Bites 2012

Not just a haunt for Colorado College students and faculty, Wooglin's is a fine stop for anyone at all three meals. A cup of Barista coffee with an outstanding quiche in the a.m.; a spicy bagel melt or giant Greek salad at lunch; or daily house soup, French dip, or portobello Swiss burger with a beer at dinner.

InSider 2010

Wooglin's offers almost everything: perfect coffee creations (including a velvety mocha), hot and cold "overstuffed" sandwiches, hummus, burgers, quesadillas, salads and even veggie chili. With live music in the eclectic interior, it's no wonder that townies help Colorado College kids keep it busy at all hours.

Best of 2012: Bang-for-Your-Buck Bar

Best of 2012: College Bar

Best of 2012: Neighborhood Bar: Central

Here's something that you might not have known about this popular downtown bar: The staff is a little bit clairvoyant. "Usually we can predict what people are going to order," says Mary Muckinhaupt, the nighttime manager. "A table will walk in, and we'll be like, 'Oh, that'll be two fish-and-chips.' We're really good at reading people." And, she says, it's true even if those people include suits, working-class locals and college kids: "We tailor to a broad clientele base, and we make everyone feel welcome." And this skill shows; Tony's has won the Best Bang-for-Your-Buck category every year since 2005, and the other categories every year we've offered them. "We have the best drink specials downtown," says Muckinhaupt. "We've been keeping downtown weird since '99, and it's been a good time." — Chet Hardin

Bites 2013: North Dakota Bison

Two options here, paleo-migos: the burger or the strip loin. The burger starts with the regular fixings on a brioche bun, to which you can add everything from green chilies to a fried egg or blue crab meat. The Maple Shellacked Plains Bison sees a sear with shallots and peppercorns, then a slathering of maple syrup and Stranahan's Whiskey demiglace. ($13 burger, $1 to $4 for extras/$39 strip loin)

Bites 2012

Doing so well that it expanded into a neighboring space last fall, nearly doubling capacity, Smiley's is your stop for tri-berry French toast, chocolate chip pancakes or a rich omelet. At lunch, it's house soups and hot sandwiches, followed by a mandatory slice of fantastic house pie.

InSider 2011

Smiley’s delivers kitschy, but quaint, décor, with antique kitchen tables, novelty signs and houseplants galore. Its deli counter demands attention with pies, pastries and muffins, but Smiley’s makes solid sandwiches and soups as well. French toast, pancakes and egg plates, including quiches, are popular at breakfast.

Click here for Smiley's Bakery and Cafe's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe!

Bites 2013: Margherita Pizza

Hotdogs, macaroni, Buffalo wings ... all things arguably disgracefully placed upon pizza in modern times. All of which makes the existence of a true, traditional classic pizza even more important. A retreat. A refuge. Something so perfect, in the case of the Margherita, that it need not ever have been built upon. Thin wood-oven pizza, lauded San Marzano tomatoes, fragrant basil, house-made mozzarella. Done, done and done. Don't talk to me, I'm eating over here. ($11.95) Beignets and Café Au Lait at Springs Orleans

Click here for Pizzeria Rustica's Local Vegetable Antipasto Recipe!

Best Of 2012: Local Coffee House

While you were voting for your favorite local bean empire this year, change was under way behind the scenes at said empire. Don and Kay Heaberlin, owners of Pikes Perk's downtown branch, split from roaster Rick Roehrman, purchased nearby Purple Mountain Coffee Co., and commenced with their own roasting operation. Hence the two names you see above. Moving forward, the north Perk should offer more of what you've come to expect and reward, including live music on Friday and Saturday nights, while the downtown business has announced changes around environmental consciousness, meaning more fair-trade and organic goodies. Truly, it's a whole new flavor. So be clear next year in your voting, and until then, chug some caffeine in both Perks' honors. — Matthew Schniper

Best Of 2012: Restaurant for Tourists

Best Of 2012: Place to Shoot Pool

Since it's just a block off the Springs' main strip, lucky tourists often stumble into Phantom Canyon for lunch or dinner. There they find a well-executed seasonal menu, which Phantom's Suzie Nichols says is focused on warmth and comfort food like meat and potatoes in fall and winter, and cool and crisp items like peach- and strawberry-infused plates in spring and summer. But locals flock to Phantom for its brews and 13 pool tables. (OK, maybe for the famous blonde ale and smoked gouda soup, too.) Look for a significant expansion to the brewery soon, which will not only increase brewing capacity, but bring an old-school video-game arcade into the billiard hall — sorry, the foosball tables had to go. — Steve Hitchcock

Bites 2013: Blonde Ale & Smoked Gouda Soup

Like the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones or one of those geek-ass elven blades from The Lord of the Rings, this soup is legend. It's not so much that wars have been fought over it (aside from the personal mental battle of resisting eating it all the time) as the fact that it's pretty much the greatest beer-cheese soup in the known realm. With its Queen's Blonde Ale base and thick cheese, it's so rich it's royal. ($3.25 cup/$5 bowl)

Click here for Phantom Canyon Brewing Co.'s Pork Green Chili

Bites 2013: Tiramisu

A good tiramisu is like a classic painting in that all the culinary brushstrokes are authentic, you know when you're seeing the real deal, and a lame knockoff simply will never capture the original's spirit. Paravicini's tiramisu is the equivalent of a primo museum piece, with the ideal creamy texture plus balanced coffee and chocolate notes. A masterpiece. ($6)

Best Of 2012: Cutting Edge Restaurant

Best Of 2012: Appetizers/Tapas

Best Of 2012: Happy Hour

Nosh won these same three awards last year, so consistency clearly isn't in question. It does happy hour right, with Bristol beer and vino specials, plus discounted signature martinis and cocktails and a couple bucks off many edibles (weekdays, 3 to 6 p.m.; until 8 p.m., Mondays). By early November, manager Tyler Schiedel says, you'll find a new HH deal, wherein select menu items will be a full 50 percent off. Favorite eats like the Korean wings haven't changed, but seasonal specials still come and go, alongside rare tap beers. A new "cheese program" focuses on Colorado-produced dairy goodies, and the eventual opening of the Ivywild center will deliver even more locally grown produce ... just some examples of how one stays "cutting-edge." — Matthew Schniper

Bites 2013: Spicy Bison Sandwich

If ever a better way to eat bison tongue has existed, we know it not. Nosh's chefs braise the meat stupid-tender with tomato paste and red wine over the course of 24-plus hours at 200 degrees. They then cook it with caramelized onions, jalapeños and Anaheims, receiving more kick from cayenne mayo and pepper jack cheese, melted onto Old School Bakery bread. Dunk that in a sweet jus constructed of the braising liquid refortified with extra carrots to draw out natural sugars. Tatonka! ($9.50 includes a side, lunch only)

Click here for Nosh's Two-Faced Apple Curry Soup Recipe!

Best Of 2012: Wait Staff

At Mona Lisa, the servers are extremely experienced — one has been there for 15 of the restaurant's 16 years, and the average is about six years. In short, they've been around long enough to know they're not the main event at this fine-dining attraction. "They're attentive, but not overbearing," Mona Lisa owner Jeff Kiepke says simply. Most customers come to Mona Lisa to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or other life event, which means a 2½-hour, four-course fondue meal. And in an environment like that there's a lot to be said for servers who can blend into the background but never be missed. But perhaps the clearest thing you can say: They're the best around. — Pam Zubeck

Bites 2013: Fondue For Two

Customize your own four courses, but here's how we'd roll: the Caesar salad first, then the Old World cheese option for the bread-veggie-and-fruit round. The Wild Game Entrée Platter for the main affair, featuring buffalo, trout, boar and more. And then a dark chocolate dessert fondue at meal's end, with a liqueur shot of your choice — Amaretto perhaps? — for a buck more per head. ($49 per person)

Bites 2013: Grinder Sandwich

"Hoagies and grinders, hoagies and grinders, navy beans, navy beans ..." Sorry. But get that reference and you've earned a grinder at Mollica's. (You're still paying for it.) Anyhoo, fennel-forward house-made Italian sausage lays down on a La Baguette French Bakery roll before its smothered with sautéed bell peppers, gooey provolone and chunky house tomato sauce. ($7.89)

Best of 2012: Bar for a Margarita

Most of us probably drink our margaritas at night, Mexican vacations excepted. But at the Loop, a lot of people drink margaritas in the middle of the day. They are men waiting for their wives to finish shopping, or exhausted hikers returning from the Incline. "That's my favorite thing on Saturday morning, Sunday morning, is people coming down [from the Incline] and saying it's like the light at the end of the tunnel," Loop manager Amanda Galloway says. The Loop offers 14 margaritas in a regular or grande (32- to 34-ounce) size, but will also make the drink with a tequila of your choice — it's got more than 40 to choose from. Favorites have long included the house and the Horni Grandma with Grand Marnier, but Galloway says people lately have been going for the Skinny, made with lime juice, agave nectar and Partida tequila. — J. Adrian Stanley

Best Of 2012: Chai

Chain coffee shops may have first introduced me to chai, but if I want the real stuff, I know it doesn't come out of a box. Locally, it comes out of Little Nepal. Manager Nabin Pandey says the key is toasting together the green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and green ginger before adding whole milk. The Indian tea, with the spices, is then steeped in the warm milk; after it's all strained out at the end, you're left with a cupful of magic. — Sonja Bjelland

Bites 2012

Best-sellers at this Best Of victor, according to co-owner Muku Bhandari: the masalas, kormas, makhani and curries, all with lamb, chicken, shrimp, and salmon options and lovely, intoxicating sauces. Catch monthly belly dances, a daily lunch buffet and a Thursday dinner buffet.

Best Of 2012: Sunday Brunch

With longtime executive chef Siegfried Eisenberger's departure from our town's five-star resort, this insanely opulent breakfast throw-down has been handed off to executive sous chef of banquets John Frazier (under the larger oversight of executive sous chef of restaurants Bertrand Bouquin). But really it's some 50 other folks who deserve co-credit for pulling it all off weekly, beginning prep in the wee morning hours and staffing everything from carving stations to a gorgeous chocolate fountain beset by ice carvings and gourmet goodies galore. The 100-item-plus culinary affair costs a worthwhile $39 and is bulletproof as a special-occasion destination. For hedonistic foodies, this is Sunday worship service. — Matthew Schniper