Since 2023, Colorado Michelin Restaurant Guide has been recommending restaurants in Denver, Boulder County, Aspen, Snowmass Village, Vail, and Beaver Creek each September. This year, the venerated French organization expanded its reach to the entire Centennial State, allowing opportunities for promising eateries from the Denver suburbs to the far-flung mountain towns.

Colorado’s 2026 batch of Michelin-starred restaurants—announced on Monday, September 14—represents a wide swath of culinary styles, from Mexican to Italian to Japanese, and also several eateries that turn to local farms and ranches for menu inspiration. Below, the complete list of Colorado Michelin honorees, including stars, Bib Gourmands, recommended restaurants, and special individual awards.

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*Indicates a new Michelin Guide award this year

Two Michelin Stars

The Wolf’s Tailor

chocolate boat
An elaborate dessert at the Wolf’s Tailor. Photo by Sarah Banks
  • Location: 4058 Tejon St., Denver (Sunnyside)
  • Style: Eclectic multicourse tasting menu
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “A rigorous commitment to local sourcing as well as gorgeously manicured presentations underpin these far-flung creations.”

“Grain is the luxury item here,” says Kelly Whitaker, chef-owner of the Wolf’s Tailor, Colorado’s only Michelin two-star restaurant. “That is our foie gras; the grain is beautiful.” The surprisingly comfortable and casual (by fine-dining expectations, at least) eatery has drawn praise for delving deep into Colorado ingredients and supporting the state’s food systems. “Our ethos is ‘defense of the maker’: the farmer, cheese maker, baker, but also the cooks and servers and people building the soil,” Whitaker says.

One Michelin Star

*Milpero

Milpero's hot counter surrounded by dark wood and stone
Photo by Shawn Campbell
  • Location: 3455 Ringsby Court, Denver (Globeville)
  • Style: Mexican chef’s counter experience
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “A multifaceted tasting menu studiously marries tradition with invention, celebrating regional cuisines.”

Restaurateurs Johnny and Kasie Curiel just opened Milpero in May, but it was immediately clear that the intimate restaurant (formerly home to the nonprofit Comal Heritage Food Incubator) would be Michelin-worthy. Guest are greeted with a small cocktail highlighting Mexican ingredients and Milpero’s fermentation program before being ushered into a dining space with a hot counter on one side and a cold bar (backed by a prep station made from a single granite boulder) on the other.

Throughout roughly 18 courses, you’re treated to seafood crudos and bite-sized antojitos before switching seats and moving on to pork, beef, lamb, and other proteins  served with regional moles and locally grown produce. Curiel and his culinary team highlight dishes, sauces, and ingredients seldom found outside their towns and regions of origin. “It’s awesome,” Johnny Curiel says of the award. “It’s a testament to what the team is doing. We are making sure we are sharing the awareness of how badass Mexico is.”

Alma Fonda Fina

A chef in an olive green apron moves food from a pan into a bowl while other chefs look on.
Chef Johnny Curiel at Alma Fonda Fina. Photo courtesy of Alma Fonda Fina
  • Location: 2556 15th St., Denver (LoHi)
  • Style: Mexican
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “Chef Johnny Curiel…revisits dishes and flavors from his upbringing with creativity and finely honed technique delivering results that are both satisfying and delicious.”

Alma Fonda Fina doesn’t do elaborate chef’s tasting menus, although if you can score a reservation, there’s a chef’s counter where you can chat with the culinary team about the beautiful blue-and-yellow-striped corn tortillas or the delicate fish being sliced for ceviche or aguachile. Chef and co-owner Johnny Curiel combines reverence for traditional Mexican dishes with creative use of ingredients and bold colors and flavors to wow guests and Michelin Guide inspectors alike.

Beckon

  • Location: 2843 Larimer St., Denver (LoHi)
  • Style: Eclectic multicourse tasting menu
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “Diners choose from several menus, and in all cases, expect a true commitment to the seasons, soigné presentations and tightly honed flavors.”

Guests of Beckon owners Allison and Duncan Holmes convene around a U-shaped chef’s counter to experience dishes often built with ingredients from Beckon’s own farm, especially in summer and fall. While the menu is set, pescatarian and vegetarian options are always available and planned in advance, so you’ll receive the same level of attention no matter your dietary restrictions.

Bosq

  • Location: 312 S. Mill St., Aspen
  • Cuisine: Eclectic multicourse tasting menu
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “Chef Barclay Dodge and his team are executing seasonally inspired cooking that focuses on foraging, fermenting, and local farms.”

There’s no shortage of fine dining in Aspen, but what makes Bosq stand out is a range of ingredients like stinging nettle, watercress, pine needle miso, and other locally grown and foraged finds. Flavors encompass Mexico, France, Japan, and other culinary centers, but remain grounded in the Rocky Mountains.

Brutø

Stoneware plate holding a salmon fillet in orange sauce topped with a curl of carrot
A carrot and salmon dish at Brutø. Photo by Mark Antonation
  • Location: 1801 Blake St., Denver (LoDo)
  • Cuisine: Multicourse tasting menu centered around a wood-burning oven
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “The mastery of the hearth as the primary cooking implement infuses each of the tasting menu’s courses with distinct notes.”

Restaurateur Kelly Whitaker’s Id Est hospitality group earns another Michelin star, thanks to a culinary team that builds flavors and textures from fresh and preserved Colorado ingredients. A seat at the counter (which feels more like dinner at a friend’s house than an exclusive experience) awards you a calm, choreographed meal where one chef may shift roasted vegetables or naturally fermented bread around in the central hearth while others prepare a trio of small bites. When you’re offered a take-home box of that bread (puffy Italian piada), say yes. It’s some of the best you’ll ever have.

Frasca Food and Wine

A green pastry
Frutti del bosco from Frasca. Photo courtesy of Casey Wilson
  • Location: 1738 Pearl St., Boulder
  • Cuisine: Italian mutlicourse tasting menu
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “The refined, thoughtful cooking here is laser-focused on the cuisine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a region in the northeast of Italy.”

Ever since Frasca opened in 2004, everyone from restaurant critics to James Beard Award judges have recognized the eatery’s greatness—and the Michelin Guide continues to award it an annual star, too. The emphasis has always been on immaculate service, a deep wine list, and the subtle yet elegant flavors of its unique pasta dishes and concisely edited secondi. While Frasca is all about Italian cuisine, the Michelin Guide also points out its celebration of carefully sourced Colorado ingredients.

Kizaki

Sushi chefs behind a sushi counter
Photo by James Florio/Courtesy of Kizaki
  • Location: 1551 S. Pearl St., Denver (Platt Park)
  • Cuisine: Japanese multicourse tasting menu
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “Chef Toshi Kizaki has been a veritable trailblazer of Denver’s sushi scene, but even now in his seventies, he’s not content to rest on his laurels.”

At just over a year old, Kizaki serves Edomae-style sushi and small plates at an intimate chef’s counter helmed by Sushi Den co-owner Toshi Kizaki. Like its older sibling just up the street, Kizaki slings fresh seafood flown in from Japan and other parts of the world. But woven in are intriguing bites like black-sesame marbled tofu, which presents like dessert but yields deeply savory flavor. Wine and sake pairings are a must.

Margot

Merguez tagliatelle; rising brioche rolls; chicory “Caesar salad”
Merguez tagliatelle; rising brioche rolls; chicory “Caesar salad.” Photo by Sarah Banks
  • Location: 1551 S. Pearl St., Denver (Platt Park)
  • Cuisine: Eclectic multicourse tasting menu or à la carte
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “Examples [from Margot’s menu] might include airy Parisian gnocchi bathed in a luxurious sauce of mascarpone and caviar, or impeccably cooked dry-aged duck breast matched with cherries and a rich, subtle truffle jus.”

Chef/owner Justin Fulton showcased Colorado ingredients in creative ways through Margot pop-ups for three years before finding a permanent home in 2025. Margot’s dining room and separate chef’s counter share space in the minimalist building that also houses Kizaki. Options include bar bites (the bar’s beverage list belongs to Kizaki, though), à la carte dining, a five-course prix-fixe menu, and a 12-course tasting menu at the chef’s counter. We’re guessing the Michelin inspectors didn’t come in for Saturday brunch, but you can.

Mezcaleria Alma

Mezcaleria Alma
Mezcaleria Alma. Photo by Shawn Campbell
  • Location: 2550 15th St., Denver (LoHi)
  • Cuisine: Mexican
  • What the Michelin Guide says: “Lightning strikes twice for dynamo chef Johnny Curiel with this parallel concept cheek-by-jowl next to his celebrated flagship.”

Mezcaleria Alma covers an encyclopedic range of Mexican agave-based spirits backing Curiel’s brief menu of small plates. Expect lighter seafood bites as well as heartier preparations of duck, pork belly, and beef short rib, all surrounded by deeply Mexican ingredients such as huitlacoche (corn fungus), hoja santa (Mexican pepperleaf), and nixtamal corn tortillas.

Special Michelin Awards

Each year, the Michelin Guide presents awards to outstanding individuals in the hospitality industry. Here are this year’s Colorado winners:

  • Exceptional Cocktails Award: Kyle McNerney, Four by Brother Luck, 321 N. Tejon St., Colorado Springs
  • Sommelier Award: Theo Adley and Jenessa Reiman, Heretík, 1441 26th St., Denver (RiNo)
  • Outstanding Service Award: Joseph Freyre, The Penrose Room, 1 Lake Ave., Colorado Springs
  • Young Chef Award: Cameron Baker, Radicato, 137 S. Main St., Breckenridge

Michelin Bib Gourmand

Bib Gourmands are awarded to “best value for money restaurants—offering a three-course meal at a reasonable price.” These are great restaurants that aren’t necessarily cheap but serve a “simpler style of cooking, which is recognizable and easy-to-eat.”

According to Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin Guide, a recommendation “means that the inspectors have found the food to be above average, but not quite at star or Bib level.”