Lafayette, CO - Summer 2022
Lafayette was a home base on the outgoing and return legs as we had a place to stay and it’s a good distance from California to take a breather from the road. It was also an easy trip to Denver or the Rocky Mountains from here as they are close by.
They make a big deal about their Palisades Peaches here - you see them everywhere at the end of summer
Spent a lot of time here during the trip staying with a friend.
This town is basically one of the northern suburbs of Denver – just outside of Boulder. You can see why people like it here. It’s close to nature, you have a view of the Rockies, the houses are huge and new.
You get 4 seasons but the summers have a dry heat – not like the suffocating humid southeast summers.
Everything here is relatively new as farmland gets converted to housing. It still feels like that housing is sprinkled into the farmland vs the other way around.
No doubt places like these get popular in a world where people can work remotely. There is rapid growth in the corridor between Denver and these outlying areas as the greater Denver area booms.
The youngsters flock to Denver and the families tend to move out here.
Lafayette has a small quaint downtown (really just a few blocks) surrounded by your strip mall complexes but it works well here.
The general feel of these north Denver neighborhoods is a hipster vibe where it seems like there are more microbreweries than convenience stores.
Odd 13 Brewery (dog friendly)
We of course have to start with the dog friendly places. This spot just off downtown Lafayette on a side street has great beers and a laid back environment. It also is open during the day which is nice when you are traveling and every day is a weekend. They have an outside patio as well but more importantly your pup is welcome inside.
Romero’s K9 Club and Taphouse (dog friendly)
So, this place really caters to dogs (as you can tell by the name). They have an outdoor off leash play area where you can drink and your dog can roam freely but you have to register your pup and do more paperwork than I thought worthwhile.
But since your dog can just hang with you on leash, that was fine with me as he just wants to chill out anyway at the bar.
Great beer selection here and they usually have a food truck in front so you can grab a snack with your beer. The time we visited it was a Thai food truck.
Liquid Mechanics (dog friendly)
I forgot to take a photo of the dog at the bar so here is one of him hiking at the Flatirons instead - but he is allowed inside here. I was distracted by the beer and forgot my photo-blogging activities.
This place also makes it 3 dog friendly drinking locations in a small town which is awesome.
The Liquid Mechanics building was probably a garage or Jiffy Lube or something before it was a brewery as it sits at the end of a strip mall and I’m guessing gets its name from that conversion. Excellent beer choices with indoor and outdoor seating. It sits at a pretty busy corner and always seems full of people so you won’t have to worry about getting stale beer as they probably move the kegs pretty quick.
They are also open early in the afternoon to accommodate your day beer needs.
William Oliver’s Publick House
This spot in downtown Lafayette is one of the better whiskey bars in the area (the best one in my opinion is in the next town over in Louisville which I will cover in a separate post). Good whiskey selection as well as microbrew beers and wine. This is a pub with a classy feel.
One of their small dishes is the “Pint-o-Bacon” pictured above. That’s maple syrup in the shot glass for dipping the bacon - not liquor.
There is an outside are so you can bring your dog along to hang outside on a nice day.
Cannon Mine Coffee
This coffee spot in the middle of downtown Lafayette has some of the best coffee in the area in my humble opinion.
I prefer my coffee to have that nutty aroma but a lot of small roasters have been leaning towards the sour citrusy taste which is not my cup of tea - so to speak. This place has coffee that hits the spot for me.
The central location is good for people watching as everyone walks by to go to one end of downtown or the other.
Ghost Box Pizza
Detroit style pizza seems all the rage now in some places. This is a new spot that popped up in downtown Lafayette that is pretty popular with the young folks. Great beer selection along with a very welcoming indoor space and outdoor patio accompany the solid pizza offering.
The Detroit style is baked in a rectangular steel pan and the sauce is on top. They do a good job here - flavor is good and the crust is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
The pup can hang out on the front patio and watch the crowd go by on the sidewalk.
Casian
Another new place at the top of the downtown area, Casian (I believe it rhymes with Cajun) puts an Asian twist on Cajun style seafood boils. The Hmong dishes are also very good - the ceviche shrimp larb is pictured above.
Mono Mono
So forgive me for being skeptical of a place in Colorado having good Korean fried chicken but this place was solid. I saw that they also have a location in Denver but the place we went to was in Lafayette.
On top of the food being good, the value was also excellent. The spread above was like $30 for a big assortment of chicken and sides. The platter offers sauced and non-sauced options as well as some boneless nuggets. They also throw the pickled daikon along with fries, slaw and Texas toast at you for sides.
The Post
The “chicken and beer” on their logo pretty much sums it up. Excellent fried bird with very good southern sides make this a very popular place. Local microbrew options are almost mandatory for eateries here.
They have a very comfy patio in the back but unfortunately no dogs allowed.
They also have locations in Estes Park and Longmont.