Ah, Boulder restuarants! Be still my salivating taste buds! As a resident of this fair city, no one needs to tell you that living in Boulder is like living in the world’s best cafeteria, with choices of every different type of cuisine at your fingertips and enough variety to keep your taste buds busy for weeks.
Of course, living in one of the foodiest cities in America means that we anticipate the opening of the newest and trendiest restaurants in the county. To keep you abreast of the hot new Boulder restuarants, here’s a list of openings within the New Year that you don’t want to miss.
The Cheese Course
Just the name of this place gets me salivating. To know me is to know that cheese is my favorite food group. The variety available and the way it pairs well with just about everything make it the perfect food type. Now there’s a store and fast casual restaurant offering all the good stuff to the good people of Boulder. The Cheese Course offers artisanal cheese from dairy farmers all over the globe. Around the world in 80 cheeses. I like the sound of that.
Zeal
Another place to add to the growing list of sustainability-focused restaurants in Boulder, Zeal takes eco-responsibility seriously, but has fun with their food. It’s open for all three meals (and more, if your eating habits are closer to a hobbit’s than a human’s) and they offer everything you could need to detox or retox, as demonstrated by their drink menu. With menu items for paleo, vegan, and gluten-free eaters alike, this is an upscale place to dine with your friends of the restricted diet variety.
Protein Bar
Juice bars are all the rage now and Protein Bar follows suit with its addition to the 29th Street Mall. But this place offers more than just juice and smoothies; they offer a variety of vegetarian and vegan fare for the non-meat eaters or omnivores looking for something a little leafy.
Sweet Cow
Fans of the Louisville ice cream joint with the AstroTurf “lawn” will be delighted to know that there’s a new location in Boulder. Sweet Cow makes small batches of ice cream using local cows to get some of the freshest ice cream on the block. You can almost hear the mooing.
Honorable Mention: Trader Joe’s
Ok, so it’s not exactly a restaurant, but devotees will tell you that they crave their food constantly. Trader Joe’s exploded onto the Colorado scene with a force this year. There are locations open all around the Denver metro area, including one in Boulder. A friend of mine once described Trader Joe’s as the guilt-free way to buy junk food, since most of the desirable items are their sweets and booze but the place is marketed as a health food store. Unfortunately, the only store with a liquor store is the flagship store in Denver so there’s no Two Buck Chuck in the Boulder location, but you can load up on Cookie Butter.
Drooling in Anticipation: Bruxie
The California franchise has a location open in Denver already, but I can’t wait to give this place a try when they open on the 29th Street Mall this summer. They had me at Belgian waffle, but then they make a combination of sweet and savory dishes using the waffles. Not to poo poo the health food scene in Boulder, but sometimes you just want a Buttermilk Chicken and Waffle Sandwich and all of the calories that come with it. It’s not like we can’t go run it off later.
Photo courtesy of Zeal!
