Fizz’s Top 5 Bowls Of Green Chili Around Denver
Apr 16, 2026, 9:56 AM | Updated: Apr 17, 2026, 9:52 am
Sure, everyone has VERY strong opinions on who serves the best green chili around, but I’ve never chimed in and it’s about time I did. Humbly, I make the best green chili from my own kitchen. But, if I’m going out, here are my five favorite bowls…
No. 5 — Santiago’s | Multiple Locations Santiago’s is Denver’s version of a public utility — essential infrastructure disguised as a breakfast burrito joint. Their green chili comes in mild, hot, extra hot and half-and-half for people who like to negotiate with themselves at the counter. A smothered breakfast burrito here costs less than your streaming subscriptions and delivers roughly 10 times the satisfaction. Available at what feels like 900 locations across the metro, Santiago’s is never more than a bad U-turn away.
No. 4 — D’Corazon | Denver D’Corazon’s green chili plate arrives with chunks of pork so large they might need their own ZIP code. Thick and hearty with only faint heat, this is an ideal intro to the dish, which makes it the gateway green chili. Bonus: they offer a vegetarian version, because even your meat-free friends deserve to know what happiness tastes like. D’Corazon will forever be my go-to Mexican restaurant downtown.
No. 3 — Chula on Broadway Cocina Mexicana | Englewood Chula is the new-school dark horse that absolutely deserves your attention. Owner Myrna Soltero Diaz transformed a former 4G’s outpost into a Den-Mex gem in 2023, and the green chili here is proof that good things come to those who renovate. The heat builds slowly and is just the right thickness to cling to one of our favorite smothered options on the menu, the crispy chili relleno nachos. Read that again. Chili relleno nachos. Smothered in green chili. If you aren’t already in your car, I can’t help you. Wash it down with their BOGO margs.
No. 2 — El Taco de Mexico | 714 Santa Fe Dr., Denver The green chili at El Taco de Mexico is arguably the gold standard in Denver. The bowl is everything green chili should be — chunky, loaded with tender pork and just spicy enough to make you quietly reevaluate your pain tolerance in a public setting. It’s on Santa Fe, which means parking is a full-contact sport, but that’s just the warm-up round before the main event hits your table.
No. 1 — Brewery Bar II | 150 Kalamath St., Denver The king. The legend. Brewery Bar II has been doing this for roughly 50 years, and in 2025 it won the Denver Post’s “Best Green Chile” bracket — a literal March Madness-style tournament, because in Colorado we treat chili the way the rest of America treats basketball. The chili features massive chunks of pork and peppers and borders on the tongue-numbing stage. Pair it with a craft beer brewed on the original taps next door, lean back and ask yourself why you ever ate green chili anywhere else. I truly miss their long-time Lone Tree location.
Who’d I miss?
