Best Restaurants for a Team Dinner in Denver 2026
Team Dinner · Denver · 7 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
A team dinner has a different job from a date. It needs a table big enough to seat the whole crew without splitting them across the room, a menu built to share so nobody is stuck with one plate, energy enough to loosen people up, and a bill that one card or one expense report can absorb without drama. Denver is well set up for this: the downtown steakhouses run real private-dining programs, the Modern Asian and Mediterranean rooms are built around small plates, and the RiNo casual spots do family-style platters for a fraction of the price. Seven rooms get the team-dinner brief right, from a 9,000-square-foot steakhouse to a rooftop tapas floor to a Five Points room that serves green chile in platters. The rooms too small or too quiet for a group are on the avoid list at the bottom, with reasons.
The ranking
1. Guard and Grace — Steakhouse · Downtown
1801 California Street · dry-aged steaks, shareable sides; about $80–$150 a head · chef-owner Troy Guard · a 9,000-square-foot room, open since 2013
Troy Guard's downtown steakhouse with the deepest private-dining program in the city. Book a private room for the team night that needs to impress.
Guard and Grace is the default for a serious team dinner, and the scale is the reason. Troy Guard, a James Beard-recognized chef, opened this 9,000-square-foot modern steakhouse downtown in 2013, and it was built for exactly this: multiple private rooms, one of Denver's largest patios, and a steak-and-sides format that a whole table can order across and pass around. The dry-aged cuts anchor the meal, the sides are generous enough to share, and the room carries the kind of polish that lets a team dinner double as a client dinner when the guest list blurs. Figure $80 to $150 a head with a steak. Book a private room or the terrace a few weeks out for a group over eight, and ask about a set menu to keep service moving for a big table.
2. Tamayo — Modern Mexican · Larimer Square
1400 Larimer Street · tableside guacamole, mole tasting, shareable platters; about $50–$90 a head · chef Richard Sandoval · a Larimer Square fixture for over twenty years
A rooftop and a tequila program built for a crew, in Larimer Square. Book the patio or a buyout for a social, high-energy team night.
Tamayo is the team dinner that turns into a party, in the best way. Richard Sandoval's modern Mexican room has anchored Larimer Square for more than two decades, and it comes ready-made for groups: a dedicated events team for buyouts, a rooftop patio for receptions, and a deep tequila and mezcal list that gives a crew something to rally around. The menu, tableside guacamole, a mole tasting, platters of carne and fish, is meant to be ordered for the table and passed, which keeps the night social rather than siloed. The energy runs high, so it suits a team in celebration mode more than a quiet strategy dinner. Figure $50 to $90 a head before the tequila adds up. Book the rooftop or a semi-private section a few weeks out for a real group.
3. ChoLon — Modern Asian · LoDo
1555 Blake Street · French onion soup dumplings, kaya toast, shareable plates; about $60–$100 a head · chef Lon Symensma · a LoDo standard-setter for Modern Asian
Lon Symensma's Modern Asian small plates are made to pass around. Book a big table for the team dinner that wants to order everything.
ChoLon is the smartest shareable menu in the city for a group. Lon Symensma, trained in classical French kitchens, runs his Modern Asian room in LoDo around dishes built to be passed: the French onion soup dumplings are the signature everyone reaches for, the kaya toast is the table favorite, and the menu spans enough of Asia that a team of ten can order across it and try a bit of everything. The room is handsome and energetic without tipping into a roar, which makes it work for a team dinner that wants to feel hosted but still talk shop. The format also keeps the bill clean, since the table orders together. Figure $60 to $100 a head. Book a large table or the semi-private space a week or two out, and let the kitchen send a family-style spread.
4. Uchi — Japanese · RiNo
2500 Lawrence Street · hama chili, maki and sashimi flights, shareable plates; about $70–$120 a head · from James Beard winner Tyson Cole's Hai Hospitality, open since 2018
The RiNo outpost of an Austin sushi powerhouse, lively and made for sharing. Book a big table for a team that likes its food adventurous.
Uchi is the team dinner for a crew that takes its food seriously. The RiNo room is the Denver outpost of Tyson Cole's James Beard-winning Austin original, open since 2018, and the menu is built for ordering across: the hama chili is the gateway dish, the maki and sashimi flights come stacked for sharing, and the cooked plates give the non-sushi members of the team somewhere to land. The room runs loud and energetic, which suits a group letting loose after a long week, and the bar program keeps the table watered. It is the priciest of the casual-leaning picks here, but the shared format spreads the cost. Figure $70 to $120 a head. Book a large table a week or two out, and consider the chef's tasting for a team that wants to be steered.
5. El Five — Mediterranean · LoHi
2930 Umatilla Street, 5th floor · Spanish and Mediterranean tapas, paella; about $50–$90 a head · chef-owner Justin Cucci, Edible Beats · a fifth-floor LoHi room with skyline views
Justin Cucci's rooftop tapas floor with the best team-dinner view in Denver. Book the terrace for a celebratory crew at sunset.
El Five is the team dinner with a view, and the view earns its place when the night is a celebration. Justin Cucci's Edible Beats group runs this fifth-floor LoHi room as a Spanish and Mediterranean tapas floor, with North African and Middle Eastern accents, plates built to share and a skyline that frames the whole evening. The tapas format is ideal for a group, since the table orders a spread and passes it, and the paella scales up cleanly for a crowd. The room is loud and lively, angled at the city, so it suits a team that wants atmosphere and a sunset rather than a quiet conversation. Figure $50 to $90 a head. Book the terrace or a semi-private section a few weeks out, especially in summer when the patio is the hottest seat in LoHi.
6. Tavernetta — Italian · Union Station
1889 16th Street · family-style pasta, antipasti spreads; about $70–$110 a head · executive chef Cody Cheetham · MICHELIN Bib Gourmand, from the Frasca group
The Frasca team's Union Station Italian, polished and family-style. Book the private room for a team dinner that wants to feel hosted.
Tavernetta is the team dinner for a group that wants polish without a steakhouse bill. The Union Station room comes from the Frasca Hospitality Group behind Boulder's Michelin-starred Frasca, and executive chef Cody Cheetham's handmade pastas, plus antipasti spreads and large-format plates, lend themselves to a family-style group order. Its Michelin Bib Gourmand marks exactly the value-to-polish balance a hosted team dinner wants. The room is handsome and grown-up, the wine list is deep enough to impress a visiting client, and the private dining space handles a real group cleanly. The Union Station location also makes logistics easy for a team arriving from different directions. Figure $70 to $110 a head. Book the private room or a long table a couple of weeks out, and ask for a family-style menu to speed service.
7. Work and Class — New American · Five Points
2500 Larimer Street · family-style rotisserie meats, green chile, arepas; about $40–$70 a head · founders Dana Rodriguez and Tony Maciag, open since 2014 · a RiNo-area favorite
Family-style platters, stiff drinks and a fair bill in a loud Five Points room. Book the big table for the casual team night out.
Work and Class is the relaxed, affordable end of the team-dinner range, and for a crew letting off steam it is often the right call. Founders Dana Rodriguez and Tony Maciag opened the Five Points room in 2014 on a plain promise, a square meal, a stiff drink and a fair price, and it has stayed a loud, happy favorite ever since. The cooking blends New American with Latin influences, rotisserie meats, green chile, arepas, served in portions sized to pass around, which makes a group meal easy and the bill predictable. The room is energetic and unpretentious, the cocktails are strong, and nobody is going to feel out of place. Figure $40 to $70 a head. It does not take reservations for small parties, so call ahead for a large group and arrive early on a weekend.
Avoid for a team dinner
Beckon — RiNo. Duncan Holmes's Michelin-starred tasting menu is one of Denver's best meals, and exactly wrong for a team. Beckon seats eighteen at a single counter with a fixed, paced menu; you cannot fit a crew, you cannot talk across the table, and you cannot move at a group's speed. Save it for two people.
Mizuna — Capitol Hill. Frank Bonanno's intimate French room is built for quiet two-tops, not a ten-top. Mizuna is small and hushed, the service is paced for a calm evening, and a loud work group would swallow the room and irritate every other table. It is a date restaurant, not a team one.
Restaurant Olivia — Wash Park. Ty Leon's pasta room is one of the warmest small rooms in the city, and the operative word is small. Restaurant Olivia cannot comfortably absorb a big group without taking over the whole space, and the charm that makes it special evaporates when a crew descends. Keep it for a couple, not a crowd.
Booking strategy for a Denver team dinner
Decide your headcount and your register before you book, because the two together pick the room. For eight or more, lead with the venues that run real private-dining programs, Guard and Grace, Tamayo and El Five all have dedicated event spaces and staff, and those rooms book weeks ahead for prime weeknights, which is when most team dinners land. For a group of six to eight you can usually get a long table at ChoLon, Uchi, Tavernetta or Work and Class without a full buyout, but call rather than book online so you can flag the headcount and ask about a set or family-style menu. A pre-set menu is the single best move for a big table: it keeps service fast, the kitchen calm and the bill clean.
Two Denver-specific tactics. First, match the room to the team's mood: the downtown steakhouse and the Union Station Italian read as hosted and a little formal, good for a client-adjacent dinner, while the RiNo and LoHi rooms, Uchi, El Five and Work and Class, run loud and social for a crew in celebration mode. Second, think about logistics, because Denver teams arrive from all directions: Union Station around Tavernetta and the downtown core around Guard and Grace are transit- and rideshare-friendly, while the RiNo arts district clusters Uchi and Work and Class within a short walk of each other for a dinner-then-drinks night. Book a confirmed table or room, give a real headcount, and you have removed the variables a big group otherwise turns into chaos.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant for a team dinner in Denver?
Guard and Grace downtown. Troy Guard's 9,000-square-foot modern steakhouse has the private rooms, the big patio and the shareable steak-and-sides format that a team dinner needs, plus enough polish to double as a client dinner. For a livelier, more shareable night, ChoLon's Modern Asian small plates in LoDo and Tamayo's rooftop in Larimer Square both seat a crew comfortably and keep the table social.
Where can I take a large work group to dinner in Denver?
Guard and Grace has Denver's deepest private-dining setup, with multiple event rooms and a terrace that holds dozens. Tamayo by Richard Sandoval runs a dedicated events team for buyouts and a rooftop for receptions, and El Five in LoHi seats a group around shareable Mediterranean tapas with a skyline view. For a more casual crew, Work and Class does family-style platters built for sharing at a fair price. Book the private room or the chef's menu a few weeks out for anything over eight people.
Which Denver restaurants have shareable menus for a group?
The small-plates and family-style rooms are easiest for a team. ChoLon's Modern Asian menu, with its French onion soup dumplings, is built to pass around, Uchi's Japanese plates are made to share, and El Five runs Mediterranean tapas. Work and Class serves family-style platters of green chile and rotisserie meats. Ordering for the table keeps a group meal social and the bill predictable, which matters when someone is expensing it.
Where is a good team dinner spot in Denver that isn't too formal?
Work and Class in the RiNo arts district is the relaxed pick: family-style New American and Latin cooking, stiff drinks, fair prices and a loud, happy room that suits a crew letting off steam. Uchi Denver in RiNo and El Five in LoHi are also energetic rather than stiff. If you want a little more polish without going full steakhouse, ChoLon and Tavernetta both strike the balance for a team that wants to feel hosted.
Do I need to book a private room for a Denver team dinner?
Not always, but for eight or more it helps. Guard and Grace, Tamayo and El Five all have dedicated private or semi-private spaces worth reserving for a real group, and they book weeks ahead for prime nights. For smaller teams of six to eight, a large table at ChoLon, Uchi, Tavernetta or Work and Class works without a buyout. Call ahead either way, give a headcount, and ask about a set or family-style menu to keep service quick.
Related rankings
Featured in
- Denver dining guide
- Best for a team dinner worldwide
- Best steakhouses worldwide
- The full RFK rankings index
- Guard and Grace review
- ChoLon review
Affiliate disclosure: RFK earns a commission on bookings made through partner platforms (Resy, OpenTable, Tock) marked with a "Reserve" link. Sponsored listings are clearly marked with a Sponsored badge and are not eligible for editorial ranking. The seven rooms on this list were ranked editorially and no booking partner influenced the order.