The Highlands, Denver: The No Bullsh*t Neighborhood Guide (2026)
LoHi is the walkable pocket between downtown and the Highlands where Denver packs its best food per block. A mile of W. 32nd Avenue lined with destination restaurants and rooftop patios, plus a footbridge that drops you back downtown
The Highlands, Denver: The Complete Neighborhood Guide (2026)
If you moved to Denver in your late twenties for a job and you’re now in your thirties trying to figure out where you actually want to live, the Highlands is usually the answer. It’s where people land once the LoHi bar-crawl phase wears off — when a slow Saturday of coffee, the farmers market, and a dinner you booked a week ahead starts beating another night out. It’s walkable and mostly owner-occupied, and the food up here is quietly some of the best in Denver.
The Highlands — specifically the West Highland and Highlands Square area — is the neighborhood Denver locals point to when visitors ask where people actually live. Not the tourists, not the new transplants doing a bar crawl on their first weekend. The people who have been here long enough to have opinions about where to get pastry in the morning and who know the difference between the neighborhood's cheese shop and everyone else's. The commercial heart is W. 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard, where farm-to-table restaurants predate the phrase becoming a cliché, where an independent cheese shop has been running for 25 years, and where the Sunday farmers market has been drawing regulars since 2014. The residential streets radiating out from that center are lined with Queen Anne Victorians and Craftsman bungalows, most of them owner-occupied, most of them in the Potter-Highlands Historic District — one of the largest residential historic districts in Colorado. It is the kind of neighborhood that doesn't need to announce itself.
Where Exactly Is the Highlands?
The Highlands, as used here, refers to West Highland and the Highlands Square area — the western portion of Denver's Highland neighborhood, centered on the commercial strip at W. 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard. This is distinct from LoHi (Lower Highlands), which covers the eastern section closest to the river and downtown and is addressed in its own guide.
The Highland neighborhood proper is bounded by W. 38th Avenue to the north, Federal Boulevard to the west, the South Platte River and Speer Boulevard to the southeast, and the Union Pacific rail line to the east. The Highlands Square commercial area — the strip most people mean when they say "the Highlands" — runs along W. 32nd Avenue from roughly Bryant Street to Lowell Boulevard, with Lowell itself adding a north-south retail spine. Most of what you'd come for is contained within that ten-block radius.
Who the Highlands Is (and Isn't) For
The Highlands fits well if you:
Want a walkable neighborhood main street that runs on local independent businesses, not chains
Appreciate a food scene with roots — these restaurants have been here for years and earned their regulars
Value Victorian housing stock and residential streets that feel like they have history
Are looking for the neighborhood that LoHi graduates into — same walkability, less weekend foot traffic
The Highlands requires some adjustment if you:
Want nightlife density — this is dinner-and-wine territory, less late-night bar scene
Are expecting the same level of new-restaurant churn as RiNo or LoHi
Need a rail connection — there isn't one; bus and rideshare are the practical options
What It's Like to Live Here
About 10,700 people live in the Highland neighborhood, at a median age of 34 and a median household income around $114,000. The profile skews young professional and family — specifically the version of that combination that has moved past the LoHi phase and started caring about front porches, weekend farmers markets, and whether the neighborhood school is decent. The housing stock is central to the identity: 36 square blocks of the Potter-Highlands Historic District hold Queen Anne Victorians, Denver Squares, Italianate, Mission Revival, and Craftsman bungalows, most of them preserved and the majority owner-occupied. Living here means living inside one of the most architecturally coherent residential areas in the city.
The commercial strip on 32nd Avenue has been good for long enough that it has the quality of a settled place rather than an emerging one. Root Down opened in 2008. Duo has been running since 2005. St. Kilian's Cheese Shop has been on Lowell since 2001. These are not new restaurants that made a neighborhood — they are restaurants that stayed and became the neighborhood. The pace of change here is slow relative to RiNo or even LoHi, which is either the main appeal or the main limitation depending on what you're looking for.
Weekend mornings in the Highlands have a specific texture: coffee from Middle State on 32nd, a pastry from Wooden Spoon, a stop at the farmers market on Sunday, then wandering back through the residential blocks before the afternoon comes in. It's a neighborhood organized around the kind of day where you don't need to go anywhere specific to have a good one.
Getting to the Highlands & Getting Around
The Highlands has no light rail or commuter rail access. The practical ways in are bus (several RTD lines serve 38th Avenue and Federal Boulevard), rideshare, or driving in from LoHi or the rest of the northwest side. From downtown, it's a 15-to-20 minute walk or a short rideshare. From LoHi, it's essentially the same neighborhood — the boundary is walkable.
Once you're in the neighborhood, W. 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard are entirely pedestrian-friendly. Street parking on weekdays is easy. Weekend afternoons around the farmers market fill up the immediate blocks but remain manageable compared to LoHi or RiNo. Cycling is practical — the neighborhood connects to the South Platte River Trail system via LoHi and into the broader Denver trail network from there.
Why People Love the Highlands
The architecture is genuinely beautiful. The Potter-Highlands Historic District is among the largest residential historic districts in Colorado — 36 blocks of preserved Victorian-era homes that give the neighborhood a physical quality that newer Denver developments can't replicate. Walking the residential streets here is worth doing independent of any specific destination.
The restaurant strip has depth, not just names. Root Down, duo, Spuntino, and the rest of the 32nd Avenue anchors have been operating long enough to develop the kind of quality that only comes from time — regular menus refined over years, loyal customers who know the kitchen, and no pressure to chase trends. These places are good because they figured out what they wanted to be and stayed there.
The independent retail is the real thing. St. Kilian's Cheese Shop has been stocking artisan European cheese on Lowell since 2001. Highlands Cork & Cafe has been running coffee and wine in the same room for over 15 years. Broadway Book Mall on South Broadway is within reach. These are not pop-ups or lifestyle concepts — they're businesses that the neighborhood built and kept.
The farmers market is a proper institution. The Highlands Farmers Market runs every Sunday from May through October at 3489 W. 32nd Ave — local farmers, food vendors, a market bar, and live music in a format that has been consistent enough to become a neighborhood ritual rather than an event.
What's New in the Highlands for 2025–2026
Notable Openings
Cerebral Brewing's West Highland taproom opened in 2025 inside a converted church on Lowell Boulevard — the third taproom location for one of Denver's most acclaimed craft breweries. Cerebral built its reputation on hazy IPAs, sour ales, and experimental releases, and the West Highland location brings that full range to the neighborhood alongside Outside Pizza operating out of the same space. A former church becoming a brewery is exactly the kind of architectural reuse that lands well in a neighborhood this invested in its built environment.
Origami Den, a basement speakeasy beneath Sushi Hai at 3600 W. 32nd Ave, quietly opened in late 2025 as a Saturday-only reservation experience — omakase-style small plates with a high-low pairing sensibility (uni butter popcorn, caviar on karaage). It runs by reservation through OpenTable and has built a following quickly without announcing itself much. The kind of thing that stays good precisely because it doesn't try to scale.
Just over on Tennyson Street — Berkeley, technically, but a five-minute hop — American Lore opened in early 2026 as a saloon-style whiskey bar: $4 beer in frosty mugs, free bar snacks, no-frills cocktails, and an in-house hat shop from Hats by Parker Thomas. It’s the rare new opening on this side of town that leans old-school rather than precious, and it’s worth the short trip if you’re already up here.
What Closed — Know Before You Go
Masterpiece Delicatessen and Argyll Whisky Beer are both gone — the former closed when chef-owner Justin Brunson pivoted to River Bear American Meats, the latter never survived past 2016 and was never actually in the Highlands neighborhood. Both names still appear in older Denver guides. Neither is worth seeking out.
Things to Do in the Highlands
Walk the Commercial Strip
The walk along W. 32nd Avenue from Bryant Street to Lowell Boulevard, then south on Lowell through Highlands Square, is about a mile total and takes as long as you want it to. The street is scaled for pedestrians, the storefronts are independent, and the architecture on the residential side streets is worth cutting into if you haven't seen it. This is one of the better walkable main streets in Denver precisely because it doesn't feel like it was designed to be one — it grew that way.
The Highlands Farmers Market
Every Sunday from May through October at 3489 W. 32nd Ave, 9 AM to 1 PM. Local farmers, food vendors, a market bar, and live music. It's been running since 2014, which is long enough to have regulars who show up every week and vendors who know their customers by name. Go before 11 AM if you want the pastry selection at Wooden Spoon to still be intact.
St. Kilian's Cheese Shop
St. Kilian's Cheese Shop & Market (@st.kilians) at 3211 Lowell Blvd has been operating since 2001, which makes it one of the longer-running specialty food businesses in northwest Denver. European-style artisan and imported cheeses, cured meats, and a curated provisions selection. The kind of shop that's easy to spend an unplanned thirty minutes in, and that rewards going with a specific occasion in mind — a dinner party, a charcuterie board, an afternoon that needs upgrading.
Leevers Locavore
Leevers Locavore at 2630 W. 38th Ave is an 18,000-square-foot employee-owned hybrid grocery and food hall that opened in 2019 in the northern part of the neighborhood. It combines a full natural and organic grocery with three in-house restaurants, a coffee shop, and a beer and wine bar — all locally sourced, including meats from River Bear American Meats. It's the kind of grocery store that makes a neighborhood feel like it takes food seriously.
Berkeley Lake Park
Technically in the adjacent Berkeley neighborhood, Berkeley Lake Park is a short walk or bike ride north and worth including in any Highlands day. It's 83 acres surrounding a 34-acre lake, with mountain views, a dog park, and a recreation center. The walk around the lake on a clear morning gives you the Front Range at a remove that the Sloan's Lake loop doesn't quite replicate. Quiet enough on weekdays to feel like a private park; busy enough on weekends to feel like a neighborhood asset.
Loop Sloan’s Lake
Ten minutes southwest of Highlands Square, Sloan’s Lake Park is the big-water option — 284 acres around a 177-acre lake, Denver’s second-largest park. The 2.6-mile paved loop stays busy with runners and walkers all day, kayaks and paddleboards launch from the bank, and the west-facing shore catches one of the best sunset-and-Front-Range views in the city. Our Sloan’s Lake neighborhood guide has the full picture.
Reset at a Recovery Studio
The neighborhood leans into recovery culture as hard as anywhere in Denver. SWTHZ on Tennyson runs private infrared-sauna-and-cold-plunge contrast suites; Symmetry 360 at 2416 W. 32nd Ave handles deep-tissue, sports, and injury-recovery massage with an infrared sauna of its own; and a cluster of yoga and bodywork studios runs the length of 32nd if you want to make a morning of it. More in our saunas and cold plunge and recovery studios guides.
Groceries & Provisions
For a full grocery run, Leevers Locavore on W. 38th (above) is the neighborhood’s answer — natural-and-organic shelves, in-house kitchens, and Colorado sourcing throughout. For the smaller, better things — cheese, charcuterie, a board for tonight — St. Kilian’s on Lowell has held that role since 2001. Between the two and the Sunday farmers market in season, you rarely need to leave the neighborhood to eat well at home.
Where to Eat in the Highlands
The Anchors
Root Down (@rootdowndenver) at 1600 W. 33rd Ave occupies a reclaimed 1950s gas station — the original pump canopy and mid-century bones preserved, the interior filled with eclectic sourced décor — and has been running globally-inspired, vegetable-forward New American cooking since December 2008. Chef-owner Justin Cucci built the restaurant around local sourcing and seasonal produce; the Edible Beats restaurant group he founded became 100% employee-owned via ESOP in 2022. Root Down predates the farm-to-table trend by enough years that calling it that now undersells how ahead of it the kitchen was. Dinner nightly, weekend brunch, weekday happy hour.
duo (@duodenver) at 2413 W. 32nd Ave opened in 2005 as one of Denver's first farm-to-table restaurants and has stayed itself through nearly two decades of neighborhood change. Intimate New American dining with a menu built around seasonality and local sourcing, no gimmicks, precise cooking. Ownership passed in 2023 from founders Keith Arnold and Stephanie Bonin to longtime chef Tyler Skrivanek, who has kept the kitchen's standards intact. Dinner Wednesday through Monday, brunch on weekends.
Italian & Pizza
Spuntino (@spuntinodenver) at 2639 W. 32nd Ave is an independently owned seasonal Italian restaurant run by a husband-and-wife team — a small, from-scratch kitchen producing inventive dishes rooted in Italian tradition and driven by Colorado seasonal ingredients. Consistently praised by local critics, loyal regulars, and the kind of small restaurant that feels more essential the longer it stays. The intimate room means reservations matter.
Brunch
Fox and the Hen (@foxandthehen_denver) at 2257 W. 32nd Ave is the neighborhood's biggest brunch draw. Top Chef Season 15 finalist Carrie Baird runs an all-day breakfast and brunch kitchen, open daily 7 AM to 3 PM — loaded toasts, huevos rancheros, boozy brunch drinks, and plates that photograph well enough to keep the weekend waitlist real. The celebrity-chef angle drives first visits; the cooking brings people back.
Sassafras American Eatery (@sassafrasdenver) at 3927 W. 32nd Ave is a Southern-Cajun scratch kitchen at the western end of the strip — fried green tomato Benedicts, pimento chicken biscuits, shrimp and grits, po'boys — with over 1,300 Yelp reviews and consistent weekend waits. Less flashy than Fox and the Hen but deeply embedded in how the neighborhood eats on weekend mornings. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, dinner Thursday through Saturday.
Paperboy (@eat.paperboy) at 3940 W. 32nd Ave opened on March 24, 2026, making its first out-of-Texas expansion to the Highlands. The Austin original won Best Brunch in Austin across multiple publications; the Denver location brings the same elevated comfort food format — Texas hash, migas, brown-butter pancakes, seasonal Pop-Tarts, specialty coffee, and cocktails — to a 3,000-square-foot space with a patio. Too new to have a Highlands reputation yet, but the national following (31K Instagram across locations) gives it immediate relevance.
Casual & Everyday
Highland Tap & Burger (@tapandburger) at 2219 W. 32nd Ave is what it says: craft burgers and an extensive tap beer list in a neighborhood gathering spot that earns its weekend brunch crowd. Reliable, consistent, and exactly the kind of place that anchors a commercial strip — not a destination from across the city, but essential to the people who live nearby.
Little India Highlands (@littleindiaofdenver) at 3496 W. 32nd Ave — right at the corner of 32nd and Lowell, the heart of Highlands Square — is part of a multi-location Indian restaurant group operating in Denver since 1998. Full menu with a bar, positioned at the commercial center of the neighborhood for good reason.
Sushi Hai (@sushihaidenver) at 3600 W. 32nd Ave Ste. D is a longstanding Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar that has been a neighborhood fixture for years. Thursday comedy nights and weekend entertainment make it more than just a sushi spot. The more interesting development is what's in the basement.
Worth Knowing About
Origami Den (@origamiden) operates in the basement beneath Sushi Hai on Saturday nights only, by reservation through OpenTable. The concept is omakase-style small plates with a high-low pairing philosophy — uni butter popcorn, caviar on karaage, filet mignon paired with uni. It was created by Denver-based food and lifestyle figure Candies Liu and opened in late 2025. It runs quietly and hasn't announced itself much, which is precisely why it's worth knowing about before the reservation window gets competitive.
More Highlands Mainstays
A few rooted spots that don’t get the new-opening press but hold the neighborhood together.
El Camino Community Tavern at 3628 W. 32nd Ave has been the strip’s Mexican-and-margaritas anchor since 2008 — a scratch kitchen, a full bar, and one of the better patios on 32nd for a slow weekend afternoon.
Mead St. Provisions at 3625 W. 32nd Ave (the old Mead Street Station, in a former 32nd Avenue rail depot) has fed North Denver for 20-plus years — a deli, eatery, and bar under one roof, sandwiches on bread baked fresh daily.
Gaetano’s at 3760 Tejon St is the neighborhood’s red-sauce institution — opened by the Smaldone family in the 1940s, bootlegging-and-bookmaking backstory and all, still turning out housemade pasta and a Bloody Mary bar eighty years on.
Where to Drink in the Highlands
Craft Beer
Cerebral Brewing West Highland (@cerebralbrewing) at 3257 Lowell Blvd is the third taproom for one of Denver's most decorated craft breweries, housed in a converted church on the Lowell Boulevard spine of Highlands Square. The full Cerebral range is on tap — hazy IPAs, sour ales, and experimental releases alongside the core lineup — and Outside Pizza operates inside the space. Opened 2025. Tuesday through Sunday. The physical space alone justifies a visit; the beer makes it worth returning.
Coffee & All-Day
Middle State Coffee (@middlestatecoffee) at 2622 W. 32nd Ave is a specialty coffee roaster focused on single-origin sourcing and precise preparation, open 7 AM to 4 PM daily at the corner of 32nd and Clay. The go-to for a morning before the farmers market or a slow afternoon on the strip.
Hearth at 3617 W. 32nd Ave is a bakery-café that started as a farmers market pop-up in 2021 and earned enough of a following to open a permanent location. Westword named it Best Pastries at a Coffee Shop in 2025. House-roasted coffee from sister café Tablon, exceptional pastries and bread, sandwiches (unique to this location), and a liquor license for weekend drink specials. The eco-friendly glass jar program gets social media traction; the pastry quality is the actual reason to go. Monday through Thursday 7 AM to 3 PM, Friday through Sunday 7 AM to 5 PM.
Hello Darling (@hellodarlinghighlands) at 3484 W. 32nd Ave opened in summer 2024 as the Highland outpost of the LoDo original — a café in the morning, cocktail lounge at night. Daytime runs specialty coffee using Middle State beans and locally sourced pastries; evenings pivot to Negronis, espresso martinis, and charcuterie boards. The pastel-hued interior is deliberately photogenic. Trivia nights via Geeks Who Drink partnership on weeknights. Open Monday through Thursday 7 AM to 10 PM, Friday and Saturday until 11 PM.
Highlands Cork & Cafe (@highlandscork) at 3701 W. 32nd Ave occupies a useful dual role — privately owned coffeehouse in the morning and wine bar in the afternoon and evening, with breakfast and lunch running through the middle. It has been doing this for over 15 years, making it one of the more durable independent coffee businesses in Denver. The combination of coffee and wine under one license, in one room, is more useful than it sounds.
Little Owl Coffee (@littleowlcoffee) at 2731 17th St Ste 110 is an award-winning specialty coffee roaster that opened its LoHi location in March 2023 — locally roasted, thoughtfully sourced beans, a spacious outdoor patio with city views, and a warm interior that makes it the most scene-driven coffee option in the neighborhood. The patio fills on weekend mornings in a way that makes it a destination rather than just a stop. Dog- and kid-friendly.
Bravo Caffe (@bravo.caffe.denver) at 2011 W. 32nd Ave brings a Latin American spin to the strip — blends sourced from Mexico and across Latin America, pastries, and a warm, family-run room. Open 6 AM to 7 PM daily.
Bakeries
Wooden Spoon Cafe & Bakery (@woodenspoondenver) at 2418 W. 32nd Ave is a family-owned neighborhood bakery running Wednesday through Sunday, 8 AM to 1 PM. Fresh pastries — both breakfast and dessert — coffee, and a morning atmosphere that makes it the correct first stop before anywhere else on the strip. It closes at 1 PM, which means the window is specific; go early, especially on weekends when the farmers market is running a block away.
Cocktails & Margaritas
Williams & Graham at 3160 Tejon St is the neighborhood’s marquee cocktail destination — a bookshelf-door speakeasy that’s been one of the most-cited bars in the country since 2011. Reserve ahead. More in our Best Bars guide.
Billy’s Inn at 4403 Lowell Blvd has been pouring on the north end of Lowell since 1933 — Baja-style plates, an award-winning margarita, and one of the deepest tequila-and-mezcal lists in the city. The happy hour is a neighborhood institution.
Where to Stay Near the Highlands
In the Neighborhood
The Highlands doesn't have a boutique hotel anchoring it — the neighborhood is primarily residential, which is the point. There are no significant lodging options within Highlands Square itself.
Nearby Options
Gravity Haus in LoHi (17 rooms, outdoor-activity focused) is the closest boutique property to the Highlands — a short rideshare or a manageable walk down 32nd Avenue toward the river. Downtown Denver hotels at Union Station are about 20 minutes by rideshare and cover the full range of price points. For anyone who wants to be in this part of the city, LoHi lodging gives the easiest access to both neighborhoods.
When to Go & What to Expect
Mornings: Sunday mornings during farmers market season (May through October) are the neighborhood at its best — pastry from Wooden Spoon, coffee from Middle State or Highlands Cork, then the market itself on 32nd Ave from 9 AM to 1 PM. The energy is neighborhood-specific in a way that most Denver weekend mornings aren't.
Evenings: The 32nd Avenue restaurants — Root Down, duo, Spuntino — warrant reservations on weekends. The strip gets busy but never reaches the volume of LoHi on a Saturday night. Cerebral Brewing fills later in the evening and works without a reservation. The neighborhood's overall evening energy is quieter and more residential than the neighborhoods closer to downtown.
Parking: Manageable in the Highlands, including on weekends — a relative advantage over LoHi and RiNo. Street spots on W. 32nd Ave fill during peak dinner hours and the Sunday farmers market, but the surrounding residential blocks absorb overflow without much difficulty.
So…Is the Highlands Worth the Trip?
The Highlands is the best argument for the claim that Denver's most interesting neighborhoods aren't the ones that get the most coverage. Root Down and duo have been running farm-to-table cooking before it was a marketing phrase. St. Kilian's has been selling European cheese on Lowell since 2001. The Potter-Highlands Historic District contains some of the most beautiful residential architecture in the city, and most people walking 32nd Avenue don't know the name of it. Cerebral Brewing just opened its best-located taproom here.
For visitors: pair an evening at Spuntino or duo with a morning farmers market visit and you've seen what the neighborhood is actually about. For residents who've been overlooking it: the Sunday farmers market and a Cerebral pint on the Lowell patio is a weekend morning that requires no planning and delivers consistently.
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Related First In Denver Guides
LoHi Neighborhood Guide - the dining-and-nightlife pocket downhill from here.
The Best Rooftop Bars in Denver - including Hey Kiddo’s rooftop over on Tennyson.
Denver Farmers Markets 2026 - the Sunday Highlands market and the rest of the metro.
See you out there, Denver.