“Nobody ever goes there anymore — it’s too crowded.”
Baseball great Yogi Berra’s joking complaint about a St. Louis restaurant may be almost 80 years old, but the sentiment remains when it comes to getting a reservation at some of Denver’s hottest eateries.
The days when Westword food critic Jason Sheehan bragged about being able to walk in and snag a table for two anywhere in town are gone-daddy-gone. Making dinner plans today has become a competitive sport.
For some restaurants, reservations are well-nigh impossible, as a research search for some of the more popular eateries confirmed. Alma Fonda Fina was booked until November 1, when a lone 9:45 p.m. reservation remained. And Florence Supper Club, well, it appeared to be sold out for the foreseeable future.
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Others have hit-and-miss opportunities, but few at attractive times. Beckon, Denver’s first tasting (not no longer only) tasting menu spot, had an opening for next Saturday at 8:15 p.m., while Kizaki’s next table was October 7. And Milpero? Better get up early.
Kasie Curiel, who owns the restaurant with her husband, chef Johnny Curiel, says reservations are released at 8 a.m. on the first of the month for the following month. By 8:02 or 8:03, she’s already hearing from diners who were online and ready to book but still came up empty.
“They book out within a minute,” she says. “It feels like there’s such a lack of hospitality when there’s nothing you can say to a guest…because it’s like, gosh, you did the right things. You were up, you were ready.”
Alma Fonda Fina uses a different system. Reservations open 60 days out at 8 a.m., and Curiel says each newly available day is generally full by about 10 that same morning. The restaurant experimented with 30- and 90-day windows before settling on 60. Ninety days brought more cancellations, while 30 didn’t allow enough time for diners planning birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions.
Paul Lysek and Miles Odell at Florence Supper Club.
Tips on getting a tough restaurant reservation
The restaurant business has always involved managing seats. What’s changed is how much diners now need to know about when — and where — those seats appear.
At Margot, chef-owner Justin Fulton deliberately limits the booking window to roughly six weeks.
“I think that having at most six weeks of availability at a time keeps people from forgetting about the reservation they made three months ago,” he says.
Another problem arises when a restaurant’s known as impossible to book: Eventually, people just stop trying.
Although Margot has seen more availability recently, particularly during the annual late-summer slowdown, diners who struck out repeatedly in the past may not know that.
“You try two or three times to get in somewhere and don’t have any luck, and you kind of just move on to the next thing,” Fulton says. “That can be so hard for restaurants if you are forgotten about.”
So what actually works? There isn’t one easy answer.
At the Curiels’ restaurants, calling doesn’t confer any particular advantage. When a cancellation goes back online, it can disappear again within a minute or two. Curiel recommends OpenTable’s “Notify Me” feature, noting most cancellations happen the morning of the reservation.
At Margot, Fulton says an email can help, particularly when someone is looking for a specific date for a birthday or anniversary.
Roger Feekes, front desk host and concierge at the Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, still believes in picking up the phone. Feekes has spent about 20 years developing relationships with Denver restaurants, their owners, managers and staffs. When he calls, they know who’s asking.
“Those connections do not happen overnight,” he says. “One conversation, one relationship and one shared experience at a time.”
He usually calls in the morning, before restaurants open, and leaves a voicemail explaining what his guest is looking for. But even a well-connected concierge can’t produce a table that doesn’t exist, and Feekes says he would never expect a restaurant to cancel someone else’s reservation to accommodate a VIP.
“Everybody deserves to have that dining experience, regardless of whether they’re a rock star or a VIP for a corporation,” he says.
Curiel agrees. She and Johnny have fielded requests on behalf of some very high-profile guests and will make an extra effort if a cancellation comes through, but they won’t bump someone already on the books.
“What got us here … it’s not the Mick Jaggers of the world,” she says. “It’s the everyday guest in the community of Denver that believed in us from the beginning.”
Even Curiel’s mother couldn’t circumvent the system when she made a last-minute Thanksgiving visit and suggested dinner at Alma the night before the holiday. Alma was already fully booked, and there was no table … not even for Mom.
Kizaki is well-deserving of its Michelin star.
The hardest restaurants to get into in Denver
Alma Fonda Fina
2556 15th St.
Reservations open at 8 a.m. 60 days in advance, and the newly released date is generally booked by about 10 a.m. OpenTable’s “Notify Me” feature sends an alert when another diner cancels. Most cancellations happen the morning of, and the openings can be claimed within minutes. When the patio is open (until around Halloween this season), outdoor seats are first-come, first-served.
Reserve on OpenTable
Beckon
2843 Larimer St.
Reservations are released at 10 a.m. on the first of each month for the following month. The Michelin-starred restaurant accepts online reservations for parties of one to four, and larger-party inquiries can be sent to contact@beckon-denver.com.
Reservations through Beckon
BRUTØ
1801 Blake St.
The Michelin-starred restaurant has eighteen seats and takes reservations through OpenTable. BRUTØ is open Tuesday through Sunday, with seatings running into the evening; the restaurant also has a semi-private dining table in addition to the chef’s counter. General inquiries can be sent to info@brutodenver.com.
Reserve on OpenTable
Florence Supper Club
375 S. Pearl St.
Florence has 45 seats, including ten at the bar. Reservations open at noon each day for the date 30 days ahead. Later dates on the online calendar appear unavailable because they haven’t been released yet.
The restaurant charges $50 per person for cancellations made within 24 hours, so tables do occasionally reopen. Florence recently moved its reservations to SevenRooms through DoorDash. The new system includes a request feature, although co-owner Miles Odell was still working through the platform transition when we spoke with him.
The bar does not take reservations and is first-come, first-served, with the full menu available there. For reservation questions, email reservations@florencesupperclub.com.
Reserve through Florence
Kizaki
1551 S. Pearl St.
Kizaki is open Wednesday through Saturday in the same South Pearl Street building as Margot. Reservations are available through OpenTable. Diners can also request a reservation directly by emailing reservation@kizakiden.com.
Reserve on OpenTable
Margot
1551 S. Pearl St.
Reservations for Margot’s eight-seat, 12-course chef’s counter are released at noon on the 11th of each month. The restaurant also offers a five-course tasting menu, à la carte dinner and — unusual for a Michelin-starred restaurant — Sunday brunch.
Limited walk-in seating is available nightly, including at the communal table, and Tuesdays through Thursdays generally offer the most flexibility. Diners seeking a particular date can also email the restaurant directly.
Reservations through Margot
Milpero
3455 Ringsby Court
Reservations for the following month are released at 8 a.m. on the first of each month and can disappear within minutes. Milpero normally seats 16 diners per night, though it recently added a third seating on Fridays and Saturdays, increasing the nightly total to 24. Same-day cancellations do happen and are generally rebooked quickly, so the waitlist is worth watching. Walk-ins are not accepted. Milpero does not list a general reservation email address.
Reservations through Milpero
Sap Sua
2550 E. Colfax Ave.
Sap Sua releases dining-room reservations 30 days in advance on Tock for parties of one to ten and generally holds half of its bar seats for walk-ins. The restaurant’s phone is not regularly monitored and directs questions to info@sapsua.com.
Reservations through Sap Sua
The Wolf’s Tailor
4058 Tejon St.
The Michelin-starred Sunnyside restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. and takes reservations online through its website. General inquiries can be sent to info@thewolfstailor.com.
Reservations through The Wolf’s Tailor
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