Best Denver Desserts
Bakeries & Restaurants
By Molly Kalafut
Omonia Greek Bakery
Unless you understand Greek, you'll probably never figure out when any of these wonderful bakery items are. But really all you need to do is point at them. The glass counters are filled with many types of delicate pastries, powdered delicacies and honey-oozing phyllo dough delights. For an enjoyable evening, I recommend pointing at and buying a variety of items that look good, taking them home and sampling them. Some may be better than others, but it's always fun finding out.
Omonia Bakery
2813 E Colfax Ave
Denver, CO 80206
Phone: 303-394-9333
Gelato d'Italia
Situated in the swanky and upscale Cherry Creek area, Gelato D'Italia serves fine Italian gelato. The flavors can be quite unusual and interesting for ice cream - coconut, mango sorbet, lavender, etc. Gelato is denser and more flavorful than regular ice cream - it has both 1/2 the air, and 1/2 the fat. The cafe is also upscale enough that it's a nice stop for impressing out-of-town visitors. My favorite flavors in the lavender, hazelnut, and the amaretto flavors.
Gelato d'Italia
Cherry Creek North
250 Detroit Street
Denver, CO 80206
Phone: 303-316-9154
Bastien's
This restaurant features some of the best comfort food, steak, sandwiches and hot, sizzling desserts. The best are the "skillet desserts". They are a slice of pie (usually peach, cherry or apple) served on a heated skillet with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and then covered with sizzzling toppings - pecan caramel, or cinnamon pecan.
Bastien's
3501 E Colfax Ave
Denver, CO 80206
Phone: 303-322-0363
Pappadeaux
For 5+ years, every time I've visited this DTC restaurant in the evening there has been a long waiting list. I have a friend who joked that he should quit his lucrative computer science career, and start up a Pappadeaux since it's that popular. In addition to the tasty Cajun food, the restaurant features a fantastic desert. It's called "Oreo Cookie Mousse". A thick Oreo cookie shell is filled with dense chocolate mousse and crumbled oreo cookies. It is topped with thick, high-quality whipping cream, fresh raspberries and mint leaves. My suggestion is to order it "to go", because it's so rich that it can make for at least 2-3 servings at home. I've never seen anyone eat the entire thing at one sitting!
Pappadeaux
7520 E. Progress Place
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Phone: 303-740-9449
Rodizio Grill
Rodizio Grill is a very good restaurant that also has one of my favorite drinks. For desserts, they have a great caramel flan. It is small but packed with intense, rich and creamy flavor. It's worth taking some time after the meal to slow eat and savor this rich dessert.
Rodizio
Grill
1801 Wynkoop Street
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: 303-294-9277
Danish-Scandinavian Bakery
Update: Doh! This venue recently changed to a French bakery.
This fantastic bakery features fresh-baked desserts of many varieties. It's tucked in a shopping mall area next to Abo's Pizza. The selections vary on the time of day and what is fresh, but almost everything my husband and I have tried has been outstanding.
My favorite is the "chocolate almond horn" that has crunchy ends dipped with chocolate and then the middle of the horn is a soft, delicious intense cherry-almond flavor. They often feature bags of shortbread walnut and pecan cookies (walnut are my favorite). There is a rack of fresh breads - my favorite is the cardamom bread. The éclairs are wanton and decadent, dripping with chocolate and custard. They have yummy kringles, cinnamon rolls, chocolate cake, marzipan...it's all good.
In addition to the fresh baked goods, the walls are lined with shelves of Scandinavian imported foods. There are ginger snaps, dozens of lingonberry products, packed herring and many other types of food. The refrigerated section has an array of very interesting carbonated fruit beverages. The peach, pear and lingonberry flavors are particularly good.
Danish Scandinavian Bakery / Lundberg's Scandinavian Bakery
7475 E Arapahoe Rd # 4
Englewood, CO 80112
Phone: 303-771-3314