Three Colorado Spots Make NYT List of America's Fifty Best Restaurants

When Michelin announced the restaurants in its 2024 Colorado guide in early September, there were some glaring omissions.

Our list of snubs was long, but the most baffling was Sắp Sửa, a modern Vietnamese restaurant that opened in the Lowenstein complex at 2550 East Colfax Avenue in June 2023 and has been racking up national praise ever since, including landing on Bon Appétit's List of Best New Restaurants of 2024 the very same day that the Michelin Guide announcement left it out.

Now Sắp Sửa has been named among the best places to eat in the country by another notable publication, the New York Times, which released its annual picks for the top fifty places to dine on September 24.

Last year, two Denver spots made the cut: La Diabla and Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails. This year, those picks were replaced by a different pair of Mile High restaurants, Sắp Sửa and another newcomer, Yuan Wonton, as well as one in Pagosa Springs, Meander Eatery.

"Since the husband-and-wife team Anna and Ni Nguyen opened what they call their 'nontraditional Vietnamese restaurant,' they have been stacking accolades, including best new restaurant mentions from national media and a James Beard semifinalist nod for the same. All well deserved," the New York Times writes. "Their trứng và trứng alone would warrant the praise. Described simply as 'soft scrambled egg, brown butter, fish sauce, trout roe, rice,' the dish coaxes the humble egg into an improbably rich, custardy realm. And the rest of the menu does not disappoint. Skeins of mint, chiles and ginger run through dishes that play on traditional Vietnamese preparations, but still taste wholly original. Booking at prime dinner hour can still be tricky, though not as Sisyphean as it once was."
As the Nguyens do at Sắp Sửa, chef Penelope Wong pays homage to her Asian American upbringing at Yuan Wonton. "Part of the joy here is the variety of choices, several of which rotate," the New York Times description reads. "There are Hong Kong-style 'YW OG' wontons in Sichuan chile oil, tom kha chicken wontons, Chinese chive pockets and steamed chashu pork bao. All are expertly constructed with handmade doughs. Much of the rest of the menu changes as well, but on one visit, the hero was the jok, a Chinese congee with chicken and a warming, nervy duet of ginger and pickled bird’s-eye chile that made the dish hum."

Meander Eatery is a farm-to-table concept that opened in late 2021. "Tucked into the southern reaches of the San Juan Mountains, Meander is a gem of a country restaurant," writes the Times. "Chef Justin Jacobs spent time in the kitchen at Frasca, in Boulder, among the region’s most renowned restaurants, but has left the white-tablecloth life behind. The menu here is unapologetically eclectic, with quality ingredients, especially produce, and sure-handed cooking keeps it coherent. A Dutch baby topped with a creamy lump crab meat mixture made a novel twist on breakfast for dinner, while a 'patio smoked' bratwurst, made in house, was a deftly spiced version of that quintessential cased meat. Particularly on a warm evening, a table on the back deck is the perfect place to have dinner and watch the San Juan River, well, meander by."

For more local dining recommendations, check out our list of the top 100 metro-area restaurants.