12 Most Expensive Restaurants in Denver

Every year, the culinary scene in Denver, Colorado, grows more exciting, diverse, and sophisticated. Tourists and residents alike can choose from a wide range of restaurants with different cuisines, environments, and price ranges.

When you have some extra money to spend, this list of the twelve most expensive restaurants in Denver tells you everything you need to know to prepare for your next unforgettable dining experience. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or want a great meal after a day exploring the Rocky Mountains, these establishments have some of the city’s priciest and most popular menus. 

Most Expensive Restaurants in Denver

From huge plates of steak and potatoes to small samples of international delicacies, you’ll find foods to suit every appetite when you explore the restaurants in Denver. The price tags may be high, but their selections promise big flavors to offset the sticker shock you’ll feel when you get your bill. 

12. Guard and Grace

  • Location: 1801 California Street
  • Phone number: (303) 293-8500
  • Cuisine: American steakhouse
  • Price range: $30 to $50
  • Signature dishes: Filet flight and braised Colorado lamb
  • Dress code: Casual elegant
  • Reservations: Strongly recommended

Guard and Grace is a modern, 9,000 square foot steakhouse that specializes in wood-fired food. They offer lamb, salmon, and lobster, but their steaks take center stage. Filet mignon, New York strip steaks, and ribeyes are all available on the Guard and Grace menu. 

If you can’t decide whether to order the Wagyu, prime, or grass-fed filet mignon, opt for the filet flight, which allows you to sample four ounces of each. Then choose which finishes will complete your entrée. You can top your steak with foie butter, chimichurri, or brandy peppercorn. The sides at Guard and Grace take an elegant approach to steakhouse classics, including chipotle lime smashed potatoes, oak grilled broccolini, and black truffle mac and cheese. 

11. Urban Farmer

  • Location: 1659 Wazee Street
  • Phone number: (303) 262-6070
  • Cuisine: Farm-to-table steakhouse
  • Price range: $30 to $100
  • Signature dishes: New York steak tasting 
  • Dress code: Smart casual
  • Reservations: Accepted but not required

The chefs at Urban Farmer take pride in creating dishes that not only taste amazing but also represent their deeply-felt values. Their menu prices are high in no small part because they only use responsibly sourced, high-quality ingredients.

The chefs at Urban Farmer work with local farmers and ranchers to find the best meats and produce. They then use them to put a new spin on the concept of a steakhouse, adding unexpected touches to old-school options like deviled eggs, roasted bar nuts, and sliders. Although their menu changes with the seasons, popular items such as the roasted local mushrooms and New York steak tasting are mainstays. 

10. Ocean Prime

  • Location: 1465 Larimer Street
  • Phone number: (303) 825-3663
  • Cuisine: American seafood
  • Price range: $40 to $70
  • Signature dishes: Lobster tails, sushi, and Chilean sea bass
  • Dress code: Smart casual
  • Reservations: Recommended

As the name suggests, seafood is the star of the show at Ocean Prime. Branzino, snapper, grouper, and lobster are all on the menu, with prices generally ranging from $50 to $70. 

Ocean Prime also serves guests pork, chicken, lamb, and steak dishes, including a 16-ounce ribeye for $67. If you want to mix things up, you can select a steak finish such as béarnaise sauce, garlic shrimp scampi, or black truffle butter. 

To ensure you don’t leave hungry, Ocean Prime has an extensive list of sides that touch on various preferences. Some of the highlights are traditional twice-baked potatoes, smoked Gouda tater tots, miso-chili roasted broccoli, and black truffle mac and cheese. 

9. The Capital Grille

  • Location: 1450 Larimer Street
  • Phone number: (303) 539-2500
  • Cuisine: American steakhouse
  • Price range: $40 to $75
  • Signature dishes: Porcini rubbed bone-in ribeye, tomahawk veal chop, and seared sesame tuna
  • Dress code: Business casual
  • Reservations: Recommended

Denver is home to one of the Capital Grille’s dozens of locations spread across 25 states. They’re best known for their steaks, including their filet mignon and New York strip, which come at a premium price. The porcini rubbed bone-in ribeye is among the highest, costing $75. Other cuts, such as the filet with cipollini onions, wild mushrooms, and fig essence, are priced slightly lower at around $60. 

The Capital Grille also offers entrées featuring chicken, seafood, and veal for guests who aren’t in the mood for a steak. Their most popular appetizers include lobster crab cakes and tuna tartar. For $125, everyone at your table can partake in the grand plateau, a combination of jumbo lump crab, North Atlantic lobster, shrimp cocktail, and oysters on the half shell. 

8. Mizuna

  • Location: 225 E 7th Avenue
  • Phone number: (303) 832-4778
  • Cuisine: New American
  • Price range: $40 to $80
  • Signature dishes: Beef wellington and lobster macaroni and cheese
  • Dress code: Business casual
  • Reservations: Recommended

Mizuna serves American classics with a French influence and is one of the most expensive and creative restaurants in town. They offer culinary classics, such as beef tartare, duck, and scallops, as well as their signature beef wellington. Mizuna’s menu changes monthly to reflect the seasons, but their world-famous lobster macaroni and cheese is always available. 

When you can’t settle on just one dish, sample a bit of everything with the chef’s tasting menu or the coastal tasting menu. They’ll cost you $145 and $165, respectively, but you’ll get to explore many different menu flavors in a single sitting. 

7. Rioja

  • Location: 1431 Larimer Street
  • Phone number: (303) 820-2282
  • Cuisine: Mediterranean
  • Price range: $40 to $80
  • Signature dishes: Artichoke tortelloni, grilled octopus, and Thai chili pork
  • Dress code: Casual
  • Reservations: Recommended

One of the most unique restaurants in downtown Denver is Rioja. The head chef, Jennifer Jasinkski, is a James Beard Award winner who likes to experiment with different dishes and flavor profiles. Groups can kick off their meal with the Rioja picnic, a selection of meats, cheeses, olives, pickled vegetables, crackers, and almonds, for $26. Try the popular goat cheese tart if you’d rather not share your starter.

When you’re ready to order your entrée, you’ll find the Mediterranean menu includes hand-made pasta, meats, and seafood with an inventive take. For example, the grilled Wagyu tri-tip comes with shiitake mushrooms and pickled cabbage skewers. Rioja also offers a tasting menu upon request. 

6. The Palace Arms

  • Location: 321 17th Street
  • Phone number: (303) 294-3659
  • Cuisine: Contemporary American
  • Price range: $40 to $100
  • Signature dishes: Rabbit angolotti, duck breast, and lamb chop
  • Dress code: Smart casual
  • Reservations: Recommended

Located inside the Brown Palace Hotel and Spa, The Palace Arms describes itself as a dining museum. The walls are covered in military prints, antiques from France, and dueling pistols that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte, making the decor as intriguing as the food. 

In addition to the unusual ambiance, the restaurant offers a variety of entrées, salads, wine, and cocktails. Their dishes are made primarily from locally sourced ingredients, and the most popular items include beef carpaccio, rabbit, lamb, and strip steak. They also sell Wagyu steaks with prices starting at $20 an ounce. 

5. 801 Chophouse

  • Location: 3000 E 1st Avenue
  • Phone number: (303) 214-6474
  • Cuisine: American steak and seafood
  • Price range: $50 and up
  • Signature dishes: Prime rib and shellfish pan roast 
  • Dress code: Business casual
  • Reservations: Recommended

Founded in 1993, 801 Chophouse is a family-owned restaurant with locations in seven cities, including Denver. They specialize in seafood and steaks, including the Wagyu filet for $45 per ounce. Guests with even bigger appetites can choose the 30-ounce porterhouse for $139.

801 Chophouse offers a variety of steak finishes, including seared foie gras, black truffle butter, and red king crab Oscar, to name a few. Your meal wouldn’t be complete without one of their new takes on classic sides like hash browns, baked cream spinach, and scalloped potatoes. 

For just under $100, you can also get the shellfish pan roast. It includes all the seafood you could ever hope for — lobster tail, jumbo shrimp, sea scallops, mussels, and king crab — combined with asparagus, tomato, and lemon butter. 

4. Shanahan’s Steakhouse

  • Location: 5085 S Syracuse Street
  • Phone number: (303) 770-7300
  • Cuisine: American steakhouse
  • Price range: $50 and up
  • Signature dishes: Filet with croquette, dutch harbor red king crab legs, and 36 ounce Wagyu rib eye tomahawk
  • Dress code: Business casual
  • Reservations: Required

Shanahan’s Steakhouse is an eclectic mix of American and European styles. When you enter, you’ll see Italian lighting hanging above the tables and Mike Shanahan’s Lombardi trophies lining the walls. You’ll also get a glimpse of their wine cellar, which has more than 5,000 bottles of red and white wine. 

This classic American steakhouse has hints of French cuisine, such as the wild burgundy escargot on the starter menu. Most of the main courses are steaks and seafood, with options such as the prime Delmonico rib eye, Berkshire dry-aged pork chop, and seared jumbo sea scallops. Don’t forget to get some colossal onion rings to add the finishing touch to your already overfilled plate. 

3. Elway’s Downtown

  • Location: 1881 Curtis Street
  • Phone number: (303) 312-3107
  • Cuisine: American steakhouse
  • Price range: $50 and up
  • Signature dishes: Elway’s salmon and Rock River Ranches bison rib-eye
  • Dress code: Casual
  • Reservations: Recommended

Owned by NFL quarterback John Elway, Elway’s Downtown is an upscale steakhouse located in The Ritz-Carlton. This glamorous hotel is the perfect setting for a fine dining experience featuring a wide range of appetizers, steaks, and seafood.

Some of the most requested items at Elway’s are the lamb chop fondue, poached Atlantic salmon, and short ribs. Pair your favorite entrée with a selection of sides, such as lobster mac and cheese, Thai basil brussels sprouts or truffle parmesan french fries. 

2. The Wolf’s Tailor

  • Location: 4058 Tejon Street
  • Phone number: (720) 456-6705
  • Cuisine: Contemporary Italian and Japanese
  • Price range: $160 and up
  • Signature dishes: Changes seasonally
  • Dress code: None
  • Reservations: Strongly recommended

One of a handful of restaurants in the state to receive a Michelin star, The Wolf’s Tailor offers a multi-course tasting menu that changes based on the season. They focus on bright flavors in the warmer months and local grains and fermentation during the fall and winter. 

The menu at The Wolf’s Tailor is pre-set with no a la carte options, which means guests can’t choose which items they want. The price is $160 per person for the indoor dining room or $185 per person if you prefer to eat in the private outdoor tent. This doesn’t include drinks or the 22% gratuity that’s automatically applied to your bill. 

1. Beckon

  • Location: 2843 Larimer Street
  • Phone number: (303) 749-0020
  • Cuisine: Contemporary 
  • Price range: $95
  • Signature dishes: 
  • Dress code: None
  • Reservations: Required

With only 18 seats available, Beckon offers an intimate dining experience with a seasonal tasting menu. Over eight courses, guests explore dishes based on the lunar season. For example, diners who visit in January receive an elevated take on comforting, hearty dishes, while summer guests explore a series of lighter selections built around berries and fresh local produce. 

A Michelin-starred restaurant, Beckon’s eight-course menu comes at a high price. They only accommodate parties of one to four guests and charge $180 per person, plus tax, gratuity, and drinks. Because of their limited seating availability, guests have to pay for their reservations in advance. 

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