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PLACE TO EAT OUTDOORS
Chautauqua Dining Hall
900 Baseline Rd., 303-440-3776
Runner-up: The Mediterranean
Honorable Mentions: Boulder County Farmers’ Market, West End Tavern
With all of the options for outdoor dining in Boulder, this category was very heavily contested. You have your various Pearl Street patios and rooftop decks, offering great opportunities for people watching and nice views of the Flatirons. But if you really want to savor Boulder’s beauty while enjoying your Sunday brunch, our readers say there is no better place than the Chautauqua Dining Hall. Nestled in the shadow of the Flatirons, the Dining Hall has been in business for more than a century and is a designated National Historical Landmark. The outdoor patio wraps around to the east, so that no matter where you sit, you have an absolutely breath-taking view of the mountains, the town — or both. The menu covers breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a nice selection of local beer and wine. It is a perfect spot to unwind after a long hike or bike ride if you feel like taking in the view for a little while longer before returning home. Pearl Street may have the monopoly on outdoor patios and rooftop decks, but with its incomparable location, mouth-watering menu and stunning views, the Dining Hall trumps them all.
RESTAURANT AMBIANCE
Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse
1770 13th St., 303-442-4993
Runner-up: The Kitchen
Honorable Mentions: Frasca Food and Wine, Flagstaff House
Each year the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse wins Best Teahouse, which is no surprise. The tea selection is enormous. The service is prompt and pleasant, and the menu offers selections from around the world. But this year the Teahouse was also tops with our readers for its ambiance. The product of years of hard work by the craftsmen and artists of Dushanbe, Boulder’s sister city in Tajikistan, the Teahouse makes you feel like you’re sitting inside a work of art, which, of course, you are. Each chair and table is hand built, as is every piece of decorative art paneling the main dining room. The patio, with its celebrated rose garden, only adds to the aura of Shangri-La that surrounds the Teahouse. As you sit there, enjoying delicious menu choices, it’s easy to forget that you’re only a block away from the bustle of Pearl Street and the traffic of Broadway.
RESTAURANT SERVICE
Frasca Food & Wine
1738 Pearl St., 303-442-6966
Runner-up: The Kitchen
Honorable Mention: Restaurant 4580
There is much to celebrate at Frasca Food & Wine. Start with the menu, which highlights cuisine from the delicious Friuli region of Italy as prepared by celebrated head chef Lachlan McKinnon-Patterson. Then there’s the enormous wine selection featuring nearly 200 labels. There’s also organic vegetables often purchased from local farmers. But readers say that what sets Frasca apart in their minds is its top-notch service. The servers at Frasca work to make you feel at home, striving for the sort of friendly environment you might encounter at the frascas of Italy, where farmers and their families and friends gather to enjoy farm cuisine. The staff also pride themselves on being able to enhance your meal by suggesting the perfect wine accompaniment. Warmth, hospitality, good food, good wine — it’s a winning combination.
ROMANTIC DINNER
John’s Restaurant
2328 Pearl St., 303-444-5232
Runner-up: Flagstaff House
Honorable Mention: Frasca Food and Wine
The connection between romance and food is no slight thing. Common herbs act as aphrodisiacs, and cooking can be a coupling experiment. But there’s nothing to help you fall in love like a finely cooked dinner. The lingering glances and eager conversation are only enhanced by clinking glasses of wine and plates of succulent food. And that’s where our readers say John’s Restaurant comes in to make its magic. With the quaint, intimate atmosphere of a home and the vision of one of the best chefs around, John’s does nothing if not set the mood for love. Their award-winning plates and professional service will have you and your lover inspired to edge closer à la the spaghetti dinner between Lady and the Tramp. And if that doesn’t make you want to fall in love, we can’t think of what will.
 SANDWICH
Snarf’s
Several locations in Boulder
www.eatsnarfs.com
Runner-up: Salvaggio’s Italian Deli
A sandwich shop by any other name wouldn’t taste as delicious. OK, so it’s not a statement quite up the caliber of the Bard, but there’s some truth in it. While some might want to pick at their food, peck, play or simply eat, Snarf’s encourages you to do the opposite: snarf it. In other words, consume it like you simply can’t get enough. Luckily for us all, that’s exactly how we eat their sandwiches. Always present somewhere in the Best of Boulder™ count, Snarf’s has all the sandwich goods to keep us coming back for more. A wide array of options and the most delicious and fresh ingredients in town combine with convenient locations and a low price tag to make Snarf’s a consistent reader pick. Add to the list the fact that they both deliver and cater, and something as simple as a sandwich becomes the object of hunger-struck affection. And we can all appreciate an eatery that lives up to its name.
TAKE OUT
Noodles & Company
2850 Baseline Rd., 303-247-9978
Runner-up: Snarf’s
Honorable Mentions: Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza, China Gourmet
It is no surprise that Boulder is home to many excellent take-out restaurants. After all, it is a city filled with busy students rushing between classes, business professionals in need of a quick lunch, and people of all types on their way to parties, picnics and meetings. In short, Boulder is a city of doers. However, as long as Noodles & Company is in town, we know we’ll be able to get everything done and have delicious food at the same time. Inspired by the experiences of company founder Aaron Kennedy with noodle shops in New York’s Greenwich Village, Noodles & Company is the hippest place in the 303 to pick up a meal on the go.
Noodles and Company offers fresh, creative noodle dishes from a variety of cuisine styles, including American, Asian and Mediterranean. The folks at Noodles even allow customers to customize their orders and create their own blend of noodle bliss. If you’re seeking more than just noodles, then you’ll be happy to avail yourself of the big, delectable cookies — either Chocolate Chunk or Snoodledoodle — salads, and delicious ciabatta rolls. Bottled water, fountain drinks and a plethora of bottled juices and beverages — including that great nectar of the Rockies, Izze Sparkling Juice — will keep you cool and hydrated throughout the day.
Try the Pesto Cavatappi with seasoned chicken breast, or the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese, a dish that wins new respect for the classic comfort food. Either way, you’ll be sure to find something to make your mouth water. If noodles just aren’t your bag, Boulder is full of alternatives, like runner-up Snarf’s Sub Shop, and honorable mention Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza and China Gourmet.
TEAHOUSE
Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse
1770 13th St., 303-442-4993
Runner-up: Pekoe Sip House
Honorable Mentions: Celestial Seasonings, The Tea Spot
Though many have tried, no one can seem to take away the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse’s crown. And that’s probably not going to change anytime soon, considering that the Dushanbe is not only a stellar purveyor of tea, but a Boulder landmark and a work of art to boot. Walking into Dushanbe is like stepping out of the hustle and bustle of the city and into a new realm, filled with bright colors and intricate designs. The teahouse, a gift from Boulder’s sister city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, features the décor and handiwork of more than 40 artisans. But the artistry does not stop there. Add into the mix an amalgam of carefully selected teas and the culinary works of local chefs, and anyone can understand why the Dushanbe Teahouse won’t be getting knocked off its throne anytime soon. It’s good to be king.
 THAI RESTAURANT
Khow Thai
1600 Broadway, 303-447-0273
Runner-up: Siamese Plate
Honorable Mentions: Chy Thai, Buddha Café
OK. We get the point. Khow Thai is the best Thai restaurant in Boulder. Readers have made this clear as a crystal Coke by voting to make Khow Thai the winner of this prestigious Best of Boulder™ award for eight — that’s right, eight — years in a row. Clearly, readers are into the lunch specials, the amazing Sriracha stir-fry, the affordable prices and the speedy service. So, unless the owners of Khow Thai have a helluva lot of friends that read Boulder Weekly and vote in our annual survey, we’re going to go ahead and trust that the next time we are looking for some tasty Thai food, we should heed the advice of our voters. We recommend that you do the same. Do you really think that you know better? Well, you’re wrong. Our readers know what they’re talking about when it comes to good deals on good food. Trust ’em, OK?
VEGETARIAN-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT
Sunflower Restaurant
1701 Pearl St., 303-440-0220
Runner-up: The Leaf
Honorable Mention: Turley’s
Vegetarianism is not a new fad in Boulder or around the world. Actually it’s been around through the ages. Plant-based diet enthusiasts include Plato, Leonardo da Vinci and Mahatma Gandhi. Boulder, being one of the most vegetarian cities in the country, offers an abundance of choices for veggie-lovin’ food eaters. Sunflower has become the enduring champion of the vegetarian-friendly category. Founded in 1999, Sunflower is a unique organic dining experience committed to serving a healthy and environmentally friendly array of food. Seasonally they offer locally grown produce. Menu selections do not include any preservatives, chemical additives or artificial ingredients. The menu offers something for everyone including gluten-free, vegan and meat-friendly options. Try their Grilled Portobello sandwich on their house-baked foccacia with roasted red peppers, organic baby spinach, fresh Haystack Mountain goat cheese, grilled red onions and balsamic veganaise. Your carnivore friends can chow down on the charbroiled buffalo burger with organic cheddar cheese and orange-maple barbeque sauce. Next time you are looking for a way to please both the vegetarians and the meat-eaters in your family, Sunflower just might be the place to go.
VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT
Chez Thuy Restaurant
2655 28th St., 303-442-1700
Runner-up: May Wah
This year, readers were so delighted by the dishes, the service and the atmosphere of perennial favorite Chez Thuy Restaurant that they gave them not one, but two Best of Boulder™ awards. Now, that’s saying something. And if that’s not enough to convince you to give ’em a shot, maybe their full parking lot and ever-turning tables will give you a hint. It’s good. Damn good, in fact. Offering tasty appetizers, hot pots, grilled and stir-fried entrees, salads, a kids menu and vegetarian specials, Chez Thuy serves up such variety that you’ll be able to sample something new every time you visit. Top off lunch at Chez Thuy with their amazing Vietnamese coffee — a B-dub editorial favorite — and you’ll float through the afternoon. Open later than many restaurants — till 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday — Chez Thuy is a great way to end an evening on the town. And don’t forget to rub the Buddha’s belly.
WINE SELECTION
Frasca Food & Wine
1738 Pearl St., 303-442-6966
Runner-up: The Flagstaff House
Honorable Mention: The Kitchen
Any restaurant can pick up a copy of Wine Spectator and flippantly order the latest, trendiest bottles. And for those who just don’t care much about tannins or taste, we suppose that’s OK. But for those of us with a deeper appreciation of how the vintage can enhance your meal to a much higher degree, there’s Frasca. Frasca is known around Boulder for its exquisite Italian fare, hailing from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. But this area has more than some of the most delectable dishes around. Residents of the region also understand the importance of pairing up a meal with the sophisticated spirit of wine. Accordingly, Frasca pays special attention to the wines it puts on your table and knows how to suggest the perfect (yes, perfect) match to the flavors in your dinner. With more than 200 varietals in house, and a variety of ongoing wine programs, Frasca isn’t just about having a decent selection — it’s about enhancing your palate.
SUSHI
Sushi Zanmai
1221 Spruce St., 303-440-0733
Runner-up: Sushi Tora
Honorable Mentions: Hapa Sushi Grill & Sake Bar, Japango
Despite Boulder’s relatively small size, the density of sushi restaurants downtown approaches a level you’d find in a place like Los Angeles, Toronto or New York. As a matter of fact, if one wanted to truly indulge their love of sushi, they could hit each of this year’s honorees in one debauched evening, with a grand total of five minutes walking time between the venues. Perennial winner Sushi Zanmai’s strengths include its eye-catching presentation and broad selection, which goes well beyond pedestrian salmon and tuna. This is the place to load up on surf clam, fatty tuna and quail egg sushi. A few blocks down, runner-up Sushi Tora takes pride in the details, making its own soy sauce and offering genuine wasabi root instead of inferior powders. It’s also home to one of the best chirashis in town, a bowl of sushi rice topped with a smattering of sashimi.
Honorable mention Hapa brings a fresh twist to sushi with a menu of imaginative rolls such as the Mork and Mindy, consisting of white tuna, salmon and chives. For the diner on a budget, Japango offers happy hour sushi specials and a full complement of rolls to suit any taste.
 ORGANIC RESTAURANT
Sunflower
1701 Pearl St., 303-440-0220
Runner-up: The Leaf
Here’s a challenge: Climb up Flagstaff and find the best, most perfectly rounded rock you can find. Get a slingshot (you can raid Dennis the Menace’s house if needed). Close your eyes and launch that rock anywhere in the general direction of Boulder. And try — just try — and have it not hit something that touts itself as “organic.” Organic is the new black or the old record player or something like that. Of course, it’s not the worst trend to promote. But long before “going green” became a marketing campaign, the fine folks at Sunflower were dishing out the best in healthful, organic dining. Made with all-certified organic ingredients, Sunflower exceeds in really giving us the goods. Like any eco-conscious restaurant should, Sunflower shifts its menu to match the seasons. They use locally grown ingredients when possible and only the finest in non-endangered game meats. This is a menu that is chemical-free, preservative-free and any-other-random-crap-that’s-not-supposed-to-be-in-our-food free. Add to that an extensive list of biodynamic wines, and you couldn’t find a better a definition of organic — with or without a slingshot.
OVERALL RESTAURANT
The Mediterranean Restaurant
1002 Walnut St., 303-444-5335
Runner-up: The Kitchen
Honorable Mention: Jax Fish House
Is anyone surprised that The Mediterranean Restaurant gets the nod as the Best Overall Restaurant in town? For years, this wildly popular eatery has earned a reputation for consistency, decent prices and a menu that, at the risk of sounding clichéd, offers something for everyone. Bargain hunters can take advantage of Happy Hour tapas, while the timid diner can chow down on a hamburger or mixed green salad. But to limit one’s self to those choices misses the point of The Med — this is the place to sample outstanding examples of Greek, Italian, Spanish and Middle Eastern cuisine. Inspired clam and prosciutto gnocchi beckon, as does a unique vegetable paella, seasoned with feta and spiced with pepperoncini.
Runner-up The Kitchen takes a less-is-more approach with a more limited menu relying heavily on the best ingredients. Celebrated local commodities such as Long’s Farm Pork and Wisdom Farms poultry appear in unfussy preparations that let the quality of the raw materials shine through. Jax Fish House is the honorable mention honoree, home of Chef Hosea Rosenberg, known nationwide now for his Top Chef TV victory. Media coverage notwithstanding, this is still a top-notch spot with sublime seafood preparations and a standout raw bar.
HAPPY HOUR
The Mediterranean Restaurant
1002 Walnut St., 303-444-5335
Runner-up: Boulder Café
Honorable Mention: Mountain Sun / Southern Sun
If there is a more appropriately named phenomenon in the English language, we have never heard of it (although “slam dancing” probably comes close). Happy hour is that wonderful period between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. when bars traditionally offer food and drink specials to weary drones who have worked all day at soul-crushing jobs and need to be reminded that the world is still a place of wonder and excitement — and booze. The concept of getting wasted before dinner actually dates back to the Prohibition Era. Since alcohol was not allowed in public restaurants, people would often stop by a speakeasy after work to get their drink on before going out to eat. In the 1920s, “happy hour” was also a slang term used to describe an on-ship performance, which is an extremely random fact that might be useful if you ever find yourself competing on Jeopardy! In Boulder, there are numerous venues that continue to keep this American tradition alive, and The Med is one of our favorite local speakeasies. Not only do they have great specials on wine, they also have a generous selection of happy hour tapas, so you’re not just pouring alcohol down your gullet into an empty stomach. The Med is definitely a great spot to drink your problems away.
ICE CREAM
Glacier Homemade Ice Cream & Gelato
3133 28th St., 303-440-6542
Runner-up: Ben & Jerry’s
Homemade Ice Cream
Honorable Mention: Cold Stone Creamery
Eating ice cream used to be simple. You’d go to the store and buy a pint, or maybe get a cone at your favorite creamery, and you never thought to check the label for ingredients because you knew what you were eating was pure and natural. Today, it’s much more difficult to have that same peace of mind. While the rows of containers promise ecstasy in the form of mudslide-this or crunch-that, you can’t help but notice that the ingredients list is longer than the average high school history paper. And, while Boulder County residents are the most educated in the nation, even we have difficulty reading the list of chemicals that fill that tub of French Vanilla you just bought. Luckily for us, Glacier Homemade Ice Cream & Gelato still does things the old fashioned way.
Instead of using chemicals cooked up in a laboratory, the folks at Glacier mix the freshest ingredients — hand-squeezed citrus fruits, homemade chocolate and fudge — to create the best ice cream in America. And with more than 80 flavors on display in any Glacier store at any time, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be without choices. If 80 isn’t a big enough number for you, then remember that Glacier has mixed more than 800 varieties of ice cream and gelato and continues to produce new flavors every two weeks. You can enjoy these Glacier treats in the store or, if you buy one (or two, or three) of the pint-sized containers, in the comfort of your own home. And since ice cream is nearly everyone’s favorite dessert — Americans consume about 1.55 billion gallons of the stuff annually — you’ll be glad to know that Glacier offers catering services for weddings, parties and corporate events. But whatever you do, don’t settle for substandard chemical ice cream ever again. Now that you know where to go, you have no excuse.
INDIAN RESTAURANT
Sherpa’s Adventurers Restaurant & Bar
825 Walnut St., 303-440-7151
Runner-up: The Taj Restaurant
Honorable Mention: Tandoori Grill
Usually it goes like this: Boulder adventurer goes to Nepal, climbs Everest and some other 8,000-meter peaks, then opens a school or library for Sherpa children and comes home to offer slideshows at a local climbing store. In the case of Sherpa’s Adventurers Restaurant & Bar, the story goes in something of the reverse. Pemba Sherpa grew up in the Everest region of Nepal without the conveniences of electricity, running water or roads. By 16, he was guiding climbs. But curious about the West, he came to the United States, eventually settling in Boulder, where he opened a restaurant. Offering authentic Himalayan food with a touch of history — the Traveler’s Lounge exhibits books and photos that tell about the Sherpa people — Sherpa’s has become a part of the Boulder landscape. Dine on the heart-healthy fare and be inspired by Pemba’s success to plan your next big ascent — even you’re only hoping to summit Flagstaff Mountain.
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