Can't Miss Meals in Boulder--Chautauqua Dining Hall and Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery

On this return trip to Boulder--after five long years away--I wanted to eat at some different places. But there were definitely places I had to go to again. I already mentioned the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House, but two other places also made it onto this trip's itinerary.


The Chauatauqua Dining Hall


It's not so much the food as it is the experience of dining here. The Chautauqua is one of my very favorite places (peruse the site and photos and it's easy to see why). But the food is wonderful, though I've only ever had breakfast.

The Chautauqua Dining Hall

The view from our table on the veranda

French toast with pecan butter (yum!)

We followed breakfast with a hike up into the Flatirons. Not my best decision though for some people, this "hike" is simply their daily dog-walking route. I stopped off on a rock while Mr. Eats ascended up the rocks and got passed by more than just a couple of little old ladies out for a walk. I tried not to be embarrassed, "Big breakfast, ha ha."


Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery


The other destination was Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery. During my first trip to Boulder, I went to Mountain Sun twice; it was that good. This time, we also went twice, but that's only because our first try was unsuccessful. This place is so popular that there was a crazy wait for a table at 9pm on a Sunday. A Sunday! But we went back on Monday (about 8:30pm) and only waited about 20 minutes. It was worth it.


Mr. Eats had a house-brewed root beer, but I opted for the Jah'Mon Ginger, which was a light lager with a heavy dose of ginger. Which was perfect. Also perfect? You can order beers in eight ounce sizes to experiment or just not get too loaded.

8 ounces of Jah-Mon Ginger Beer!

For dinner, I had the special "Case of the Mondays" wrap: Annapurna amber-baked tempeh, avocado, spinach, and roma tomatoes in a cilantro lime vinaigrette all wrapped up in a tortilla and served with a small salad. This tempeh was so good that it made me wonder why I can't prepare tempeh at home that tastes like this. Actually, I still don't know.


And of course, we had some cheese fries. You can't sit in a room devoted to jam band music drinking beer straight from the brewery without cheese fries, right? Okay, you can maybe, but I can't. I can only imagine what size I'd be if there were a Mountain Sun here in Nashville.


Chautauqua Dining Hall
900 Baseline Rd
Boulder, Colorado 80302
303-440-3776


Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery
1535 Pearl street

Boulder, CO 80302
303-546-0886