From fried chicken to cheeseburgers, pancakes and steak, here’s 10 Denver restaurants for some serious down-home cooking.

French Fries
Steuben’s There’s a whole lot to love about Steuben’s — the pot roast and lobster rolls, raspberry lime rickeys and tattooed bartenders, novelty hot sauce bottles and chocolate frosted cupcakes. And while this retro-tooled urban hangout for hipsters succeeds on just about every level, it’s the piping hot, highly addictive french fries — hand-cut, liberally salted, and requisitely greasy shoestrings — that keep us moaning for more. Served in antiquated crab tins lined with wax paper, these are the kind of french fries that fry you to the moon and back.
523 E. 17th Ave. | 303.830.1001 | steubens.com

Green Chile
La Fiesta It’s been more than 40 years since La Fiesta unleashed its green chile on Denver’s Mexican food militants. The semi-smooth, semi-thick, semi-hot mop of roasted chiles, tender pork and South-of-the-border seasonings pairs well with everything on the menu. The dining room, a kitschy mosh pit of bright orange booths and chairs, grungy floors and strings of lights, is a favorite haunt for media types, attorneys and high-ranking local politicians.
2340 Champa St. | 303.292.2800 | lafiestadenver.com

Omelet
Sam’s No. 3 It was a well thought-out conspiracy at Sam’s No. 3 to paint the walls the shade of an all-American breakfast. Amid the eggshell, yolk and strawberry-hued quarters, lay two u-shaped Formica-topped counters, an exhibition kitchen, and suspended television sets. The seven-page menu pays tribute to eggs done every which way, including the Denver omelet, a soft-scrambled assemblage of chopped ham, onions and green peppers overlaid with melted American cheese.
1500 Curtis St. | 303.534.1927 | SAMSNO3.com

Macaroni and cheese
Dazzle Supper Club Dazzle’s lure comes in all guises: from the pedigreed musicians that grace the dining room stage during the citified jazz brunch on the weekends to the liquored-up libations and laid-back, speak-easy vibe. This intimate supper club strikes the perfect balance between brassy live entertainment and classy comfort food, the likes of which include Dazzle’s decadent macaroni and cheese, a crock of elbow macaroni gussied up with a deluge of gouda, Fontina, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, dusted with buttery breadcrumbs and slid under the broiler until the top is all bubbly and golden.
930 Lincoln St. | 303.839.5100 | dazzlejazz.com

Chili
Elway’s Downtown Just in case you’ve been burrowing under the ballot box, yes — Elway’s is monikered after the Super Bowl-winning Denver Broncos quarterback. But while it’s not a foregone conclusion that you’ll spot the football great — in fact, sightings are slim — the swanky, spit-polished steakhouse, holed up in the glitzy Ritz-Carlton, is a primetime perch for people-watching and carnivorous escapades. The steaks are stellar, but the steak chili, a hearty man’s pot of tender beef, various chili powders, oregano, hot sauce and tomatoes, speaks to your gut like an impassioned Barack Obama speech. God Bless America.
1881 Curtis St. | 303.312.3107 | elways.com

Steak
The Capital Grille A high-rolling status palace of bullish proportions, this swanky steakhouse, bedecked with requisite dark woods, white linens, stylish stemware and gilt lighting fixtures, welcomes the Armani-suited male species with open arms. Teaming with politicians, wanna-be politicians, friends of politicians and political groupies, The Capital Grille is the perfect place to campaign for change ­­— both literally and figuratively. The hulking cuts of dry-aged beef are fit for a muscle-flexing bodyguard — especially the prized 24-ounce porterhouse, a juice-dribbling, garnet-hued slab of beef emerging with a requisitely charred exterior. Pair that crimson cow with sides of creamed spinach, a loaded baked potato or the lobster macaroni and cheese and your gut will be as bloated as George Bush’s ego.
1450 Larimer St. | 303.539.2500 | thecapitalgrille.com

Pastrami sandwich
Zaidy’s Deli Downtown This traditional downtown deli keeps it real with skyscraping sandwiches, matzo ball soup, lox and eggs, potato latkes and kugels, all of which symbolize the trappings of a celebrated New York delicatessen. Animal proteins — chopped liver, roast turkey, salami, tongue and roast beef — litter the menu, and while you can’t go wrong with any of the sandwiches, the juicy and lean pastrami on rye embodies the best of Denver’s mile-high attitude.
1515 Lawrence St. | 303.893.3600 | zaidysdeli.com

Pancakes
Snooze If you find yourself all busted up and bleary-eyed after a night cavorting with politicos, there’s no better place to regain your vision than at this packed breakfast and lunch emporium that flips the best flapjacks in the city. Slide into one of the comfy booths and sing the praises of the pineapple upside down pancakes, plate-spanning marvels of caramelized pineapple-pelted flapjacks crowned with a scoop of cinnamon-spiced butter.
2262 Larimer St. | 303.297.0700 | snoozedenver.com

Cheeseburger
CityGrille “I pledge allegiance to the United States of all-American grub” could very well be the tag line of CityGrille, a lively watering hole and gathering spot that extols the virtues of patriotic classics, most notably, the cheeseburger. A caloric burst of epic proportions, the hand-formed, cheese-cloaked burgers are rousing half pounders of ground sirloin — salted, peppered, slapped on the griddle and mounted on a chewy bun from Bluepoint Bakery. The joint, popular with legislators, lobbyists, lawyers and blue-collar workers, turns into an impromptu party on Monday nights when “Burger Madness” ensues — a $6.95 meal deal that includes a burger, fries and 12-ounce draft beer.
321 E. Colfax Ave. | 303.861.0726 | citygrille.com

Fried Chicken
Rocky Mountain Diner “Nothing could be finer than dinner at the diner.” That’s the catchphrase at the Rocky Mountain Diner, where, for nearly two decades, the down-home kitchen has turned out straight-up American cuisine. Blue-blooded broods of comfort food warriors flock here for the gloriously golden pan-fried chicken thanks to a batter of spicy seasonings and indelibly tender flesh that retains its juices. Plated with mashed potatoes and vegetables — usually carrots, green beans and peas — the chickens are best consumed with a shot of bourbon from one of the leather saddle seats at the bar.
800 18th St. | 303.293.8383 | rockymountaindiner.com