Downtown Littleton has always been known for its unique little shops and restaurants, but in recent years the town has been morphing into a more hip and modern version of itself, much in the manner of Wash Park and Platte Park before it. Since the writing of ‘The Best Restaurants in Littleton, Colorado,’ a couple of the old restaurants have closed and new ones have opened in their places. You will find that many of these new restaurants support the more recent trendier atmosphere, adding greater variety to the many tastes of Littleton.
Café Terracotta
Café Terracotta opened as a breakfast, lunch, and brunch restaurant in 2006. Located just a block from Main Street in one of Downtown Littleton’s historic houses, Terracotta quickly became one of the hottest breakfast spots on this end of town. It is not uncommon for guests to find 15 to 20 minute waits during peak times, particularly around lunchtime on weekends. But you’ll find the food and atmosphere well worth the wait: The food quality and presentation is exceptional, whether you order from their array of breakfast favorites or lunch selections. Enjoy the trendy urban atmosphere and the superior value of your meal compared to other brunch restaurants in the price range, particularly when you order the Louthan House special.
Part of the charm of Terracotta Cafe is its location in the Louthan house in historic Downtown Littleton. Located on Curtis Street less than a block north of Main Street, Terracotta is housed in the red brick abode of one of Littleton’s original families. The owners of the restaurant saved the building from demolition several years ago and restored it, gutting the inside (at some point over the years it had been subdivided into apartments) and tearing an addition off of the back of the house. With exposed brick walls, classy urban lighting, a shiny new addition on the back of the building to house the kitchen, and a new front porch and patio where customers can enjoy Colorado’s beautiful weather, it should be no wonder that shortly after opening, Terracotta started offering dinner hours, too, in order to meet customer demand.
Toast
While Toast, located on the corner of Littleton Boulevard and Santa Fe, lacks some of the urban class of Terracotta, this breakfast restaurant offers an appealing old-fashioned diner atmosphere. It has a more casual feel in general: You order and pay at the counter just inside the door, take a number and choose a table, and a waiter brings your food to you when the order is up.
Toast has a number of unique dishes, so this is a great place to go if you want something different than the usual breakfast fare. They are especially known for their eggs benedict dishes, of which they have several variations.
Kate’s Wine Bar
Not all of Downtown Littleton’s newer restaurants are breakfast or brunch spots! Kate’s Wine Bar demonstrates how hip Historic Littleton has become in recent years. Located on Nevada Street just a block north of Main Street, Kate’s offers a classy, comfortable atmosphere, a respectable wine list, and a half dozen or so tasty appetizers that complement the wines well. The setting is perfect for a date or a couples’ night out: The front room has an attractive, trendy design, yet is arranged to be quiet and welcoming to couples and small groups. The prices are also more reasonable than one would expect for a trendy wine bar in an up-and-coming shopping district.
Tres Jolie
Tres Jolie is a genuine treasure to be found in Littleton. This French-themed establishment is far more than just a tea and pastry shop: The store also sells jewelry, lotion and bath products, linens, and other home decor items. All of the store’s items appear to be handmade from independent merchants, rather than mass-produced items from large companies. The atmosphere is tastefully French and feminine, making no doubt as to what market Tres Jolie caters to.
That being said, Tres Jolie is also a suberb tea and pastry shop and restaurant. Visitors can choose between dessert tea, luncheon tea, and famished tea, each of which is intended to be split between two people and includes a pot of tea for each. The tea list is impressive, with more than a hundred different varieties to choose between, and the pastries have a delicate yet addictive sweetness that is sure to keep you coming back for more. Many of the sandwiches and other items offer unique but astonishingly harmonious combinations of flavors.
The prices are slightly on the high side, but every item on the menu is well worth what you pay for it. An afternoon at Tres Jolie is a perfect way to treat oneself, a girlfriend, or a mother!
McKinners Pizza Bar
McKinners Pizza Bar is located on Main Street in Historic Downtown Littleton, and like several of the newer restaurants that have opened in this area, has a modern, urban feel about it. Some renovation work was done before the restaurant opened, and the result is a hip eating establishment with hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, an expansive bar, and pictures of historic Littleton on the wall.
In the pizza department McKinners does not disappoint. Their menu has a dozen or so different kinds of pizza, with a listing of toppings for those who prefer to choose their own. There is also a nice selection of appetizers and starters, salads, and other plates, as well as a short list of delicious desserts you will be hard pressed to find anywhere else. In addition, McKinners is a full bar with a respectable selection of both wines and beers.
Hip New Tastes of Littleton
Some of the old favorites, such as Sisters Expresso and Symposium, no longer grace Littleton with their presence, but the new additions to Historic Littleton’s culinary cornucopia demonstrate the metamorphosis that this area is going through. Littleton has always been a popular shopping district for small, independent shops, but lately the town has started attracting trendier businesses with a more urban feel. As a result, the cost of dining in Littleton has risen, but so have the number of nice restaurants you have to choose from!
