Guard and Grace — Restaurant in Denver

Wow! What an experience! We generally can't afford to eat at places like this on the regular, but we decided to splurge for our anniversary this year and give this place a try after seeing on a list of the top 101 steak houses in the world! It was fun being able to dress up and just really enjoy the experience with my husband.

First and foremost, the restaurant itself it absolutely beautiful. The location worked well for us. Though I noticed others mentioned having issues parking, we were actually able to get parked pretty quickly, which allowed us to get there a bit early for our reservation.

Exceptional service is an art and Guard & Grace seems to have that down to a T. We were able to sit back and relax and not stress about anything. Usually we're with our wild kids, so being able to do that was a big deal for us. From the acknowledgement when we walked in the door, to every employee we encountered through our meal, to being thanked by every single employee we walked by going out. You can tell that Guard & Grace really takes great care in making sure their staff knows how important each guest is.

Now, onto what everyone really wants to hear about....the food! We were brought a complimentary crab crake. It was the one of the two things that I wasn't able to get a picture of because my husband dug in right away. I was surprised because of the sauce it sat atop. My husband is not a fan of any kind of mustard, but he ate this! It was a beautiful introduction to what we were in store for.

We ordered the buratta appetizer as well as some salads. Both were exceptional. You can never go wrong with burrata, but what really made it it for us was the oak fired bread. The smokiness from that complimented the flavors of the buratta and toppings so well. We both got wedge salads and they were really good. The flavors really popped - you know when you eat that, you're eating something very fresh! We also received rolls, which were so light and fluffy and the mustard seed and chive butter with them was lovely. I feel like this is the first time I've had a roll that didn't feel like it weighed me down.

For dinner, we ordered the 8oz grass fed filet, wagyu short rib, and sides of brussel sprouts and gnocchi. The steak and short rib were amazing. Everytime my husband took a bite of his short rib, his eyes were closed, it was that good. The brussel sprouts were perfect and the lemon really helped balance out the brussel sprout well. The gnocchi - when I tell you I couldn't stop eating it, even when I was so full from all of the other amazing food, I kept eating it. We took the remainder of what we couldn't finish home, but once we got home, I polished off what was left of that gnocchi. It was probaby one of my favorite things of everything we ate last night.

Finally, we ended our night with the G&G Dirty Chocolate Cake. If you find yourself at Guard & Grace, DO NOT miss this! I'd eyed some of the other options too, which I'm sure are not to miss as well, but once we saw that cake go by us to another table, we knew we had to try it! It did not disappoint.

Overall, we had an amazing time. It was well worth every penny we spent. This may have to be our annual anniversary dinner...

Where to get a filet mignon flight in Denver...

Guard and Grace is a MICHELIN Guide restaurant that has been consistently ranked one of the best steakhouses in the city. This modern steakhouse offers perfectly grilled cuts alongside a tempting selection of small plates. Casual, elegant dress is required.

We arrived and were seated in the main dining room. There was a raw bar where diners could indulge in fresh seafood & an inviting patio to unwind with a glass of wine. Our server Sean was polished & attentive. He knew the menu inside and out and could speak in-depth on the cooking methods & flavors of everything that we ordered.

For Cocktails, I had the Lion Tamer made with dobel diamante cristalino, chareau, roasted shishito, sesame-soy agave, & lime. This cocktail surprised me in the best way. It was very smooth with forward umami flavor. While I was drinking, I was smelling the roasted shishito garnish which upped the complexity of taste with subtle spice.

From the Raw Bar, we had the Crispy Tuna Sushi made with tuna, avocado, serrano pepper, yuzu kabayaki, & spicy aioli. Freaking phenomenal, give me 20 more (this is the best crispy tuna we've had in Colorado). The base of rice was large with a delicately crisped exterior that held a smear of spicy tuna atop. The aioli gave each bite a solid kick in heat.

For Appetizers, we had the Oak Grilled Octopus served atop white bean & celery salad, Spanish chorizo, sherry vinaigrette, & red pepper sauce. The octopus was cooked perfectly (they cook it four different ways to ensure soft, meaty bites with no rubbery chew). The octopus had a light char to it which gave off a smokey taste.

The brioche bread was light, airy, & so buttery.

For Steaks, we had the Specialty Filet Flight comprised of a 4 oz sampling of prime, wagyu, and grass-fed filet mignon. This Filet Flight will make you understand why so many label Guard and Grace as the best steakhouse in Denver. The Wagyu Filet was our favorite - decadent, so juicy sweet, and melted in our mouths. The Prime Filet was beefy and hearty. The Grass Fed Filet was clean in taste.

For Entrees, we had the Wagyu Short Rib served atop Fresno Pico de Gallo, huckleberry drizzle, & heirloom carrot ginger puree. The short rib had a deep beefy flavor of chuck roast. It was very tender & it fell apart under our knives and forks. The Pico & puree were reminiscent of a curry.

For Sides we had the Handmade Gnocchi with truffle & chive and the Oak Grilled Broccolini seasoned with nam chim, crispy shallots, & asian herbs. The Handmade Gnocchi blew us away - they were tender pillows, lightly kissed with truffle flavor.

For Dessert, we had the Warm Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Seasonal Butter Cake with Palisade Peaches. The Warm Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies were made with Troy's secret recipe and are available by the half dozen - a must-order. The cookies came to the table warm; they were crispy on the outside and chewy, in the middle...buttery, chocolatey, gooey,...

Quick and dirty review because I want to get right to it: do not skip this place, it was an amazing meal! This place came highly recommended for my first visit to Denver. We got waaaay too much food for two people, and I'd do it all over again - these made THE best leftovers.

We ordered the following:

1. Crispy Tuna Sushi: I'm a huge sushi fanatic...this dish was phenomenal and I still dram about it fondly. Many restaurants try to get pressed sushi right and fail. It's a very delicate mastery of crispy, hot rice with fresh fish, and this place idd it right. The photo speaks for itself - ahi tuna, avocado, serrano pepper, yuzu kabayaki, tempura sushi rice. GET TWO.
2. We both got prime filets - one 4oz and one 8oz. We like them prepared slightly differently so the 4oz was medium rare and the 8oz was medium. Both were tender, juicy, and cooked to absolute perfect. Next time, we might try the Filet Steak Flight.
3. Black Truffle Mac and Cheese: if I see a Mac on the menu, i'm never NOT going to get it. This was possibly the #1-2 spot for best mac I've ever had, including variations of truffle mac I've had.
4. Crispy Brussel Sprouts - FANTASTIC. Crispy, amazing, and perfect with a bite of mac and steak yummmm
5. Mushrooms - got these only because our server recommended them so highly. Skip, skip, skip! Mediocre at best. So weird that these were pushed so heavily. We left 98% of these because of how much other delicious food was to be had!
6. Cherry Cheesecake: this was really decadent and yummy! Oreo crust, bourbon honey ice cream, tart cherry compote, chocolate orange crumble, honeycomb brittle. It was fantastic!
7. Complimentary Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies To Go were brought out - this was so sweet of the server to send to us! But again, we ordered soooo much food. It would have been nice to know these were coming - we might have skipped the cheesecake. These cookies are tiny mini cookies that are perfect to take to go and back to the hotel. There are so many of them too!!

Cocktails were amazing too. We had 99 Problems But a Peach Ain't One Cocktail and a BA Old Fashioned. It's a solid and trust-worthy bar though, as some of our drink orders came from the menu, some off.

Most of the night was fantastic, but I'd be remiss not to mention some opportunities: 1) no cracked pepper offered, weird 2) there were no specials reviewed with us, but I heard them offered to other tables 3) they didn't have to go bags for the to go boxes due to supply chain issues...so customers had to walk out with giant shopping bags and two tiny containers of food. Seems like a quick Amazon fix.

Overall, if I'm ever back in Denver, I can't wait to eat here again, at least once! This was by far one of the best dining experiences I've had as it pertains to the taste and quality of the food. Everything was 11/10, except the mushrooms. Thank you,...