Car advertisements and TV shows typically depict Coloradoans as highly fit adventurous folks who build summer road trips around climbing rocks, spending days at music festivals and riding trail bikes down mountain sides.
There is another breed of adventurer who calls this state home: tens of thousands of foodie thrill seekers like myself.
We know we are lucky to eat in a dining paradise like Boulder County, but ho hum … we’re bored. We need to hit the road. Our taste buds and brains need new flavors, cooking encounters and outrageous sips in beautiful places.
Sync your summer calendar with the following Top 10 list of Colorado food and drink experiences.
10. Hot food lovers’ paradise: Pueblo
You’ll find green chile in dishes across the state, but Pueblo is ground zero for pod appreciation. There is even a special Colorado vehicle license plate featuring Pueblo chile that always irritates those from nearby New Mexico.
Pueblo is known for The Slopper, an open-face cheeseburger smothered with green chile sauce and garnished with onions, cheese and tortilla chips or saltines. Devotees can follow a multi-stop Slopper Trail to restaurants featuring the dish such as the famous Gray’s Coors Tavern. Pueblo green chile-centric stops include Bingo Burger, where the beef is mixed with the roasted peppers, and the historic Gagliano’s Italian Market for pork-chile sausage.
The fall chile harvest season climax is achieved at the sweaty Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival Sept. 19-21, where up to 50,000 visitors sample the myriad ways chilies can be incorporated into food and drink. The air is permeated by smoke from rotating drums of roasting chilies. We always start out with the event’s simply excellent signature dish: a whole roasted green chile and melted cheese inside a folded griddled flour tortilla. Information: pueblochilefestival.com
More hot stops: pueblochile.org
9. Lunch reservation: party of 5,280
Sometimes, bigger is better — especially when it comes to rare Colorado tasting experiences.
Food and community are the simple goals of the Longer Tables project, which aims to feed lunch to 5,280 diners at a mile-long table July 26 on Denver’s Auraria Campus. If successful, it will be among the longest dining table events ever attempted in the U.S., according to the organization. Tickets: milelongtable.org
There is no shortage of summer events built around food on the Front Range, but for our money, The Big Eat is the real Taste of Colorado. The walkaround sampling at the Denver Performing Arts Center on July 24 features true local tastes from more than 70 independent restaurants and food and beverage companies. The Big Eat participants this year include Ace Eat Serve, ChoLon, Coperta, La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal, Mizuna, Restaurant Olivia, Saigon Noodle Club, Tavernetta, The Bindery, Carboy Winery and King of Wings. Tickets: eatdenver.com/bigeat
8. On Tour: Cool curds and creamy yogurt
Cheeseheads can sample fresh-out-of-the-vat cheese curds and Colorado-made Camembert during private tours at the award-winning MouCo Cheese Company in Fort Collins. Tours and tastings are available by appointment on Tuesdays.
Continue the Northern Colorado dairy immersion with a visit to Morning Fresh Dairy Farm in Bellvue, where you can meet the cows and taste super-creamy Noosa Yoghurt at the onsite Howling Cow Cafe. Details: morningfreshdairy.com
7. Getting baked on the sweet treats trail
Honestly, while we enjoy big food gatherings, what we really love is a steady supply of excellent baked goods and coffee along the route.
Malasadas are fried yeasted sweet bread from the Portuguese Azores with various fillings that are tossed in cinnamon sugar and always best eaten hot. Try them at Ollie’s Malasadas, which opened recently in Windsor, just outside of Fort Collins. Another hot dough specialist is Rocky Mountain Beignets in Colorado Springs. They produce square, New Orleans-style doughnuts bathed in powdered sugar.
Colorado is known for its roadside cinnamon rolls. Some of our favorites are sold at Ferncliff Food & Fuel, a mountain town gathering spot near Allenspark. The huge scratch-made rolls are laced with sweet cinnamon and submerged in cream cheese frosting.
Rollin’ Street Bakery in Winter Park produces unique “chimneys,” sweet or savory pastries made on a sort of pastry rotisserie. The baked treats come stuffed, coated and rolled in various toppings.
6. Day trip taste escape: Colorado Springs
We bet that Colorado Springs was probably not the first destination you imagined for a culinary expedition, but the city hides a wealth of taste attractions. We always stop at our favorite old-fashioned candy shop, Patsy’s Candies and at one of Colorado’s only Dutch-centric cafes, Boonzaaijer’s Dutch Bakery, for butter cookies and pastries.
For sheer ambience, sample the restaurants and bars set inside the old Ivywild School, or take in Pikes Peak over BBQ at Bourbon Brothers Smokehouse & Tavern. The kitschy King’s Chef Diner is a perfect place for a green chile-drenched burrito.
Colorado Springs has plenty of upscale eateries, but we are charmed by the pizza (and the toys, books and gifts) at kid-friendly Poor Richard’s Restaurant and the family-style chicken dinner feasts at Juniper Valley Ranch.
5. Dive deep into Colorado’s best wines
A surprising number of Colorado foodies are still oblivious to the fact that the state is regarded nationally as an up-and-coming wine region with award-winning wineries worth visiting.
The once-quiet Colorado Mountain Winefest has become way too popular, and tickets typically sell out. Closer to the Front Range, we enjoy the Manitou Springs Colorado Wine Festival. On June 7, dozens of winemakers will be on hand to pour sips of Colorado whites, reds, rosés and bubblies. Tickets: manitousprings.org/manitou-springs-colorado-wine-festival
There are more famous Colorado mountain town wine and food gatherings, but we like the vibe at the 10-year-old Breckenridge Wine Classic, Aug. 21-23. The tastings and dinners will feature American and international wines at various venues including Chef Matt Vawter’s award-winning restaurants. Tickets: breckenridgewineclassic.com
4. Hop to it
Billy Goat Hop Farm in Montrose is offering tours as well as camping spots among the bines (hop plants). The farm is especially aromatic during the late summer hop harvest. Naturally, beers bittered with the hops are available onsite.
Consider combining your farm visit with the Colorado Brewers Rendezvous on July 12 in Salida. This beer fest is strictly for serious ale geeks, with lots of home-state brewers and views of the Collegiate Peaks. Tickets: coloradobeer.org/colorado-brewers-rendezvous
3. Rolling with Colorado sushi and sake
Yes, Virginia, there really is an award-winning sake brewery in our ale-soaked state. You can learn how rice wines are crafted at Denver’s Colorado Sake Co., and also take Sushi 101. The classes teach newbies how to roll and slice sushi and make various styles of sushi rolls. For the final exam, students must enjoy their sushi, which can be paired with housemade sakes. Tickets: coloradosakeco.com/events
2. Take a bite out of your comfort zone
Summer cultural festivals are among the best ways to take your palate — and your children — somewhere outside their usual comfort zone.
The full range of authentic Ukrainian dishes, from savory pirogies to sweet baked treats, are on the menu with culture, dance and music at the Colorado Ukrainian Festival on Aug. 23 at Belmar Park in Lakewood. Tickets: tickettailor.com/events/ukrainianscolorado/1707523
We love the Havana Street Night Markets where Aurora’s multicultural, multi-lingual riches are celebrated, especially the Korean, Mexican, African and Asian street foods. The free night markets take place the last Saturday of each month through September at Leezakaya, 2710 S. Havana St. in Aurora.
1. Only-in-Colorado dining spots
The following experiences in the state are notable much more for the environment than for the fare, but they are still quite memorable.
Eat dinner on the Royal Gorge Route Railway as it chugs through a canyon. Tickets: royalgorgeroute.com/dining
Take the Pikes Peak Cog Railway to the top and taste the world’s highest doughnuts, made at the 14,115-foot summit. Information: cograilway.com/the-new-experience/pikes-peak-visitor-center
Sip tiki drinks in your flip flops and pretend Colorado has a shore at the summer bar at Pug Ryan’s Brewery on the edge of Lake Dillon.
John Lehndorff writes the Nibbles column for Boulder Weekly and hosts Radio Nibbles on KGNU. Podcasts: kgnu.org/category/radio-nibbles