dishes up elegant Vietnamese food so well it regularly makes one of the “best” lists. Specialties include quail stuffed with seafood served with vegetables and noodles, pork sautéed in a clay hot pot, curried chicken, and vegetarian specials, all cooked by owner/chef Thuy Twee. The portions are generous, and you can dine in or take out. It’s open daily for lunch and dinner.
29. Golden Lotus
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 442-6868
Address: 1964 28th Street
Description: A casually elegant restaurant featuring authentic Chinese fare, including Szechwan, Cantonese, and Mandarin dishes, the Golden Lotus uses the freshest ingredients and no MSG. Enjoy the dim sum daily at lunch and Chinese “small bites” on the weekends. This is a large restaurant with plenty of parking just outside the door. It’s open daily for lunch and dinner.
30. Hapa Sushi Grill & Sake Bar
City: Boulder, CO
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (303) 473-4730
Address: 117 Pearl Street
Description: No one was happy when Boulder’s New York Deli, made famous as the setting for the Mork & Mindy television show, closed for good. Hapa, however, made everyone, or at least those who love sushi, very happy when it moved into the same space. The decor is more tricked-out than traditional, and the menu is the same, featuring the Statue of Liberty roll, the Philadelphia roll, and the Cheeto roll. There is a wide variety of sashimi and nigiri that you can enjoy either inside or on the patio while watching the colorful cast on the Pearl Street Mall. Hapa is open for lunch and dinner daily.