Best Contemporary American Restaurants in Lakewood

Hey Kiddo does a fantastic and playful job of elevating Asian fusion food with interesting flavor profiles and good contrasts in dishes (hot and cold, crispy and soft, etc.). The dishes were creative, the staff extremely kind and humorous, and the food tasted amazing. It is a strong recommendation to anyone and I will certainly be going back.

My sister and I went for a late dinner. This place was gorgeous! Great ambiance, lovely, knowledgeable waitress and great drinks! The food was good too! The only thing I would say is we ordered steak medium well and it came out a bit undercooked. We were so hungry that we went ahead with most of it except for the centerpieces that were just too undercooked for us to eat. When our waitress came over to check on us, we told her about it… She assured us that it could be cooked longer, but since we only had a few pieces left, we did not take the offer. However, we did order dessert and she ended up comping us the dessert to our surprise! Overall, this was a very good experience and a beautiful place! Although it was too cold to sit out on the rooftop patio… they encouraged us to walk out and take a tour… It was breathtaking! Make your reservation ☺️

Brutø is next-level dining—seriously, what a ride! From the second you walk in, it’s clear this place isn’t messing around. The vibe? Modern, cozy, and a little edgy, like it knows it’s cool but doesn’t need to try too hard. Even the plates, bowls, and cutlery were so on point that I caught myself thinking, “I need to step up my dinnerware game.” We went big with the 11-course tasting menu, and wow—just wow. Each course was like opening a little gift, perfectly wrapped and full of surprises. Every single dish had a story, a purpose, and a whole lot of heart behind it. You could feel the thought and care that went into not just the food, but the entire experience. The flavors were bold and inventive but somehow still comforting. Oh, and everything? Sustainable in some way, which made me love this place even more. And Lauren, our expert in literally everything…absolute rockstar! She didn’t just bring us food; she brought us into the food. The way she described each dish and wine pairing—like she was giving us the inside scoop on a masterpiece—made the whole night feel like a VIP event. Plus, her energy was infectious. You could tell she loved what she was doing, and it made all the difference. This isn’t just dinner; it’s a full-on experience. Brutø is the kind of place that makes you want to tell everyone you know about it and then book your next visit before you’ve even left. I’m counting the days until I can go back and hopefully see Lauren again. If you’re on the fence—go. Just go. You’ll thank me later.

Quality: It was a truly wonderful experience…. - The Good: Many dishes stood out for flavor, but the waygu dish was insane. Absolutely amazing. Other stand outs were the bison tart and squab dishes. I’m drooling just thinking of them - The OK: There was a small portion of one dish where I thought the cream over-powered the savory… However, my wife loved it… so that may just a preference issue. Also, I found the dessert a bit underwhelming… but wanted to share my surprise at how good I thought their ‘bread’ course was. Who serves ‘bread’ as a full course at a tasting like this? I was happily surprised at how good it actually was. - OVERALL: CERTAINLY worth it’s star for its quality!! Value: The OK: Having recently visited Alinea, I realized my experience at that 3 Michelin star restaurant had 10-14 courses and was not far off in price for 3 stars to WT’s 1 star 8 course menu. I don’t mind the occasional splurge, but in comparison…:/ Service: Outstanding! - The Good: As for the servers themselves… nothing short of outstanding. Great explanations on each dish and always more than happy to answer any questions we had. Our main guy (and a few others) had a great sense of humor - which is what we hope for when we go out. - The OK: Only one thought. They asked if we wanted the upcharge to waygu for a particular dish and we said “yes to one of us so that we could both try the difference”. They were VERY good with my wife’s GF requirement, but when they came back with one dish waygu, the other bison… only the bison was GF. They asked if they wanted us to re-cook the waygu (in fairness) which we said no (we grew up never sending food back unless egregious issues)… but something I hope they pay attention to at this price range and Michelin rating. Regardless, both versions were amazing. OVERALL: An amazing Michelin star experience, this is certainly worth the experience. I can’t wait to try out the remaining Denver area options

Footprints was quiet without a lot of traffic. The food was very good the ambiance was excellent. The gallery of the fossil trace remains is a high point. The fries served with "Fish and Chips" need a little work and should be reformatted to English Tavern style with larger chips and a smaller total serving size.