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Category: Mediterranean
Neighborhoods: Lodo, Northwest
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So what's our Go To Larimer Square Restaurant ?
Well, to be honest it's Capital Grill, because that's the Hubby's favorite restaurant, but secretly Rioja is my Fav restaurant on the Square.
I'm a sucka for sitting outside, and although Rioja doesn't have much Real Estate outside, it makes up for it in great food and great service.
I really like the menu, and the rich flavors does it for me.
Favorite dish -- hands down the scallops !!
YUM
Unfortunately, the 3 bites of food doesn't fill the hubby, so we don't get to Rioja often, unless it's for a drink and an appy.
And save the hungry man jokes, you know your man leaves hungry from these restaurants too !!!
I've been reading the delish sounding reviews for Rioja about a year now and finally got to see what all the fuss was about during a recent trip to Denver.
The fuss starts with the bread. A slice of lavender and a goat cheese roll for this carb addict. Um, yum! I would have been happy eating just their bread for dinner, but the appetizers and entrees proved to be pretty tasty as well. . For appetizers we ordered a bunch for the table- ahi tuna, flat bread pizza, calamari and some very interesting type of bacon. Flat bread pizza and calamari were my faves- oh so good!
When scallops are on the menu I tend to order them...and I made no exception at Rioja. While not the best scallops I've had in my lifetime they were pretty good and I loved the side that came with it: hazelnut phyllo, carrot & parsnip puree. I want this to be the side for all my future entrees please.
I stuck with a glass of Riesling (pretty good), but I did get a sip of some of the martinis at the table...and next time I'll definitely be ordering one of those!
No time for dessert at Rioja (sad), but we did get to drink our dessert while watching a burlesque show soon after.
I loved Larimer Square the first time I encountered it about six months back during my last visit to Denver. And I remembered hearing about Rioja back then; I just didn't get a chance to try it. So, I was super psyched when I learned that our group of 14 was headed to Rioja for dinner last night.
We were split into two tables, which worked out well since our round table sat six and we could easily hold conversations with the group. (I hate when you are in a group at a long table or round table and cannot speak to people across from you).
Neil was our waiter and was excellent... He had personality and checked in on us just enough during the time we spent at the restaurant. Most of us drank wine or champagne which is always a happy start to a meal. The bread selection was phenomenal - I opted for a black olive roll. I know that the others had lavender bread and goat cheese herb rolls. I also had the "Chef Jen's Chopped Salad" and for my entree I went with a full portion (thanks for the honesty, Neil) of the Paella Gnocchi. The salad was just the right size (not too big / not too small), and I learned that the reason it's Market Price is because of the hearts of palm... it was delicious though! The Paella Gnocchi was delicious although I thought the tomato broth lacked flavor. I enjoyed all of the ingredients except for the chicken sausage. I ate around that.
We were off to a burlesque show after dinner so we had to pass on dessert, but I would for sure return during a future visit to Denver. You can't go wrong at Rioja!
This place does not need another rave review but I'm going to write it anyway. We came here this weekend before a group of friends went to Wicked. First off, I will say that Sarah (lovely reservations lady) is amazing. I was one of those horrible diners that makes a reservation a few days before the event and then calls twice a day until that night to see if I can increase the party size even though they've already told me there was nothing available. I finally called the day of and she squeezed in another 2 people, split our party 4 and 4, and didn't force me to break the bad news to my friends. Superb customer service, this is why I gave them my extra star.
As for the food, I was very impressed with the knowledge the servers had about the dishes and of course the food was amazing. I need to come back to try the lamb but the tuna and the gnocchi were delicious, the "ribolita" being my absolute favorite. The decor was cute and very cozy, there was plenty of room to walk around and you didn't feel like you were squeezing between tables/chairs to use the restroom.
Now for my favorite part, the hand-dryers in the bathroom. I love them!!!
I went here with a group late one evening when we were in town for a conference. A colleague recommended this restaurant and we really wanted to go on our last night together in town.
The Sangria was authentic, which I rarely get unless I make it myself. We shared the appetizer of the flatbread and Brussel Sprout Salad.
I got the Grilled Colorado Lamb, which was wonderful. It was hard to pass up, but none of us got dessert. We were tired and full.
The only catch was we split our bill and one of my friends paid cash and the server didn't bring her change (she put down $60 for her share of $42). She had to ask for change, the server was taken aback, and and it was a HUGE hassle. We thought it was very odd that she assumed that she would get the $18 tip, especially since we said we were splitting our bill and each paying our share including the tip. (We were with a very large conference in town, so this wasn't an unusual request.)
I would go back if I was in town. I would probably not rush it and try to enjoy it. We were exhausted.
After dining here twice over a two year span I'd have to say that the place is consistent and has a great ambiance especially when busy.
1st time there was very mellow. They weren't 20 percent full.
Neil was very attentive and after warming up to him he opened up a bit more. Very relaxed service yet attentive. I like it.....
Waiters aren't supposed to be dining with you.
The wine choices are fabulous, spanish choices and reasonably priced for the setting. Our 2nd time here the place was rocking and handling it very nicely I'd say. I noticed about 5 of the same waiters and or Bartenders. After one year the same staff.
This says a whole lot for their team. Thanks for 2 memorable experiences.
Rioja is almost 5-stars. The service is attentive and friendly. The wine selection is very good (I wish they still served Naia, Rueda Verdejos). Cocktails are great. The Sangria is good... but my mom makes better sangria.
The Lamb is by far the best dish on the menu; absolutely delicious and perfectly cooked. I also like the tuna/ceviche dish (rare tuna with ceviche served over a plantain cake) - delicious. The not so awesome were: the seafood served with gnochi, and the sea bass.
I'll be back in Rioja until I've sampled the whole menu; then they'll change the menu and I shall continue to go.
After eating at Rioja for several dinners, this past weekend the boyfriend and I finally tried out the brunch. After hearing rave reviews about it not only on yelp, but also from several relatives. It was a snowy Sunday in Larimer Square so unfortunately we didn't get to dine out on the patio on a sunny morning, but the weather is obviously not Rioja's fault, I just wish I would have done this in the summer!
The attention to detail at Rioja never ceases to amaze me. Neither does the service, always so on-top of it and attentive.
We started out with an order of the homemade donuts. They were incredible! Not your traditional greasy-mouth residue donut either, but more like nothing I can even describe! Dessert perhaps? They are basically pastry dough balls filled with lemon marscapone cream then lightly fried, sort of crispy, then rolled in sugar. Lots of sugar. (Yay sugar!!) A+.
Then we ordered our entrees. I ordered the Potato Gallette, complete with salmon, and eggs for $12.50. The boyfriend got the Bacon and Eggs, complete with french toast for $12.50. Everything was really good, though I was so stuffed towards the end, I couldn't finish my whole meal, but that is fine! I ate too many of those complimentary goat cheese and rosemary rolls that they bring to your table in the bread basket, but nontheless. I have to be honest, it was those gosh-darn homemade donuts though that made me try that totally sealed the deal, oh plus the bread basket, of course!
This place is quite a little gem. I finally made it here! Yay!
I loved everything I tasted. I…
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Ok, I'm happy to confirm that Rioja is still one of my favorite restaurants! I brought my crazy.sexy.cool date here for a birthday dinner last weekend, and it was one of my top.meals.ever. We did the menu tasting, which I would highly recommend (especially if you feel like splurging on a special occasion.) You choose either 3 or 4 courses, and each course comes with a wine pairing. Our server was delightful and I loved listening to him describe the courses and wines with a heavy French accent, even though I remember next to none of what he said.
Here's what I loved. I'm relieved to finally be out of the Rioja-gnocchi rut I seem to have been in since I first visited this restaurant a few years back. What I loved about our tasting:
- Tuna tartare with apple, fennel, and anise with apple chips. Creative and mouth-watering. They are wise to only give you a few bites of this. I feel like I could have eaten a bowl full. The flavors are unusual, but they make a really pleasant combination.
- Fresh bacon with cardamom and garbanzo. I had a bad experience with pork belly once, which leaves me a little bit leery every time I see this on a menu, but I must say, this was fantastic.
- Artichoke stuffed ravioli with truffle oil. Hands-down, this was my favorite part of the meal. I'm a sucker for anything truffled, perhaps that's why, but the pasta was also perfection.
- The scallops and short ribs are also highlights for me: totally melt in your mouth.
By the time dessert rolled around I was too stuffed to do much but take a small bite, but I really enjoying the mini beignet and an ice cream sandwich with fig cookies. They also have an interesting cocktail menu, and I can vouch for the pomegranate-ginger cosmo and the loca hot martini - all I remember is it had a jalapeno floating in it, and it was HOT.
Try Rioja. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I made a deal with myself when I started yelping that I wouldn't review a place if I genuinely… Read more »
This is easily within the top 10 meals I've ever eaten in my life; no exaggeration. We went in here and had the tasting menu with the wine pairing, and everything was perfect.
The first drink I had was one of their cocktails and fortunately it was not Pink. It was a little on the spicy side with a sugar-rimmed glass. and a Jalapeño floating in it.
There were quite a few highlights, but I think my favorite was Pork Belly served on a Garbanzo and Curry puree. It sounds wierd, but those 3 things stuck together like Balsa wood and epoxy, only delicious and edible.
I don't even like Artichokes, so when one of the courses was a partly an Artichoke raviolli with an Artichoke crisp on top, I wasn't too excited. But I was blown away by the way the artichoke was complimented by the other flavors assaulting it, one of which as (if I remember correctly) Goat cheese. This was probably my second most-favorite. But there were many.
The last course was a multi-layer vegetable crisp, a Scallop with an amazing sauce, and Beef in a reduction with an heirloom wheat grain. Heirloom wheat may not sound all that exciting but it turned out to be. If my mother tried to make me eat a bowl of that every morning when I was a kid there wouldn't be much argument and I would have at least eaten my breakfast if nothing else she told me.
They served a really interesting red wine with the last course which I normally wouldn't want to drink an entire glass of because it had such a fruity but complicated finish, but once I tried it with the reduction on the beef it made perfect sense why it was there. They also nailed the serving temperature of the wine, I'd say the red was at least 5 degrees warmer than the white and the little details like that were all too noticeable during this wonderful meal.
Service was over and above, and somehow they knew it was my birthday and everyone on the wait staff signed a card for me. They were just helpful enough without being overwhelming. They explained everything in just enough detail, and I wish I could remember more of the details of each course and the wines. But I admit I cheated a little and went back to look at the menu.
The interior is very well decorated, it's a bit on the loud side so this isn't the best place in town for a really intense conversation. Then again, I don't know where is, and if I did and someone invited me there I probably wouldn't go. I'd rather go here instead.
I have heard about this place and finally decided to dine in and see what all the hoopla is about...
Well, let me tell you, this place is the real deal. The location on Larimer is a very strategic move because they will definitely get the traffic. Since I was there a bit earlier than my reservation, I enjoyed the bar area that was typical bar and then an exquisite sitting area. I could have just dined in this little area, but I wanted to experience...
The wine selection is amazing, so make sure you have the Malbec if you are into bold flavors...
So once in the dining area, I decided to enjoy a bit of seared tuna and salmon tar tar and it was absolutely amazing... Definitely try it... For dinner, I decided to have the duck cooked medium. While it was cooked to my request, my suggest is to have it at medium rare. It was absolutely AWESOMENESS..
The service matched the ambience and what I expected for this establishment. The food and drinks were awesome and I was glad I took the opportunity to dress up...
If you haven't gone, I would highly recommend it..
My husband and I ate at Rioja to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. The meal was very good, particularly the entrees. The service was excellent and the ambiance was nice, though it was on the loud side. Still, for our next special occasion I think we'd rather try something new.
For appetizers, I had the tuna sashimi and tuna tartare plate. The sashimi was actually carpaccio, which was fine, but there wasn't much of it. The tartare was OK but nothing special. My husband's appetizer, the house-made fresh mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto, was better but still not outstanding. The prosciutto was baked, or seared, or something, which made it taste more like bacon than prosciutto.
As a main course, I had the duck breast with saffron risotto. I thought it was fantastic. But it definitely had a very specific flavor to it, and when my husband tried it, he wasn't a fan. For his part, he had the paella gnocchi, which he loved, but I didn't like as much.
The desserts were both very good--I had the s'mores pot de creme--the creme was chocolate and it had a layer of baked marshmallow on top. My husband had the "tortamisu" which was also very tasty. Still, neither of them left us totally raving about how great they were.
Overall, a good restaurant, and a nice way to celebrate a special occasion, but I'm not sure we'll be back. I'd rather check out the other nice restaurants that Denver has to offer.
In full disclosure I'm not a "local "-- I travel to Denver for business. As such, I get to eat out - on the company - and experience all the "hot" restaurants. Often I read magazines, ask the concierge, ask my co-workers or just land where my feet take me.
Rioja hits the mark for location, ambiance and food. Larimer St. is a cute little section of Denver full of trendy restaurants (most with outdoor seating), and little shops that look expensive (although, after stopping in a few, their prices weren't too outrageous).
My meal consisted of an appetizer ,Bilbao chorizo flatbread, caramelized onions, Manchego cheese, Valencia orange and the course was the chef's special -- a goatcheese stuffed ravioli.
The Bilbao chorizo flatbread was really special. I've never had anything like it here in the States and the flavor combinations were unique but not "out there."
They take great pride in the quality of their food. But the atmosphere is not pretentious. It was comfortable quality. Try it out!
Positive: Great service, great selection of wines and breads. Had a couple of great spanish bottles of wine.
Negative: The place can get pretty loud. The menu's pretty small. One of us ordered the artichoke tortellini, which was delicious, but only had 6 or 7 tortellinis. Not worth it. Don't bother splitting an appetizer if there is more than 2 of you, they are just too small.
Overall: We'd give this place 3.5 stars if we could. It's a nice place to eat in a nice area. But we have to think that in the larimer square/lodo area there are better places to eat. Can't say we really get the obsession that some Denver-ites seem to have with it.
I've eaten here twice now. Once a few years ago, then again last night. It was my father's birthday and this is the place he picked for us to meet up at. We scored a reservation at the chef's table! It was wonderful! The chef we were seated by was fun. He had a great attitude and was making some very cool looking appetizers, salads and deserts. He carried on conversations with us while he wasn't busy and in return, my dad was giving him updates on the Rockies game from his cell phone. We all had fun together.
The atmosphere was warm yet mellow. I really enjoyed where we were sitting. Every bite I took was fantastic! My boyfriend and I split the chopped salad, the orange fennel bread was absolutely wonderful and the pomegranate ginger martini I had was refreshing. They also have a signature martini called the "loca hot". It's habenero infused tequila with some kind of fruit juice. It's WONDERFUL! If you like spicy bloody mary's, you'll like this martini. The entree was great, but not fantastic.
I had the artichoke & goat cheese tortellini. Awesome concept, nice flavor balance, but not quite enough flavor for my palette and it was a small portion for the price. I wanted more of a bite from the cheese and it seemed to be missing some acidity. However, I truly did enjoy it! My mother ordered the same thing I did and she loved it. My boyfriend and my dad both ordered the gnocchi paella. I had a couple of bites of my boyfriend's dish and it also tasted very good, but seemed as if it was missing something.
For dessert, we all shared what tasted like a play on tiramisu (sp?). It was well prepared and absolutely delicious! It was so rich that the 4 of us couldn't finish it. There were a couple of bites left when we left the table.
We used the valet parking service. The men running the valet service were very nice, however they took FOREVER to bring my car back to me and it was cold outside!
Rioja is truly a gem in downtown Denver. If you have a few extra bucks to spend and are looking for a unique evening of fine dining, I would recommend checking this place out.
I love Rioja. So much so that it has become my and my boyfriend's go-to restaurant on either of our birthdays.
I feel that it is appropriate to mention that I am a vegetarian, and Rioja is certainly not catered toward vegetarians. Despite this fact, every time I go there, I am absolutely intoxicated with delicious vegetarian options. Rather than getting the vegetarian four-square, which is basically four side-dishes served as an entree, my boyfriend and I ALWAYS get the artichoke tortelloni (which is normally made with chicken stock, let your server know if you want it made vegetarian). It is the best, most amazing, delicious pasta dish of all time. Seriously. I've read some reviews on here that scoff at the small portioning of this dish, which, in my opinion, is utter rubbish. The dish is in fact so flavorful and rich that every time I've ordered it, I could barely finish. So, don't let the small number of tortellonis scare you off.
Other excellent things on the menu include the ever-changing cheese plate, the chopped salad, the goat cheese and fig filled beignets, and the smores pot de creme.
Mmmmm.
Wow, great food and service. The place was packed on a Wednesday evening but the wait for our table was worth it. Everything was great I have the Picnic appetizer best suited for two the cheese and the prosciutto were my favorite. I had the Colorado Lamb entree and it was great! Perfectly prepared and very tasty. Our table was comfortable and near the kitchen. Its a great place for a fun dinner and being in Larimer Square is a nice location for an evening out.
On my very first business trip, I took myself out for my very first solo dinner. Rioja was the place. It was awesome. The bread selection is delicious. I had the gazpacho and it was perfect and then I followed it with ravioli. Sooo good. So good in fact I recommended it to my boss, who was also in town on the same business trip. I'm still employed!!!
It's always a bit dangerous when someone local tells you on your vacation that "this is my favorite restaurant in Denver." The expectations are too high.
Rioja was, I thought, quite good. If you care a ton about WHERE your food is purchased, you give them a lot of extra points because they think carefully about this. You appreciate that when you ask your server why the chopped salad is marked "Market Price," he is able to tell you "$12.50" and it's MP because Hearts of Palm vary a lot. I mean, that's keen.
Problem is, Rioja just isn't that much fun, and the food, while very good, is not superb. At least not our Halibut and Pasta. I would give the place a 3.75 but not a 4. And of course I'm measuring my view of this against the price, and it's expensive ($26 for a very delicate piece of halibut, $18.50 for a seriously small serving of pasta). Every element of these dinners was carefully selected and prepared, but in my opinion, they tasted more "delicate" than flavorful. If I were in a Jane Austen novel and had to cough into a hankie, then this level of subtlety would have been fine.
If you are not in a Jane Austen novel, tend to cough in your fist, and enjoy bigger flavors that make you a little dizzy and resonate with you months later, I'd look elsewhere.
If you have read any of my reviews, you know that it is nearly impossible to earn 5 stars from a single dining experience. Rioja, has done the impossible.
For lunch, we sat down in a very comfortable booth in this hip-styled restaurant. Around came a basket of spectacular house-made breads. I selected three and immediately realized I was in carb heaven. Why eat dry and tasteless bread at a restaurant, when you can come to Rioja and taste a lavender bread, a black olive bread, an orange bread and others? All delicious and all fresh and tasty.
I ordered the Colorado Lamb Burger rare and it came out cooked exactly to order. I could not recommend this burger enough. And I must insist that you try it as well, ordered rare or medium rare. It came with house-made mozzarella and spicy aioli and an arugula salad that was simple yet tasty with the right salting and peppering the kitchen added.
Dessert was a flight of sorbets all served on the most delicious cookie I have had in some time, cantaloupe, pineapple rum and blueberry lemon. I favored the first two over the third.
Service was excellent and I will certainly come back. This would be a great date restaurant. Now all I need is a date, but alas, that does not seem likely to happen any time soon.
Dinner was great, they have a great menu, so good that I couldn't decide so I had to do the tasting menu, which was really nice cause I pretty much got to decide what was on my tasting menu. I would say about 80% of the menu you could get half portions. so maybe it was not a "tasting menu" but it gave me a chance to get a 4 courses and I paired each with wine. The best way to eat small plates and you can pair it with you choice of wine, Life is good.
Started with Rioja sampler, pretty much a meat and cheese plate, then the salad special- baby arugula, Gorgonzola, candied walnuts and fresh mission figs, they we had to try the pork belly sooo good, and to finish had to try there Colorado Lamb loin with a port wine reduction fresh figs and fresh Quince and fried goat cheese.
It was a hip trendy downtown restaurant I didn't think it was crazy expensive. pricey ,but its all good when you can get a great well thought out dinner, wines by the glass that are not just Merlot, or cabs. It was well balanced from earthy, to rich, to fruit forward. The service good, he did a great job and we had a great experience. You can tell they love what they are doing and it shows.
After a less than stellar experience at Rioja a little over a year ago, I had some guests in town last Wednesday evening and we decided to give it a second chance during the crazy October 2009 snowstorm. The restaurant was surprisingly crowded given the weather, but it only took the hostess about 20 minutes to find us a table for four. We ordered both the Tuna and Calamari appetizers. Both were tasty, but I agree with the other reviewers that have commented that these appetizers are really too small for more than two people to share. I went with the halibut for my main course and enjoyed the preparation- especially the asparagus that was cooked crispy and added nice texture to the dish. After our sampling of appetizers, delicious bread, and our entrees, we were all too full to make it to the dessert menu. It is also worth noting that the service was fantastic without being intrusive. My second trip to Rioja provided us with a great experience and I look forward to visiting again soon.
Hazelnut Tortamisu is back! - i tried it again yesterday, still spectacular
this place is spectacular for a few reasons...
1. they have a bread guy just walking around handing…
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Denver is a happenin' city. It has a vibrant arts scene, shops, restaurants and charming natural surrounds. According to the Southwest in-flight magazine (I know *must* be a credible source!) article, 43% of the country would like to move to Denver, beating out all other major US metropolitan areas. So, with all that Denver has to offer, why are you all SO fixated on Rioja? Get out more, Denverites.
SUMMARY:
The waitstaff is courteous and prompt. The ingredients were fresh although the food had neither unifying themes nor flavors. The rose salt on the table is a fun touch and the rosemary loaves of bread are delicious. Avoid the housemade donuts unless you favor the flavors of raspberry-tinged vomit. Do NOT come here for brunch - at other times, who knows?
DETAILS:
My dad and I celebrated my last day in the lovely state of Colorado with Rioja's Sunday brunch. I was expecting something a bit more Spanish given the name. Once inside, we could have been in any restaurant in any metropolitan locale -- the walls were jumble of exposed brick, stainless steel, velour curtains, and blown-glass tchotckis on the wall.
I inquired after the duck confit hash (as I love duck and corned beef hash) but the waiter advised against it. So, instead, I ordered what turned out to be a rather lackluster mimosa while I pondered the rest of the menu. We were feeling peckish but not full blown hunger and so, decided on light fare.
My dad ordered the rioja "picnic", a sampler of cheeses, salad, olives, artisanal meats, and nuts. It was a strange amalgam of flavors. The goat cheese crusted balls were too large and therefore overwhelming. It would have benefited from a larger serving fennel salad as it proved to be an effective palate cleanser. It was hardly a picnic. For secundi, he chose Mussel ribolita soup. The soup was inoffensive although it offered mostly bread, with two or three mussels to keep the bread company. As they brought out the mussels, I told my dad that he could have some of my torteloni, although I joked there would probably only be three of them, if he was still hungry. I then ate my words.
Although the half order of torteloni only came with **three** individual tortelonis (one of which I gave to my dad), the dish was divine. The broth was savory and quite hearty for being vegetarian. The pasta itself was filled with goat cheese and artichoke mousse -- it was like a cloud of goat cheese kissed by an artichoke with flurries of chevril atop. Perfect. To accompany my half order of artichoke torteloni, I selected the salad greens. The greens were awkwardly sized and the vinaigrette was too thick.
Then, the brunch came to a disastrous finale. My dad said that he wanted something sweet to end our meal. After conferring, he and the waiter agreed that we should share a housemade donut. Instead of one, the waiter brought out two, adorable little dough balls sprinkled with powdered sugar. Have you ever wondered what a rapberry-mascarpone filled donut taste like? Rasperry-jam vomit. It was horrendous. Sweet, sticky, overpowering. I tried a bite and my stomach cramped in immediate knots. My dad who has a huge sweet tooth couldn't get more than a few bites into his and shoved the plate to his left, so that it would be out of his line of sight.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall, Rioja's brunch was lackluster. There have to be far better, more interesting restaurants in a city like Denver. But, maybe this is not a rant about Rioja (or it's brunch) but rather "Mediterranean" cuisine in general - pick a region! pick a nationality! make up your mind! It's like how I say I cook noveau California cuisine because I just mix together whatever happens to be in my fridge or cupboard at the time...and I live in California... therefore, my cooking must be noveau California cuisine.
I recently experienced one of the best lunches downtown that I've ever had at Rioja. The tucked-away restaurant sits right on Larimer St., the place to be in Denver for shopping and dining.
The decor is simple and nice and I loved the lit, colored glass art hanging on the wall.
When the waiter came around with different breads to try I had the lavender bread and goat cheese roll. They were absolutely delicious! I wasn't sure how I felt about lavender bread but I decided to be adventurous after having heard what a delicious restaurant Rioja is. For lunch I had the Roast Beef sandwich which was juicy and very flavorful and was perfectly paired with a light Merlot.
I look forward to going back and trying another one of their delicious meals.
What an amazing spot!! The past two times I've been in Denver I've gone to Rioja with clients. Both times were outstanding!! The service is great and the menu is unique. The spanish wines are delish and reasonably priced.
Some of the memorable items are the Rioja picnic which is an assortment of cheeses and salamis. It's great for sharing. And of course, dessert is always memorable! You must have the brandy soaked cannoli and PB&J. Both are amazing!! The entrees are all good, but I think the home runs lie within the appetizer and dessert menus. Be sure to order a lot of each for sharing.
After dinner there are quite a few bars on Larimer, so it's a good destination spot.
Made this our fancy night out after going to Comedy works.
Recommend the gazpacho, Jen's house chopped salad, Pork belly, Artichoke Tortelloni, Colorado Lamb, not to mention the starter breads.....orange fennel...mmm
Didn't have room for dessert but Im sure that would've been great too
Quality was great. Really friendly waiter, forget his name but he was from SoCal
Someone else mentioned this in their review, that it's always dangerous when someone tells you that this is their favorite restaurant -- it sets the expectations pretty darn high. Well, despite those high expectations, and rave reviews from yelpers and non yelpers a like, the ladyfriend wanted her birthday dinner here, and I wasn't about to tell her no!
Not only were our expectations pretty high, but the met and exceeded every one of them.
Service was attentive without being pushy, the drinks were delicious, and every single person who walked by our table cleared a plate if they could, or brought something else we needed if they could -- it was fantastic!
Multiple types of bread to choose from to start the meal (try the orange fennel!!!) and we got an appetizer of flatbread with melted gorgonzola, chorizo (I think) and palisade peaches. SO GOOD. Absolutely to die for -- and a huge portion, too!
For appetizers the ladyfriend went with a braised short rib special, on a lightly battered and fried truffle risotto cake. I had the colorado lamb, which had a delicous little onion ring hoop that I wanted to dive through. It also had a great lentil vinaigrette, and a goat cheese ravioli on top of some lightly sauteed greens.
The food was just phenomenal. Awesome presentation, stellar flavor -- and excellent portion sizes. I can't emphasize this enough -- So many upper-tier restaurants seem to have their portion sizes and meal prices inversely proportioned, but not so at Rioja. You're actually getting a great portion size for the price.
When dessert came, I was anxious to see what would happen. I told them ahead of time that it was her birthday (spoke with the host a couple days before) and they said dessert would be on the house, and that I could either choose one ahead of time, or let her pick one when we got there. In the spirit of going with the flow I decided to let her choose when the time came, and she had no idea they knew it was her birthday. There was no singing, which is probably good, but the manager on duty brought out a Chocolate S'mores dessert -- which was odd, because we hadn't picked one yet, but they happened to pick one of the two desserts we were considering -- so it worked out. Then our server brought out a birthday card (he accidentally put it in front of me) but it was signed by the entire staff and said Happy Birthday. That was the sweetest touch I've ever seen a restaurant do for a birthday. It doesn't matter that we didn't know any of them, or that the only thing they knew was that it was someone's birthday -- but a card signed by everyone on staff (at least the FOH staff) was an incredibly nice touch that definitely puts this in 5.5 star territory.
From amazing food, to incredible staff -- Rioja immediately earns a spot in the top 5 restaurants I've ever been to. I havent decided if it's number one or not, but given the ladyfriend's birthday and the quality of the staff and experience, it doesn't need to be number one -- it just needs to keep being Rioja, and I'll go back!
Everything here was phenomenal, from the appetizer offerings, entrees, desserts, and wine list. The restaurant itself was set up nicely. It was large, and the crowd was lively. Our waiter was great.
I had an experience here that I've never had before in a restaurant: when I asked the waiter to help me decide between two appetizers (beet salad or gazpacho), he offered me a half portion of each. Granted, the two weren't necessarily complementary of one another (and although both were great, the beet salad really went amazingly well with the glass of rose wine I had), it was just so cool that they did that. I believe they also offered wine by the half glass.
They also offered delicious and unique bread. Lavender sourdough, orange and fennel bread, and goat cheese rolls. All incredibly delicious.
I had the seared big eye tuna ceviche, which was very interesting in that it was served on a coconut cake in a red curry sauce. Lots of flavors mixed in there, but it worked.
I don't recall whether we had dessert (it was a few weeks ago), but the offerings looked great. Overall, this was a tremendously enjoyable experience...somewhere to go next time I'm in Denver for sure!
Brought the fam here from NYC. We decided to do a tasting menu. This is/was the way to go!!!! We got to sample a little of everything and it was only about $50 per (not bad when you think about entree, app, dessert, etc.) We had 6 courses and we were stuffed!
One of our fav courses was the new halibut in a spicy tomato sauce with crunchy bacon on top...HELLO!!! Delish!
Well, my review will not beat Kristin's, but I totally appreciate her recs!
My friend and I had to…
Read more »
The one and twenty millionth review of Rioja follows: But this time, it's not quite as complimentary as you might expect . . .
Rioja is good. That's a fact. But yesterday's dinner started out not so good. While we were lucky and got the last table on the patio in beautiful weather, things quickly went downhill. The table that is--it went downhill.
Every time you touched it, it wobbled like a $20 hooker. After about 10 minutes or so the server came and asked about drinks and we politely asked him first to prop up the table. He said he would get right on it. And 10 minutes later he came back and asked us if he'd asked us whether we wanted a drink. I asked him to pppplease fix the table. He said "immediately," and left with our drink order. Another 5 minutes passed and he finally comes out with a wedgie (not that kind:-)and our drinks. Well, like the sun coming out after a summer storm, we feel like things were maybe startin' to go our way.
The food, when it started coming out was Rioja-good. One of the best chop salads in Denver. And my "gorgonzola naturale" with homemade fig newtons, prosciutto, watercress and wine reduction was brilliant. We both had fish (halibut and tuna, seared perfectly), which were both served with delicious sauces/accompaniments.
Reasonable drink and wine prices, and a very good angel food cake with strawberry sorbet and fresh strawberries, along with a cappuccino did it for us.
What had started off unpleasantly, ended up just peachily . . . I mean strawberryly. The night was saved, but at Rioja, they shouldn't have to save it, it should be that way from start to finish, so just 3 stars for them this time, but we'll definitely go back. Rioja is usually 4+ stars and we'll hope for that the next time.
maybe i'm spoiled or have different taste buds than everyone else but i really did have high hopes going to rioja from all the fab reviews on yelp. however, i was really disappointed. i came to denver on vacation and wanted a nice, but not expensive, place to eat at for dinner. rioja's menu had entrees under $30 so it seemed like a good choice.
i ordered the halibut/tuna ceviche on the red tomato curry. instead, i got the halibut filet dish. it's an innocent mistake but instead of apologizing, my server decided to come and tell me that i had just said halibut and never said ceviche. hmmm....first of all, for a "classy" restaurant, it's not at all right for you to come and accuse me for ordering wrong. 2ndly, even if i did order the wrong thing, customer is always right. either way, it was very distasteful of the restaurant to hire that server. no doubt that her tip was not going to look good for the night.
my boyfriend ordered a salad for appetizer and the special for that day, which was a crab and spinach ravioli. it was just okay. a little bland actually. i think i've bought frozen raviolis at the supermarket that tasted better than that.
when it came to dessert, i skipped. the way i see a restaurant is. if the entrees didn't impress me, the dessert will not either. i rather give my business to those more deserving (gelato next door!!!).
i'm from san diego and i've eaten at cheaper and more expensive restaurants than rioja. service was horrible. the food was just mediocre. all in all, not a fan. at all. but to their credit, the idea of multiple type of breads to choose from is novel but none of the breads really striked me as "OMG OMG. best ever." again, another disappointing meal.
3.5 Stars
Had high expectations for Rioja. The Denver yelpers gave high ratings, and even the Denver locals that I met were singing Rioja's praises.
It looked promising as I called at 5pm on a Saturday evening, and first available reservations was at 9pm.
Rioja is located in the awesome Larimer Square area. Cuisine is Mediterranean fusion. I like the colors and interior, while simple, is very modern. There are glass fixtures throughout, and here's a pic of some on the wall http://static.px.yelp....
The menu has interesting entrees, and was happy to see that you can get some of the pastas in both full and appetizer (or half) portions. For dinner, I ordered:
- "Cup of the Roasted Tomato Bisque, with Petite mozzarella sandwich, micro basil." This was super good, and one of the best tomato bisques I've ever tasted. It wasn't heavy, and tomato flavor wasn't too tangy.
Of course, being the cheese lover, I was so happy that the soup was accompanied by a mini grilled cheese. This was so tiny, but tasty. http://static.px.yelp....
- "Artichoke tortelloni, goat cheese and artichoke mousse stuffed pasta, artichoke broth, truffle essence, queso de mano cheese, chervil"
Of course, I had to order this pasta because of the goat cheese and truffle. This didn't disappoint, and all the flavors blended so well together. With so much artichoke in the dish, I was impressed that it wasn't overwhelmingly artichokey. It was really quite light and flavorful. This was a hit, and I usually love dishes with goat cheese! Because I only got the appetizer portion, I was able to finish this without a problem.
Pic is a bit dark, but here it is http://static.px.yelp....
Dalane ordered:
-"Daily special - Beet salad" D just thought it was ok. She was expecting more beets, and just looked like a handful of beets prepared differently and served on a nice fancy plate.
- "Candied Lemon Gnocchi, Butter poached Dungeness crab, fava beans, zucchini, grape tomatoes, tarragon herb salad, Moutere Grove organic olive oil emulsion" D thought this was a bit salty for her taste. Mind you, she usually puts salt (and pepper) on everything, and she didn't have to with this dish. Crab was fresh and quite good.
http://static.px.yelp....
Wine selection was vastly Spanish, but included some Italian, French, and California wines as well. I enjoyed one of their special cocktails -
- Red Saint: which consisted of cranberry liqueur, St. Germain, sparkling cava, and lime. This drink was so lovely, and went down way too easily. Exhibited excellent restraint, and limited myself due to the price at $10.
Rioja was definitely a unique dining experience. It's a trendy spot, with nice ambiance, and food is somewhat pricey, as we each paid about $45 (without dessert). I found myself still somewhat hungry, but not wanting to order anything else. Not even dessert. Guess I really feeling 'eh' about Rioja.
Dalane and I found the cuisine to be confusing, with its Mediterranean flavors, as well as the Spanish influence on most of the dishes. There was no cohesiveness.
Despite all of that, we enjoyed our meals, but it wasn't a "OMG, this meal totally knocked my socks off!" Soup and pasta were good, but I really liked my Red Saint drink and the choice of breads (sliced, sourdough, cheese), which was served warm.
Service was just OK and not spectacular. Felt like our server wasn't super attentive, nor friendly. BTW, a few work colleagues ate at Rioja a few days after me, and expressed how awesome and excellent the food and service was.
I'd be willing to give Rioja another chance the next time I'm in Denver.
Wanted to up date the Yelp community in regards to the Rioja. While we didn't make a huge deal the night of our reservation, the management did seek me out and made a grand effort to discuss our experience.
They've since provided us with a complimentary certificate and have invited us back to experience the real Rioja.
Our liaison was very professional and extremely pleasant in all of their communications and I felt they were truly upset that we had such a mediocre experience.
We are going to be making a new reservation, soon, to give them another try. Sometimes good things come out of a bad situation.
So I take back my previous comment that we wont give them another shot. Rioja - here we come, again. 8-)
In general, my wife and I did not have a great experience at Rioja. It was "okay", but not a place… Read more »
This is one of the top three restaurants in Denver. Food and presentation are great. Location is fantastic. I love the bread basket!
Negatives: Pricey and sometimes the menu has items that are a bit too exotic for my taste.
Rioja must be back on the upswing, because our meal last night was fantastic.
The Superb: The halibut and scallops were cooked perfectly. The chopped salad and spring salad were fantastic. The Sangria was perfect.
The Average: The service was very nice, but I am a personality person and our server was a bit wooden. Maybe that's too rough. I don't know, I just felt that they could have been a bit more personable. While we were waiting for our table, the bartender did a great job. With that said, I miss Nico.
The Horrid: We were there at 7:45pm and they had already run out of the day's specials. Suck.
All in all, we had a lovely time dining here. Our table of four was not rushed out and we were allowed time to talk between the courses. In fact, I would say the timing of the meal was just about perfect. It has been just about a year since our last trip to Rioja and I am so happy we tried it one last time before our move.
For bathroom geeks, their new hand dryers (Dyson) are VERY cool!!
This restaurant has unfortunately begun the slide to mediocrity. 2 years ago? Stellar. Now? Less… Read more »
I was there in August 2008 on one of my last evening in Denver. Wish I had discovered this place a few months before.
It was around 7PM on a Saturday. The place was packed and the maitre d' found a spot at the food bar for me, squeezed in between a couple and two professional wait persons (one who works at Riojas and the other at a different spot).
My appetizer was the assorted plate which could have been in a meal by itself...totally scrumptious. The cheese and orange marmalade were heavenly. So were the home made crackers. I have never liked olives but I left only the pits on the plate.
Since I was one person it took a while for me to devour my appetizer and my entree had to sit under the warmer and then moved to top of the oven (after they realized it would take more than 5 minutes longer to finish the appetizer.)
My entree was Petaluma Chicken. It was half a chicken sauteed to perfection. Glazed in its own juices. I can't remember what else there were with the chicken but I remembered my first bite to this day: the best chicken prepared anywhere! Even after sitting under the warming lamp and on top of the oven for a good 15 minutes the chicken was still warm and so juicy. It melted in my mouth.
I may have recommended that place to at least a dozen Denver friends. And this place shall always be on my top 5 must visit again restaurant.
Denver Restaurant Week at Rioja tonight could not have been any better. It's great that they make eveything on their menu available with some items having an additional surcharge.
I had an appetizer portion of the Saffron Fettuccine with pork and fennel sausage meatballs, roasted eggplant, sweet peppers, basil and goat cheese ($1 extra). I thought it was good, and the friend I was with LOVED it!
For the main course, I had the Seared Sea Scallops with peanut crusted coconut risotto cake, thai green curry sauce, and mango salad ($2 extra). It was great. The scallops were perfectly seared and cooked, and the coconut risotto cake was particularly outstanding.
For dessert, we split the Chilled S'mores Pot de Crème (chocolate custard, house made graham crackers, and bruleed house made marshmallow). This was definitely "to-die-for." The marshmallow was freshly bruleed, so it was warm and gooey.
The service (David) was exceptional. He was very personable, did a superb job and, most importantly, did not rush us at all. It's a pleasure to have a server as excellent as he was tonight.
I had lunch today at Rioja. The atmosphere is lovely, and the service was excellent. I had the… Read more »
This was my first meal in Denver and it started my Colorado weekend right. I came with a few friends for a late dinner and we left very happy.
We arrived on time but ended up having to wait 15 minutes so the restaurant could clear the tables. I was annoyed since I expect to be seated on time when I call ahead, but all was forgiven when I met our server and opened up a menu full of interesting and affordable meals.
We started with the homemade mozzarella, basically served as their version of a grilled cheese. The bacon overpowered the flavors of the tomatoes and mozzarella a bit, but hey lets admit it, mozzarella tastes pretty bland to begin with. We also ordered sangria, little on the light side but still delicious.
For main courses we ordered the paella gnocchi, the rib eye and goat cheese croquettes, and cod. I also added a side of gazpacho and the avocado mousse it comes with is divine. My rib eye was juicy and cooked perfectly medium rare. I wasn't digging the sweet sauce it was served on but the goat cheese croquettes made up for it. Gnocchi paella was definitely interesting, by the way, their pasta dishes come in half sizes.
We moved onto dessert, and my hats off to the Rioja pastry chef- order the s'more dessert! It sounds childish but you will not be disappointed. Just imagine a pot of melted chocolate, melted marshmallow on top, served with graham cracker cookies. There's crack in the chocolate I tell you! The almond tart was also fabulously chocolatey and savory. And their homemade ice creams are awesome!
All in all, our tab...a mere $160 for 4 people including drinks. That's impressive for the portion sizes and quality of food.
The staff is very friendly and the decor is simple. The location is prime and the outdoor seating is perfect for those warm Denver nights. I arrived a skeptical Californian foodie but left a very satisfied Denver convert.
A stellar and consistantly good restaurant!
I have been there for lunch and dinner many times and the food and service never disappoints. The atmosphere is very nice and relaxing, eventhough there is a nice view of the hectic (but well orchastrated) open kitchen.
Their selection of homemade breads is an awesome start to a great meal. I always go for the lavender sour dough bread (and for seconds and sometimes thirds!). The main dishes are solid with prefectly balanced flavors.
Their desserts are simply awesome. I was there one night with a group of friends and we ordered everything on the dessert menu to share and they were all great and was hard to pick a favorite.
This is a great place to take a date to, or when family are visiting from out of town, or a pre-theatre dinner.
Neighborhood: Northwest
Category: American (New)
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