This intimate white-cloth institution on the northern edge of the neighborhood has spent 30 years building one of the most spectacular Italian wine cellars in Colorado if not the whole nation — and the tasting menu matches the bottle list luxury for luxury. While the braised duck and torta di formaggio are among its best-loved dishes, newcomers should also keep their eyes peeled for veal, lobster, and truffles to get the full Barolo Grill experience.

Upstairs, one of the city’s best Chinese restaurants offers a nine-course prix fixe for a minimum of six people by reservation one night a week only. But as special as that may be, rest assured the food downstairs, though simpler, is just as stellar: Steamed or fried dumplings, noodles, rice plates, and a seasonal dish or two are all anyone needs to make memories here.

An oasis of grit in the chichi expanse of Cherry Creek, this party place is known for its freewheeling approach to tacos and margs: The former features the likes of crispy tripe, grilled lobster with smoked avocado, sweet potatoes, and tortillas flavored with hibiscus tea or squid ink, while the latter incorporates coconut, cucumber, blood orange, chiles, and more.

Half-hidden below street level, this cozy French charmer has quietly built a following on the strength of classic bistro plates like escargots à la Bourguignonne, trout Grenobloise, and chocolate mousse, not to mention brunchtime crêpes on the shady patio. It all pairs, naturally, with a wine list that runs the gamut from Provençal rosé and Alsatian Riesling to Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Where La Merise is quaint, Le Bilboquet is glitzy: The lavish decor is an invitation to indulge, while the modern-leaning French menu all but insists upon it. Foie gras mousse, Wagyu tartare, and duck confit go without saying; so does a mostly French wine list that rarely dips below $100 per bottle. But the people-watching alone is worth the price of admission — and so are humbler surprises like the poached egg–topped lentil salad.

This handsome New York transplant has it all: a cosmopolitan atmosphere, centerpiece main dishes like chicken-parm pizza for two and baked lasagna with filet meatballs, and a splashy brunch service featuring bottomless Bellinis. Come dessert, don’t sleep on the cannoli.

A sibling of Quality Italian, this breezy slice of the Mediterranean in the Mile High City revels in the flavors of Greece, serving up such stunners as flaming kasseri cheese with toasted pumpkin seeds, calamari and artichokes with lemon aioli, wood-roasted fish of all kinds, and grilled lamb chops with smoked cherries and pine nuts; enhancing the vibe are Greek wines and evocative cocktails like the vodka-based Zephyr with pomegranate, fig, and orange blossom.

Cherry Creek residents have taken to this chic but casual gathering spot in the Halcyon hotel. That’s largely thanks to a New American menu that strikes the right balance between comfort and creativity — think Swedish meatballs in shiitake-mushroom gravy or buttermilk-fried chicken with pomegranate molasses — and to a bar that whips up kicky cocktails like the H. Heart Beet, featuring beet-infused gin, ginger beer, and walnut bitters.

Though it’s long billed itself as the black sheep of Cherry Creek, the fact is that no guide to the neighborhood is complete without this classic tavern, beloved for its endlessly customizable burgers: Nearly 40 a la carte toppings include corned beef and sauerkraut, mac-and-cheese and chiles rellenos, and perhaps most famously, peanut butter and grape jelly. About 30 craft beers make the ordering process all the more bamboozlingly fun.

With its nautical charm, the decor of this underrated seafood spot whisks its guests to the coast in a snap. Of course, the menu follows suit, brimming with oysters and mussels, crab legs and calamari, clam chowder and lobster rolls, tuna tacos and roasted scallops, and still more. Come for lunch, stay for the lengthy and generous happy hour — after all, it feels like vacation in here.

In true Richard Sandoval style, the kitchen of this stylish hideaway in the Hotel Clio laces its pan-Latin cuisine with Asian influences, resulting in the likes of lobster quesadillas with avocado-yuzu puree, sweet-and-sour lomo saltado, achiote-marinated salmon with dashi-braised bok choy and bacon morita jam, and pork belly tacos with kimchi slaw — the latter a feature of Toro’s prix fixe “bottomless brunch” on weekends. Cocktails burst with the bright flavors of passion fruit and pineapple, hibiscus and chiles.

As swanky as you’d expect, the Denver outpost of Nobu Matsuhisa’s seminal restaurant serves all the legendary chef’s greatest hits — including uni shooters, rock-shrimp tempura, new-style sashimi, and miso black cod — in a warmly serene space where Champagne and Burgundy by the glass and three-figure bottles of sake are par for the celebratory course.