THE FRIDAY LIST: TENNYSON STREET, AND WHY BERKELEY STILL WINS THE WALK

Every few weeks somebody asks me where to go that is "not the Highlands." The answer is usually twelve blocks northwest, on a street that never got around to being precious about itself.

Tennyson Street runs through Berkeley roughly between 38th and 46th, and it is the rare Denver main street that grew instead of being installed. Bungalows, big trees, a bookstore, a dive bar that has outlived several economies. Here is how I would spend a Friday on it.

IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE DINNER

Hey Kiddo. Asian-inspired shareables and a cocktail list that takes itself seriously without making you read a paragraph before ordering. It has landed on Michelin's recommended list for Denver, which locally is the equivalent of your quiet cousin winning something.

Glo Noodle House if you want ramen and you want it to be the good kind. Bib Gourmand recognition, skewers worth ordering even when you told yourself you were just getting noodles.

Post Oak BBQ for central Texas brisket off wood-fired pits. Go early. Brisket is a finite resource and Denver has figured this one out.

FOR THE BEER PEOPLE

Hops & Pie is the one I send people to first, because traditional, pan, and Detroit-style pizza alongside a genuinely good tap list covers most arguments a group can have.

The Empourium Brewing Company brews on site with local ingredients. Alley Brews is women-owned, and has expanded into cocktails and breakfast, which is a combination I support without reservation.

THE DIVE THAT EARNED IT

Berkeley Inn. Five generations. Karaoke and poker nights. This is not a bar designed by a consultant to feel like a dive, it is a dive, and the difference is immediately obvious when you walk in.

If you want the other end of the spectrum, The Tatarian and My Boy Tony both do proper cocktails, and My Boy Tony has a wine list that punches above the room.

COFFEE, CARBS, AND THINGS YOU WILL BUY WITHOUT MEANING TO

Bakery Four for the cardamom bun. I am not going to oversell this. I am simply going to mention it twice in a row. The cardamom bun.

Call Your Mother for bagels with the density East Coast transplants keep insisting Denver cannot produce. Gelato Boy for after. Legacy Pie Co. for when you have been asked to bring something and have no intention of baking.

Wordshop is an independent bookstore and letterpress studio, and Berkeley Supply does outdoor gear and lifestyle goods. Both are the kind of shop that makes a street worth walking rather than parking in front of.

WALK IT OFF AT BERKELEY LAKE

Berkeley Lake Park has a loop of about a mile, a playground, and mountain views on the west side that people who live here stop noticing and visitors photograph immediately. It is the reason a lot of my clients end up choosing this neighborhood over ones with better marketing.

WHY I KEEP SENDING BUYERS HERE

Berkeley does something that is getting harder to find in Denver. It is genuinely walkable, it is about fifteen minutes from downtown, and it has not yet been fully repriced for those two facts. It is less polished than the Highlands and, generally, less expensive, which is a sentence with a shelf life.

The housing stock is mostly historic bungalows, which means charm and also means you are going to want a real inspection. Knob and tube, original sewer lines, and 1920s foundations are all part of the deal on this street, and none of them are dealbreakers if you know going in.

If you are curious what is actually trading in Berkeley right now, ask me. I will send you the real numbers rather than the ones on the portals.

SOURCES

• Edible Denver, "The Ultimate Guide to Dining on Tennyson Street," January 9, 2026

• Denver Sam, Berkeley & Tennyson neighborhood guide

• The Scout Guide Denver, "Living the Tennyson Street Life: The Insider Guide to Denver's Berkeley Neighborhood"