Denver Downtown 16th Street Food Tour

We begin our food tour at one of Denver’s most storied landmarks — the Brown Palace Hotel. Opened in 1892, this icon has hosted presidents, musicians, and travelers for more than a century. Its grand atrium, ornate ironwork, and stained glass skylight offer a glimpse into Denver’s gilded past, when elegance and ambition defined the city’s rise. Before we step out into downtown, we enjoy a seasonal housemade pastry from the hotel’s award-winning pastry chef. Each creation — from buttery croissants to fruit-filled danishes or delicate tarts — is crafted in-house and reflects the season’s best ingredients. It’s a refined yet welcoming start, a bite of sweetness paired with a bit of history. As your guide shares stories of the hotel’s famous guests and hidden tunnels, you’ll taste the kind of care and craftsmanship that set Denver apart long before the modern food scene arrived.

After meeting at the Brown Palace, we head toward the 16th Street Mall — Denver’s main downtown corridor and the heart of our food tour. This mile-long pedestrian street runs through the center of the city, lined with restaurants, cafés, and food halls that show off Denver’s growing culinary scene. What began in the 1980s as a retail hub has evolved into a mix of historic landmarks and modern eateries serving everything from tacos and pizza to sushi and craft cocktails. Here, locals grab lunch between meetings while visitors explore the city’s flavors in one easy walk. Food trucks and pop-ups often line the blocks, and patio seating fills with people enjoying Colorado’s 300 days of sunshine. As we make our way down the mall, your guide will point out long-time Denver favorites and newer spots redefining downtown dining. It’s the perfect place to taste the city’s energy — casual, creative, and full of local pride.

Our next stop is Lazo Empanadas, a local favorite bringing the flavors of Argentina to downtown Denver. Here, we sample their chorizo and egg breakfast empanada — a golden, hand-crimped pastry filled with savory sausage, fluffy eggs, and just enough spice to wake up your palate. Baked, not fried, it’s warm and flaky with a little smokiness from the chorizo and richness from the dough. As you take your first bite, your guide shares how empanadas became a staple of Argentine street food — easy to hold, quick to eat, and endlessly adaptable. Lazo’s recipes come straight from family tradition, but with a Colorado twist, using local ingredients and bold flavors. It’s comfort food with craftsmanship behind it, a perfect mid-tour bite that bridges South American roots and Denver’s love of global cuisine. Grab a napkin, because this one tends to disappear fast.

From 16th Street, guests can look east toward the Colorado State Capitol, one of Denver’s most recognizable landmarks. Completed at the turn of the 20th century, the building was designed to resemble the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and rises prominently above Civic Center and Capitol Hill. Its most distinctive feature is the gleaming gold dome, which pays tribute to the mining industry that fueled Colorado’s early growth. In 1908, miners donated 200 ounces of gold to gild the dome, creating the brilliant finish visible across downtown. The dome rises 272 feet above the ground and catches the sunlight dramatically, especially on clear days. The Capitol is also famous for the “One Mile Above Sea Level” marker on its western steps, although the exact designated step has changed as elevation measurements became more precise. Seeing the golden dome from the mall connects Denver’s modern downtown with the mining history, political development, and civic ambition that shaped the city.

As the tour continues, guests walk past Denver Pavilions, a large open-air shopping and entertainment complex that helped reshape this end of downtown. Opened in 1998, the development was part of a broader effort to bring major retailers, restaurants and entertainment back to Denver’s city center. Its original lineup included a 15-screen movie theater and more than 30 shops, along with prominent businesses. Today, Denver Pavilions remains one of the most visible commercial landmarks on 16th Street, with restaurants, stores and a movie theater arranged around open-air walkways. Its bold architecture and large signs reflect a late-1990s vision of downtown as an urban entertainment destination. Walking past it gives guests a chance to see how 16th Street has continually evolved—from a traditional retail corridor to a pedestrian mall and, more recently, a broader downtown gathering place centered on dining, events and public space.

Just off 16th Street, guests can spot the historic Paramount Theatre, one of downtown Denver’s best-known entertainment landmarks. Opened in 1930, the theater was designed during the golden age of grand movie palaces, when going to the movies was meant to feel glamorous and theatrical. Its striking Art Deco details, glowing marquee, ornate interior, and original Wurlitzer organ reflect that era. Over the decades, the Paramount has evolved from a movie theater into a major live-performance venue, hosting concerts, comedians, speakers, and touring productions. Its survival is especially significant because many similar theaters across the country were demolished or heavily altered as downtown entertainment districts changed. Today, the Paramount remains an active venue and a reminder of a time when this stretch of Denver was filled with department stores, theaters, restaurants, and crowds arriving for a night out in the heart of the city.

Our third stop takes us to Appaloosa Grill for a bowl that tastes like Colorado: rich, slow-simmered bison chili. Lean, deeply flavored bison is cooked low and gentle with roasted chiles, tomatoes, warm spices, and a touch of cocoa for depth, then finished with sharp cheddar, green onion, and a dab of cooling crema. It’s hearty without being heavy, the kind of comfort that makes conversation start around the table. Your guide shares how bison moved from frontier staple to modern Rocky Mountain favorite while you sip water or a local beverage and take in the lively room. We talk texture, heat, and balance, and what makes game meats different from beef. By the last bite, you’ll understand why Denver chefs reach for bison when they want bold flavor and a sense of place—an edible snapshot of the city’s high-plains soul. Paired with a crumb of cornbread for scooping (or gluten-free on request), this stop is equal parts tasting and story—fuel for the short walk to our next bite on the tour!

Near the clock tower area, guests can also see the Denver Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which connects downtown Denver to the nation’s central banking system. The Federal Reserve helps oversee monetary policy, supervises banks, distributes currency, and supports the financial infrastructure used throughout the country. The building is also associated with the Denver Money Museum, where visitors can learn how currency is designed, protected, circulated, and eventually removed from use. Although the Federal Reserve may seem less visually dramatic than the clock tower, it represents another major part of downtown Denver’s identity: finance, commerce, and regional economic influence. Passing it on the tour gives guests a useful contrast between the historic department-store era represented by Daniels & Fisher and the modern financial institutions that now help anchor downtown Denver.

Just steps from Denver’s newly reopened 16th Street, Chopstickers offers a taste of handmade Chinese comfort food in a casual, family-owned setting. Founded by husband-and-wife team Zhijian “Abraham” Liu and Mengjiao Li, the restaurant grew from its original Fort Collins location into a downtown Denver favorite known for dumplings, noodles, and bao. On this stop, guests will taste pork potstickers made with a savory, juicy filling wrapped in tender dough, then pan-seared for a crisp golden bottom. The contrast between the crunchy exterior and soft, chewy wrapper is what gives potstickers their signature appeal. Served with a flavorful dipping sauce, the dumplings highlight the balance of richness, salt, acidity, and gentle spice found in many northern Chinese dishes. This stop is also a chance to learn how a traditional food with centuries of history has found a home in Denver through the story of a local immigrant-owned business.

Near the lower end of 16th Street, Skyline Park offers a narrow stretch of green space surrounded by office towers, hotels, and busy downtown streets. The park was created as part of a larger effort to make central Denver more livable and visually appealing during a period of major urban redevelopment. Its location provides a break from the surrounding buildings and gives downtown workers, residents, and visitors a place to sit, gather, eat lunch, or attend seasonal events. Over the years, Skyline Park has hosted markets, winter attractions, festivals, public art, and temporary installations. The space has also been redesigned and reimagined several times as the city has searched for the best way to activate downtown public areas. On the food tour, the park helps guests understand that 16th Street is not only a retail and transportation corridor. It is also part of a broader civic landscape designed to create public gathering spaces in the middle of Denver’s dense commercial core.

Our next stop brings us to one of Denver’s most iconic landmarks — the Daniels & Fisher Clock Tower. Built in 1911 as part of the grand Daniels & Fisher department store, it was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi and a proud symbol of Denver’s growth. Modeled after St. Mark’s Campanile in Venice, its four glowing clock faces have watched over the 16th Street Mall for more than a century. We pause here not for a bite, but for a taste of history. Your guide shares how this elegant tower survived the demolition of the original store in the 1970s and became a cornerstone of downtown’s revival. Today, it houses offices and event spaces with panoramic views, and its bells still chime through the city. Standing beneath it, you can feel the rhythm of Denver’s past and present blending together — a fitting intermission between food stops on our walk through the city’s evolving flavors and stories.

The tour concludes at Trompeau Bakery, a locally owned French bakery near the Daniels & Fisher Clock Tower. Here, guests taste a savory green chile quiche that blends classic French technique with one of Denver’s most recognizable flavors. The quiche features a flaky, buttery crust filled with rich egg custard, sausage, pepper jack cheese, and roasted Hatch Valley green chile. The result is creamy, savory, and lightly spicy, with crisp pastry around the edges and a soft, satisfying center. Green chile is a major part of Denver’s food culture, appearing on everything from breakfast burritos and eggs to burgers and fries. At Trompeau, that regional ingredient is folded into a traditional French dish, creating a fitting final bite that reflects the city’s mix of global influences and local traditions. It is a warm, flavorful finish to the tour and a great example of how Denver restaurants make familiar dishes distinctly their own.