Brasserie Ten Ten

Paris on Walnut Street

There is a category of restaurant that every city needs and most cities struggle to support: the reliable, well-executed classic brasserie that serves properly made French food at a price point that doesn't require a special occasion to justify. Boulder has had one since 2003, and it sits at 1011 Walnut Street in the centre of downtown. Brasserie Ten Ten is not chasing trends. It does not need to. It has been doing the same things — steak frites, moules marinière, crêpes, a fresh raw bar — for more than two decades, and it does them well enough that returning is easy and recommended.

The room itself carries a genuine Parisian energy: warm zinc bar, banquette seating, brasserie mirrors, white tablecloths without ceremony. Boulder restaurants trend toward the casual, and Brasserie Ten Ten occupies a middle ground between the formality of Frasca and the informality of the Pearl Street gastropubs — a place where you can order a dozen oysters and a glass of Muscadet before a steak, or spend an hour over lunch with a bowl of mussels and a glass of whatever the sommelier recommends. Both are entirely appropriate. Both have been done at this table before you and will be done again after you leave.

The menu covers the brasserie canon competently: coquilles Saint-Jacques, duck confit, croque monsieur, French onion soup. Dishes arrive with the calibrated reliability of a kitchen that has cooked them thousands of times. There is something deeply reassuring about this. Brasserie Ten Ten is not going to surprise you. It is going to feed you well, in a good room, at a price that does not require an explanation.

The Hours and Versatility

One of Brasserie Ten Ten's strongest suits is its hours. Open from 11:30am Tuesday through Friday, 10am on weekends, and offering all-day service through 9 or 10pm depending on the day, it covers more of Boulder's dining calendar than most of its competitors. A business lunch on a Thursday, a brunch after a hike on Saturday, a birthday dinner on a Monday when half of Boulder is closed — Ten Ten accommodates all of them without adjustment or fuss.

For close-a-deal dining, the room has the right energy: serious enough to signal intent, relaxed enough to facilitate conversation, with a wine list anchored in France that gives the sommelier material to work with regardless of your guest's preferences. The private dining capability, while modest, can be arranged for small groups. Brunch on weekends draws a lively Pearl Street crowd and is one of the city's better morning eating experiences.

Reservations are recommended for dinner and weekend brunch; walk-ins are generally possible at lunch. Phone ahead for groups. Brasserie Ten Ten is one of the most frequently recommended options for out-of-town guests who want a safe, solid, genuinely enjoyable dinner without surprises — which is, when you think about it, exactly the highest compliment you can pay a brasserie.