Bittersweet Artisanal Cuisine

12÷30÷15 — ended up here after leaving another restaurant because the noise level was unbearable. Had never been here, but it is in our «hood». And the reviews looked intriguing. As others have said — Bittersweet is exceptional — lovely décor, comfortable on a very cold evening, warm welcome and quality food, wine and service. We were delightful to «stumble» into a delightful evening. There are two separate dining rooms, which allows for the conversation level to be maintained. Well done! we will be back.

Exquisite! This restaurant is exceptional. I had been meaning to visit Bittersweet for quite some time and I was quite impressed. The location is unassuming, off of Alameda and Pennsylvania, yet the inside is beautifully decorated with an indoor fire which was quite welcoming for our winter night.
The entire menu is hand-​made, farm to table, so therefore changes frequently. Everything we had was inventive yet simple and very delicious. Each dish was well prepared with generous but not excessive portions. For a cocktail to start, I tried the black Manhattan which was smooth and well balanced. The desert was a macaroon with chocolate ganache, cranberry sorbet and peppermint snow; if you could eat winter for dessert, that was it.
So in summary, between the ambiance, tasty drinks, and outstanding food, bittersweet may be my new favorite Denver restaurant!

We’ve been here twice now and both times the food was fantastic, the service wonderful, and the ambiance relaxing and welcoming. When I get to choose a place for birthday or celebratory dinner, this will be it from now on! I’ve been searching for a restaurant worth spending a little more for, and Bittersweet doesn’t disappoint. Every single thing I’ve eaten here has been delicious, with dessert being no exception. Try it, you won’t regret it!

Ugh. We really wanted to love this place. It’s close to us, and should have all the makings of a great place. But the food was bland. Really bland. And not even that interesting. It’s also way more expensive than it should be, especially for Denver. When you can go close by to Fooducopia, Mecca, Devil’s Food, or any of 20 other restaurants that are much better and a lot cheaper, why would you ever go here? Never again.

For sure, one of my favorite restaurants in Denver. The appetizer (potatoes, lemon, snap peas, sweet onion purée…) was great but the entrée, the maple leaf duck with heirloom carrots, grapes, cilantro… was AMAZING. I love duck. I had duck in many restaurants in US and in Europe. One of the best I ever had. The yellow brick road dessert was fantastic too. Great gluten-​free options! Also, the cocktails and the wine (a Cinsault from France) were excellent. On top of all that the service was perfect. My wife and I had a blast. We’ll definitely go back to try more of their culinary creations.

Service was excellent and the food was creative, fresh, and delicious. Such a great neighborhood farm to table restaurant. We will be regulars here!

The flavors of the dishes we tried were good but not incredible. We had the tortellini, duck, sausage, and a fall greens salad. For the price of the dishes, the portions are extremely small. It’s the most I’ve paid per ounce of food. It would be worth it if the flavors were amazing and innovative but they weren’t that unique. I’m surprised it’s rated so high on 5280; didn’t match my expectations.

We had a really great experience at Bittersweet. The service was excellent, and the dishes were wonderful. We tried the Potato and Pappardelle as well as the Mahi and their new duck dish. All four were presented excellently and the flavors of each dish were all unique. We found the food to be much better then Riojas and service to better as well.

Very forgettable. The smoked mussels were the worst mussels I’ve ever had and I’ve had a lot of mussels. The short rib was dry and tough. The garganelli (duck ragu) was fine although it was really light on duck. The potato and the farfalle were pretty good, but not enough to offset how bad the first two entrees were. Service was so-​so. Server was very «checked-​out» and took no initiative to remedy our complaint about the mussels other than asking if we wanted more mussels. It’s a cool looking joint, though. Very inviting.

This is a culinary triumph as far as seasonal cuisine goes! My friend and I had a celebratory dinner here for her last week in town and we couldn’t have picked a better place for the occasion since we’re both foodies! Bittersweet provides such an organic dining experience from the cute garden seating, natural wood dining tables and chairs to the super fresh seasonal ingredients!
Ambiance: natural, warm, inviting and intimate. The restaurant is divided into two dining rooms to mimic the feel of a large dining space inside a home complete with fireplace and buffet tables. The open kitchen and bar connect the two rooms.
Food: the talented chefs use the best ingredients of the season as inspirations for the menu. The menu consists of a mixture of small sharable plates and large entrees. We ordered the cured salmon, potatoes, summer salad and farfalle to share as the portions are relatively small. Each dish is beautifully plated and what I call edible art! The freshly baked bread was absolutely delicious with whipped butter! All the wonderful flavors just exploded in my mouth every time I take a bite of the food. We were surprisingly satisfied after our meal despite the small portions.
Service: our waitress was very attentive and provided excellent suggestions for each course of the meal.
Parking: there is a small parking lot with 6 – 7 parking spots but street parking is easy to find in the area.
I definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves seasonal cuisine with highly inventive dishes!

This place is pricy. I had the charcuterie plate here and had a heart attack. That’s the only reason it is not getting the fifth star. The best rye manhattan I’ve had in denver was at this bar. The food is delicious and the atmosphere is warm. I love this place.

The food was good — but a few entrees were cold. Also, there was not too much flavor to the $ 34 4 oz portion of halibut. The sturgeon was delicious! While the restaurant is cozy and charming, the noise levels were very high, and it was difficult to hear people at your own table. This place should have complimentary valet to accommodate guests since there is limited parking.

Last night was my second visit and I have to say, the chef is highly creative and the dishes are unique and delightful. He or she will no doubt get some high recognition soon. Some of the items don’t seem as they would go together and when eaten, they are a taste sensation. The first time I went with a girlfriend, we ate backwards, having dessert first, then the main course, then appetizers, then another dessert. Heavenly. Last night, my husband and I enjoyed a buttermilk parfait with an almond crust that was delicious. He had rhubarb and loved it. We’re looking forward to the patio opening for some al fresco dining. I just discovered this spot in March and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants.

Small, intimate restaurant — great for dates or a nicer dinner out — First of all the service was outstanding! The waitress had such a passion for the menu and was nearly giddy with joy explaining the details of the menu.
Appetizers tried: charcuterie plate, octopus, and duck pasta. The humboldt cheese was delicious! All appetizers were wonderful — portions were very small, so I recommend one per person.
Main entrees: Scallops, Rabbit, Osso bucco — these portions were much larger and could have possibly been shared. All amazing dishes — the rabbit was my favorite.
Desserts: blood orange and pineapple — all very refreshing!
The menu does change frequently but I would imagine everything tastes great — Looking forward to summer to sit outdoors!

My fiancé and I went here to celebrate the night of our engagement. While we were still very excited and took forever to settle down and order, our waitress was extremely patient and friendly and made us feel very special. There was no pressure on us to hurry and we could just enjoy the moment.
We split a bottle of red wine, which definitely helped fuel the celebration but everything we tasted was very good. We tried the lamb and the root vegetable appetizer which both were great and then had the steak and the pork entrees and really like them both as well. Follow that up with a chocolate dessert and two complimentary glasses of champagne and we felt like royalty.
While we were very dressed up for the celebration, I really liked the casualness of the restaurant. The staff was very laid back and there was a large variation in how formal people were dressed from t-​shirts and jeans to suits. Would definitely like to try the patio some time but on that particular night, we were perfectly content to just look out the window as the snow piled up on the bistro tables.
On our next trip to Denver we will definitely try and make it back!

Had to try this place since it’s highly rated and only a 9-​minute walk from our apartment. This is my kind of place: delicious flavors, seasonal menu changes, and sustainable food sourcing. We got seated immediately on the patio next to the beautiful garden overflowing with herbs and chard, and then proceeded to swoon over every bite of food placed in front of us. My entrée hit the spot: Petaluma Chicken with grilled frisèe, potato croquant, hazelnut purée, red pepper emulsion and bacon vinaigrette. The gorgeous summer sunset was a nice touch. Definitely going back.

It was the husband’s birthday, so I decided to surprise him with dinner at Bittersweet on an early Thursday evening. Although the private parking lot was tiny (maybe 6 car spots?), there was only one vehicle there at 5:30PM. I hadn’t wanted to take any chances, so I parked on a sidestreet… now I know for future.
Very attractive little building inside and out, but because it was a nice day, we requested to sit in the garden. Sure, Alameda is humming along right there, but it was such a delight to sit amongst blooming flowers and watch all the bees foraging up-​close. They never bothered us and were entertaining!
Service was excellent. Both the hostess and server were professional yet kind, and our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and beverages. Everything was relaxed, timed perfectly, and discreet.
The chicken sausage appetizer was very good as we really enjoyed its chive aioli. The husband’s wild boar was extremely tender and the mustard gastrique was something special. He remarked favorably to the mushroom mascarpone purée with the barley. My Petaluma chicken was juicy and wonderful with small dashes of hazelnut purée, but I REALLY loved the potato croquants — fresh, warm, and round with a wonderful softness on the inside but slightly crisped on the outside. Both of our dishes were actually larger than we expected — I hoped I’d have enough room for sweets!
I wanted to score the dessert Midnight In the Garden of Good & Evil, and I told our server as much. Alas, it was not on the menu that evening. However, she was able to recommend to us something that might achieve a similar aesthetic, even though it had a most unassuming name: S’Mores. When it arrived, we felt it was almost too pretty to eat. Like Midnight, S’Mores comes in a little terrarium with about a half inch base of hazelnut chocolate cream topped with cacao nibs to form a soil-​like appearance. Matcha tea was sprinkled liberally upon it to form the «moss,» and the effect was heightened by petals of edible flowers and bits of raspberry. A toasted blob of marshmallow cream and twizzles of white chocolate sticks were off to one side. Aside from the gorgeous presentation, this dessert was DELICIOUS. It was subtle and not cloying at all — we wanted another one!
We’d love to come back. Bittersweet deserves to rank among the best in Denver.

Wow — Bittersweet is so so good. Easily one of the best restaurants I’ve been to. They have a wonderful outdoor patio with string lights right next to their garden — it’s the perfect atmosphere for a relaxing dinner. Now the food — I cannot express how good it was. I got the escargot and the Petaluma chicken. If you’re in Denver, please come here!

Made reservations on Open Table and was seated right on time. The place is tiny but so chic and cute.
The dinner menu isn’t big but has enough variety of options to make you go «What am I going to get? I want 3 things!». The drink menu features their own cocktails and a variety of wine and beers.
They make their sausage in house so make sure to order a dish/​appetizer that contains some!
Dinner: We shared the prawn dish. The prawns were huge and of course there were pieces of their house-​made sausage in the dish. Delicious yet light.
Dessert: Since I’m a glutton we ordered two desserts. We tried their cookies and cream icecream (sorry but TAG really does have the best icecream) and their lemon tart: the perfect blend of sweet and tart with fresh strawberries on it!
Our server was amazing, the drinks kept flowing, and I had such a great time here at this intimate restaurant.
It was raining, but they do offer a pretty nice outdoor dining area.

Outstanding restaurant. Creative and unique menus, from cocktails to dessert. The specialty cocktail was outstanding and they had a great selections of unique beers and wine to choose from. The server was extremely knowledgeable and helpful which made choosing the right dish fun and easy. The food was presented elegantly and the flavors were amazing.
My duck was cooked to perfection and the accompaniments were perfectly paired. Gnocchi, parsnip purée, and butternut squash.
The dessert was mint chocolate ice cream, it was excellent. The fresh mint definitely made this unique and now a flavor I will always remember.
My only wish is that they had acknowledged my birthday (as I saw they did with other tables that night), as I put on the open table notes.