John’s Restaurant

We were given a gift certificate here for our wedding in August 2012 which was good for a year. We tried to go in January of 2013 only to find them closed. Very disappointing. We have tried by phone and email and have not successfully been able to contact the owners. It is very frustrating because it was for a significant amount of money and was a special gift from a special friend and given to us before we even moved to Colorado. Anyone know if they are opening other restaurant ever or can contact owners? Every once in awhile I try and see if they have opened something new but haven’t found it yet.

Well this really put the thorn in my Monday.
All the best Corey and Ashley!

John’s has closed. Sad because it was awesome.

We had the New Year’s eve special menu here. Service and food preparation were excellent. The wine list well-​chosen, if not encyclopedic. Prices were extremely reasonable for fine dining. I highly recommend this establishment.

What a gem! Food was exquisite. I had the pork belly which was a delight to the palate. My tongue was experiencing the layers of spices and herbs, and I’m not even including the pork in this description which was the icing on the cake. Expensive? Yes, of course but it is for the whole experience. The setting, the service, the mood, the food, the wine selection. BTW the wine selection has been carefully selected to match the dishes. It is a short list but the selection is impressive. I will go back for sure.

John’s is everything you’d expect when you pay more than $ 160 for dinner. The service is excellent, they make you feel like royalty. The food is creative and well-​executed.
My only complaint is a drafty seat in the corner that I was seated in, and the couple next to us, who on more than one occasion overheard our conversation and used it as a topic in their own conversation. This is when you know you’re seated too closely. John’s– either remove some tables, or turn up the music!
The food:
Much of it had a pre-​prepared feel to it, and as evidence, much of it tasted like the fridge. The butter that you receive with the amazingly fresh-​baked bread was hard and fridge-​tasting! The prosciutto in the salad and the berry sorbet also tasted like the walk-​in.
However, everything that was obviously prepared just for us was amazing, I had the filet of steak, my wife had duck breast on risotto, just absolutely delicious. The Crème brûlée was the best I have ever had.

Sometimes Restaurant Week meals can be a bummer as the restaurant skimps in order to profit off the prix fix menu.
John’s, however, was fantastic. I’d always wanted to try John’s, but hadn’t because it’s pricey. The meal we had was delicious and the staff was professional and didn’t hurry us. Highly recommended.

I went here last night for my girlfriends birthday. We were served by Johnathan. He was soo nice and the whole dinner was fantastic. Incredibly delicious. Seriously. We ate the gnocchi (must try) and the lamb (yes!).
This place is small and nice and delicious. Incredibly friendly and attentive staff. Compliments to the chef!

we decided to try John’s Restaurant based on the Unilocal reviews, and man, did they nail it. The kids are out of town so my wife and I decided to go out for a nice dinner somewhere we wouldn’t normally bring the kids. Boy, did we pick right — the atmosphere, food and service couldn’t be better. We started with the gnoochi (again, thanks to Unilocal) — spinach ricotta in a delicious cream sauce. Then a soup course — probably the best onion soup I’ve ever had. On to the main dish — perfectly cooked tuna (meaning: hardly cooked at all) and tempura scallops for me and steak and shrimp for my wife. Finished off with a simply amazing salted caramel ice cream and bourbon chocolate pecan pie. Yeah, it was every bit as good as it sounds.
Throughout the meal we were fully serviced by the staff — water glasses were constantly full, silverware was efficiently traded out, and dishes were promptly cleared. Everybody was incredibly friendly, and it wasn’t just us — the waiters were striking up sincere conversations with people all over the restaurant. The couple at the table next to us sent their compliments to the chef, and he came out to greet and talk to them.
The Unilocal profile is accurate — it is mostly expensive, not good for kids, small, romantic –0 its not a everyday thing, but it is definitely a treat for a special night out with your best girl (or guy).

Anyone who thinks they’ve been to the best restaurant in Boulder but hasn’t been to John’s is lying to you. It doesn’t get better. Food, service, atmosphere — all top tier.
It pains me to say this, but in the last 10+ years Boulder has lost a lot of it’s soul. The houses may be bigger, the people more attractive, the shops trendier. The food scene seems to have followed suit. Somehow style seems to have trumped substance. For those of us who truly appreciate a good meal for what it is, not what you look like while eating it, than John’s is for you. For anyone looking for a taste of authentic, sincere, and deep-​rooted Boulder cuisine, John’s is for you. For anyone hoping to be spotted in their trendiest outfit while dining, from the rest of us, please don’t go to John’s.
Okay, all ranting aside, here’s my take:
*Generally speaking — you can’t go wrong. Share your plate and try everything.
*Appetizers — the gnocchi is amazing. The mushrooms, incredible. Best mushroom dish I’ve ever had.
*Salad — they’re great, but are you really reading this to see how I feel about salads?!
*Entrees — Scallops are awesome. Cooked perfectly. Great seasoning without being overbearing. Anything pork related is going to be awesome. And the lamb is simply incredible.
*Dessert — I’d eat the chocolate bourbon pecan pie every day of the week, twice on Sundays and once in church if it were socially acceptable. It’s that good.
John’s represents everything I love about Boulder. Wow. That was sensitive. Well, it’s written on the internet now so it must be true…

I am thrilled that John’s is still around and living up to its original owner’s standards. I came to Boulder in 1975 and went to John’s on special occasions. The food was always excellent… in quality and preparation. Returning the other night with good friends was wonderful. The wild mushroom appetizer, the small soup serving, the palette cleansing dish, and my entrée of duck (which I generally never order) were all superb… as was the wine. The flavors were complex and enticing.
My only thought is that the service, while attentive, is slightly off. The staff is too exuberant with the crumb removal (they should pay attention if someone tries to waive them off… as I did) and they should not reach across their guests to serve other guests… there was plenty of room to serve me without that discourtesy to my friend.
I am not dinging them any stars because this is a restaurant that can be easily overlooked for its location and unassuming housing, but should be sought out for its excellence!

After having some mixed experiences at Johns in the past, we recently went again for The Denver 5280 restaurant week to celebrate my wife’s birthday. Our dinner there was in a word, amazing.
We did the three course menu and the wine paring to go with it. From start to finish, each bite was magnificent, and every interaction with an employee was a pleasant one.
While the 5280 menu is a bit different from their regular menu, one of the highlights of the night is on their current menu, which was the gnocchi verde, which was bread wiping good.
They wines were delicately paired, with each course and enhanced each bite.
One a whole, we had a wonderful night from start to finish. We will be back, and have been converted.

I love this place. My company had their Holiday party here last year. That was my first time eating here. They treated us very well even though we were a small group (15 or so) and still had the rest of the restaurant to attend to. My second time eating here was during this year’s 5280. The waiter was ah-​mazing! I thought we might get subpar service bc we were doing the cheapy dinner thing, but no.
The third time was during First Bite Boulder a few weeks ago. The food was just as wonderful, but the service was just, eh. For example, our food came out before we even got bread, water or the wine we had ordered. But I won’t take a star away for one bad night. The other two times makes up for it. Oh, and their Caesar salad also makes up for it. I’ve thought about just going there for that.

So good!!! Here’s what we had (it was all delicious):
–white anchovies — super fresh
–mushrooms with goat cheese cream sauce (there were many different ones in there, I’m not sure which)
–mesclun salad — perfectly balanced with apples, blue cheese (it tasted slightly smoked), walnuts (super fresh). My boyfriend said he’d never seen me be so excited about a salad. He’s probably right.
–squash soup
–coffee rubbed ny strip (I was skeptical after trying steaks that taste like bad coffee… this one was definitely different, with the coffee rub adding a bit of a crust)
–seared duck with polenta — perfectly cooked to medium rare
–risotto — favorite dish that night; cooked with parmesan, artichoke heart, olives
–brandy cherries — somehow the marshmallow was my favorite part of that course. Don’t get me wrong, the cherries were great. I just really was craving marshmallows that night or something.
I got the wine pairing option with my meal. The sommelier was super nice and attentive and answered every single one of my numerous and silly questions. The portions were a bit small, but with that much flavor, who cares? I was glowing the whole night — during the meal and after.

John’s is the perfect place for a date night-it’s intimate, romantic, the service is great, the food is great, and it is quiet enough where you can actually hear what your date is saying.
Everything my husband and I had there was great – we were there a while ago, so I think the menu has changed since we were there, but I think we’ve tried enough to know that we’ll definitely be back for another romantic evening out.

This place was a giant let down.
Though the salad was good, both the risotto and the ribs left much to be desired. We were so disappointed in dinner that we opted to go to Alba for dessert instead of suffering through it at John’s. That was our best decision that night.
The space was cute and cozy, but we seemed to be the only ones under the age of 50 there.

I’m gonna have to say it again.
The best restaurant in town.
Corey, his lovely sister and their amazing staff are just phenomenal!
The bf and i had a lovely romantic valentine’s dinner and it was absolutely amazing (again). We did the 5-​course with wine pairings for $ 100 each and it was worth every penny.
It was just hit after hit after hit. I had to order the foie gras again because each time it reminds me that i’m lucky to be alive just by tasting this crazy rich goodness melting on my tongue. sigh…
The apple pecan salad with smoked blue cheese was superior to the spinach salad, though both were delicious.
The creamy soup that was originally created by John and his wife is lovely and filled with smooth flavors. I finished my bowl and attacked the bf’s bowl.
For the entrée, i got the ribeye and the bf got the pork tenderloin… they were both equally amazing. By the time we got to this course, our faces were stuffed solid. We got to pack away the rest for leftovers and then had to come face to face with the dessert.
A TRAY FILLED WITH LITTLE DESSERTS! ONE FOR THE EACH OF US! holy moly… what an amazing meal and probably the best place for a lovely romantic dinner date for two.
I wish I could live in John’s restaurant.

Absolutely wonderful!
The last time we ventured in was roughly 12 years ago… I must admit, we did not enjoy our experience and therefore, never returned.
Friends invited us out suggesting they treat us to John’s Restaurant — we held our tongue.
What a delightful surprise and unbelievable evening of food, service and sensory enlightenment. Whatever challenges John’s Restaurant may have faced 12 years ago are clearly in the past.
The delicate flavor and mix of ingredients paired with beautiful presentations and interesting offerings were a big hit with us.
I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed an evening out quite as much as I enjoyed dining in this lovely place.
Looking forward to returning — we’ll do that much sooner this time!

I’ve been curious about this place since 2003, when me and my then-​boyfriend were looking for a nice casual café to eat at and accidentally walked into John’s since it looked so homey. Whoops! Expensive fine dining here! We’ll be leaving now! After all, we were just college sophomores with maybe $ 10 in our pockets.
So, 7 years later, Dan takes me here for Christmas. Everything was just as I remembered — homey and dimly comfortable. The service was great, as others have said. Waiters and waitresses materialized unobtrusively at our sides whenever our water glasses ran empty or we finished a course. They were willing to make me a nonalcoholic cocktail. When we ordered three main courses to all come out at once, rather than having one waiter bring two and then run back to get the other, they sent two waiters at once, bearing all three. THAT is what I call attention to detail.
About the food…
I don’t know to put it other than it’s like getting punched in the face with flavor. And not always in a good way. As I ate, I imagined the chef back in the kitchen, swooping his bottle of vinegar grandly and generously over everything, splattering it everywhere in my anchovy appetizer and in my Stilton salad. I pictured him at the Asian market purchasing every single lemongrass stalk they have — hundreds of them — and then stuffing them ALL into my green curry. I pictured him slopping fifty cans of coconut cream into my rice and getting so excited he forgot to mix it. Pictured him rolling my ahi tuna in a veritable ocean of black sesame seeds until they were so thoroughly covered that the tuna taste was obscured.
Does the chef have calloused tastebuds? Or does his vision of flavor just clash with mine? I don’t know. Because usually my chief complaint about food is that it’s too bland. This swung far the other way. Like… BAM! Here’s some vinegar with your anchovies! Holy crap, I need something to dilute that. Let’s try the water. Nope, not strong enough. Let’s try the gnocchi verde. God, that’s SOOO GOOD… but I can hardly taste it! Let me down my entire cocktail. Ahhh, that’s better. Now… gnocchi verde. Mmmm! Perfection! Crab duo! MMMMMM… but why is there so much mustard in that fresh, fresh crab meat? Let fresh crabmeat be fresh crabmeat! The crabcake is great though. NO, Dan, that’s my bite! Oh, thanks for the cocktail refill. Let’s try those anchovies again… BAM! Vinegar! Aw, crap.
I have to admit that while my tuna was so sesame-​seeded out that I had to scrape ¾ of it off to even taste the tuna, and my scallops were so tempura-​d that the same rule applied to those, everything — appetizers included — was cooked to perfection. I mean, the chef knows how to cook fish. Nothing overcooked or undercooked. And Dan’s lamb dish was the best thing on our table all night, except for maybe the gnocchi verde appetizer. Pistachio-​crusted and adorned with manchego cheese, pomegranate seeds, and parsnips, these flavors, while strong, actually did work.
Both desserts, too, hit the spot, except for the GIANT piece of runny honeycomb on the macadamia nut bombe. Who can eat an inch-​square piece of honeycomb without passing out from a sugar rush? BUT as for the bombe itself, I could have eaten a million of them, it was so good, and Dan bonded intimately with the cinnamon ice cream over next to the crème-​brulee-​like pumpkin cheesecake.
While this would be a two star review for me — despite the obvious quality of the ingredients, it really did feel to me like ingredients were being thrown around willy-​nilly — I should add in the interest of fairness that Dan absolutely loved everything he ate. (EDIT: Dan has since informed me that he was just trying to be positive and actually he didn’t like it either, so two it is.) I’d guess that if the chef’s tastebuds agree with yours, you will have an orgasmic experience. If they don’t, well… you’ll have an experience.

I can’t believe there aren’t more reviews of this place!
My husband and I were treated to dinner here by my parents and we had the most sensational meal! Everything was completely delectable. If it weren’t so pricey, I’d love to come here more regularly but I am too po’. (Most entrees are around $ 30.) If memory serves I had a mouth-​watering risotto and my husband went all out and ordered steak.
The restaurant is in a tiny little old house which I believe is now painted barn red with white trim, unlike the pic above. The hardwood floors are a bit uneven, in the way that old homes are («watch your step!») but that just adds to the charm of the place. The atmosphere is quite romantic and intimate. We had wonderful service on our visit.