TDH and I spent last weekend visiting a friend in Denver, Colorado. I had never been to Colorado before but was dying to go as I have heard wonderful things about the state and about Denver and Boulder in particular. We lucked out and caught some absolutely gorgeous weather, and although our trip was only two and half days, we did a pretty good job and covering a lot of ground.
I had dome some research before going to Colorado on what they had in terms of vegan cuisine as well as what to do and what to see while visiting. I found this awesome sight here that has a pretty kick ass itinerary on what to see in Denver. We flew in on a Friday night and the first thing we did when we woke up on Saturday morning was go to brunch at this awesome vegetarian restaurant in Denver called Watercourse Foods. As far as I can tell from this is really the only all vegetarian restaurant in Denver and the best part of this place is that all the baked goods are vegan!!
We got to the restaurant around 11am and it was packed! After waiting about fifteen minutes we got a seat outside on the porch and got to enjoy our breakfast in the unusually HOT sun. They have all kinds of vegan options from tofu scrambles to sandwiches to vegan pancakes! And the vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls and vegan savory scones are AMAZING! Mmmm….I’m getting hungry just thinking about that breakfast. 
After stuffing our face at Watercourse Foods we took a drive around downtown Denver to see the scenes and headed over to Common’s Park to relax and enjoy the sunshine. After living in San Francisco, Denver seems like a very small town to me. And it was very quiet for a Saturday.
After we had our fill of sun stroke we headed over the bridge and across the river to Highland District, North of downtown and checked out all the cute shops. I absolutely loved The Savory Spice Shop, where you can get every spice and type of extract imaginable! Just walking into that store your senses are overtaken by all kinds of wonderful aromas! The homemade extracts were my favorite, especially the butterscotch and the amaretto ones! I was also very impressed with Wen Chocolates, an all natural chocolate shop that produces all of its truffles by hand at the shop. They are a gorgeous site to look at and they come in some interesting flavors including kaffir lime, rosemary, bay leaf, lemon grass, and chili pepper.
Later on in the day we took a leisurely stroll by the state capital buildings which surround this huge town circle, and then down the 16th Street Mall, a pedestrian street lined with shops and restaurants. The most notable shop on this street is The Tattered Cover Bookshop. A cute three story independent community bookstore in Downtown Denver. It is definitely a place to check out if you love books as you can spend hours there exploring the aisles. They also have plenty of couches for relaxing a cute little cafe.
Walking around all day was exhausting so we ended our day with movie and a scoop of vegan ice cream from Sweet Action Ice Cream. This place is awesome! They always have at least two creamy coconut based flavors to choose from that change frequently as well as yummy vegan ice cream sandwiches and cakes! The vegan chocolate ice cream sandwiched between two vegan peanut butter cookies was calling my name… but I opted for a scoop each of chocolate chip and spiced apple cake ice cream instead. YUM!
We woke up early on Sunday morning and headed to Bouflder for some hiking and lunch. We hiked up a short but very rigorous and steep trail on Flagstaff Mountain. The view from the top was amazing and made the grueling hike up so worth it. By the time we were done hiking our stomachs were screaming for some food so we headed to Pearl Street in Downtown Boulder and stopped at Centro Latin Kitchen for some happy hour Brunch $2 Tacos. This place is definitely not vegan but I got some zucchini mushroom tacos without the cheese that were kick-ass! The refried black beans were also very tasty. Another restaurant in Boulder that I would have LOVED to check out is Turley’s which has vegan options and cooks with all natural, organic, and local ingredients!
After spending most of the day in Boulder we headed back to Denver for a quick mid-afternoon siesta and then headed back to Downtown to have dinner and watch the football game at the Wynkoop Brewing Company. This place is awesome because it is your typical brewing company/ sports bar/ pool hall… with VEGAN OPTIONS! I had the vegan sloppy joe and TDH had the vegan “chicken” curry wrap, both very tasty! And for desert we had a vegan peanut butter and chocolate torte…YUM! I give this place major props for offering alternative options to the normal “sports bar food” and overall was very excited with the available vegan options in Denver.
Monday morning we were off to the airport to catch a plane back home, but not before stopping by City O’ City, the sister restaurant to Watercourse, to pick up some vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls and savory scones for breakfast, and an outrageous pumpkin chocolate cookie that they call Scout cookies for the road. If you are ever in Denver you HAVE to stop by City O’ City and pick up one of the scout cookies, they are TOO DIE FOR!
So, in summary, places to check out while in Denver, CO:
4. 16th Street Mall
5. The Tattered Cover Book Store
8. City O’ City
And places to check out while in Boulder, CO:
1. The hiking trails on Flagstaff Mountain
3. Turley’s
4. Pearl Street and Downtown Boulder
Popular Posts