7 Denver restaurants coming in 2019 to get excited about

If your New Year’s resolution involves eating more lobster rolls, flambéed Baked Alaska ice cream pops and milled-to-order flour, then boy do we have good news for you. The coming year is going to be another delicious one in and around Denver. From breakfast to dinner to second snack to third dessert, these are the upcoming restaurants we’re the most excited about in 2019.

Restaurant Tonno

Food bravery takes two. It requires an open-minded diner, willing to try anything, and a maverick chef taking a gamble on a tricky concept. Restaurant Tonno from chef Alec Bruno is shaping up to be a brave, tasting-menu-only restaurant that will give Denver diners an 11- to 20-course edible adventure. Go for it, you culinary daredevil, you. 2201 W. 32^d Ave., Denver; opening in the spring 

Maine Shack

Hear us out on this one, because we get it: $34 for a sandwich served in a hot dog bun? That’s pretty ludicrous. But a half pound of lobster ain’t cheap, kids, and if Maine Shack, from the culinary team behind Bar Dough and Señor Bear, truly serves the state’s best lobster roll, then we think that’s worth the anticipation (and maybe even the money). Not as big of a spender? The quarter-pound rolls start at $22. 1535 Central St., Denver; opening in the spring 

Broadway Market

True, there are elements of diminishing returns on excitement over food halls these days, now that we already have Avanti, Milk Market, Zeppelin Station and Stanley Marketplace. But Broadway Market, in the former Tony’s Market space and from the Stanley team, is giving us a couple of new things to get excited about, namely Pizzeria Coperta from chef Paul C. Reilly and Mother Tongue’s Turkish-style street food from chef Daniel Asher. If the offerings are good, keep the food halls coming. 950 Broadway, Denver; broadwaymarketdenver.com; opening in January 

TORO

You may have known that the word “toro” means bull in Spanish, but did you know it means “tuna meat” in Japanese? This is good to know, because TORO, the upcoming restaurant from chef Richard Sandoval (Tamayo, the now-defunct Zengo) will blend Pan Latin with Japanese and Chinese influences. Mmmm, global. 150 Clayton Lane, Denver (inside the JW Marriott Denver Cherry Creek); richardsandoval.com; opening late spring 

Dry Storage

Finally, a spot combining our two favorite food groups: grains and chocolate. From chef Kelly Whitaker (Basta, The Wolf’s Tailor) and the team behind Fortuna Chocolate, this Boulder bakery and retail shop will be a coffee/dessert/bulk-grain-bar hybrid. Translation? Get a side of dark chocolate pistachio truffles with your milled-to-order farro flour. Oh, and there will also be booze. 3601 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder; opening in January 

American Grind

Since its early days as a food truck and then a restaurant inside Avanti Food & Beverage in January 2017, American Grind has collected fans for its locally sourced burgers. Plus, its beet and sweet potato-based veggie burgers have earned plenty of vegetarian praise. Now, Grind will finally have the space to expand its menu in its upcoming Wash Park location, which means more burgers, chicken sandwiches and sides. 81 S. Pennsylvania St., Denver; americangrindco.com; opening in April 

The Constellation Ice Cream

We thought that Little Man’s Stapleton outpost would open in 2018, but we also thought that this would be the year we returned to civility and common sense, and just look what happened there.  Anyway, The Constellation will be housed in an all-glass, conical building topped with a 75-foot replica of an airplane wing in an homage to the former airport site, so that’s cool. And in addition to the scratch-made ice cream you already know and love, it’ll serve flambéed Baked Alaska ice cream cake pops, so even cooler. 10155 E. 29^th Dr., Denver; littlemanicecream.com; opening early 2019

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