Brasserie Brixton

"So you want French food but you don’t have a corporate card to pick up the tab, and your bedazzled Chanel suit is at the dry cleaners (oops!). Enter the more casual Brasserie Brixton, where the steak frites and pâté are always on point, but there are also Star Wars stormtroopers painted behind the bar. This neighborhood spot was designed to be frequented, which is why there’s always a well-priced burger and fries available alongside the mussels and tartare. While the Asian influences continue to creep onto the menu—the blood sausage wontons and chili crisp duck are totally welcome, though—Brixton’s soul is all caramelized onions, crème fraîche, and butter. So much butter. (And when you do pick up that Chanel suit, head to Le Bilboquet in Cherry Creek for classic French cuisine with a side of prime people watching.)" - allyson reedy

"The owners of this cozy spot in North Denver drew its inspiration from their love of the casual bistros and wine bars of Montreal, resulting in a certain approachable charm that makes it a neighborhood restaurant par excellence. It also comes through both in the rustic aesthetic, and moreover in the small menu of staples like steak frites with creamy pepper sauce, rib-sticking chicken fricassee with Boursin pomme purée, and comforting French onion soup, alongside more inventive items like blood sausage fried wontons with tamari vinaigrette. There's also an excellent burger. Well-crafted cocktails and a compact but thoughtful list of thirst-quenching natural wines round out the roster." - Michelin Inspector

"So you want French food but you don’t have a corporate card to pick up the tab, and your bedazzled Chanel suit is at the dry cleaners (oops!). Enter the more casual Brasserie Brixton, where the steak frites and pâté are always on point, but there are also Star Wars stormtroopers painted behind the bar. This neighborhood spot was designed to be frequented, which is why there’s always a well-priced burger and fries available alongside the mussels and tartare. While the Asian influences continue to creep onto the menu—the blood sausage wontons and chili crisp duck are totally welcome, though—Brixton’s soul is all caramelized onions, crème fraîche, and butter. So much butter. (And when you do pick up that Chanel suit, head to Le Bilboquet in Cherry Creek for classic French cuisine with a side of prime people watching.)" - Allyson Reedy

"What does it take to open an eclectic homage to the bistros of Montreal and wine bars of Paris smack in the middle of a sleepy residential neighborhood like Cole? It’s right there in the name: brass. That’s just what this place exudes from stem to stern—not that there’s much room in between, with all of 55 seats in a corner space that makes for a tight squeeze. Walking in, you can imagine that, a century ago, Brixton would have been a speakeasy frequented by artists of all stripes—it’s got that anything-goes aura. The menu proffers its fair share of the classics: Fabulous onion soup, coq au vin, and steak frites land you squarely in bistro territory if that's where you want to be. But beyond that comfort zone is a cosmopolitan playground, with golden-brown wontons filled with blood sausage and dotted with chili crisp, and seasonal vegetables yielding compositions as complex as they are colorful." - Ruth Tobias

"This charming newcomer to the Cole neighborhood wears its European influence on its sleeve — or rather its double cheeseburger, topped with gruyère and French onion aioli. A side of black-garlic aioli gives its fries a nifty twist too." - Camila Navarrette, Josie Sexton, Paul Albani-Burgio, Ruth Tobias