Denver, CO: Ace Eat Serve

In the middle of downtown Denver, you’ll see a dome-shaped restaurant at the corner of E 17th Ave and Pennsylvania Street with strung lights and a huge open patio that looks inviting to anyone who passes by. The food scene in the city is one-of-a-kind in the nation, but having a Asian Fusion restaurant called “Ace Eat Serve” can catch your eye among the many eateries around the block. It was my last night in the city in celebration for my birthday and I knew I wanted to dine at a popular food spot with amazing food, great service, and a charming ambiance. Luckily, I was able to find all those qualities the evening I visited Ace Eat Serve.As a travel blogger, I am always on the hunt to find local eateries that create concepts that are unique. It was evident from the moment I stepped foot inside the restaurant they value creating a dining experience that’s memorable. With upscale Asian fusion dishes, retro interior design, and a huge play area for ping pong, keep reading to find out why my visit at Ace Eat Serve is one-of-a-kind.

Upon entrance, you have the best view of the restaurant: the dining area is to your left, the bar is by your right side, and you also see the ping pong area located in the far back. Although I was initially hit with the bustling sounds of guests chatting, eating, and playing ping pong in the distance, I immediately embraced the cool ambiance of the place. I was promptly seated at my table with my friends, and I soon fit right in with the restaurant scene. The staff of the restaurant were very welcoming towards me as my company and I admired the interior design of the place.

When learning about the property, the restaurant was formerly a vintage limousine company. The Founder of Ace Eat Serve, Josh Wolkon, was already an established owner of multiple restaurants, such as Steuben’s, around downtown Denver. However, he saw potential of the available garage limousine space to turn it into an upscale Asian Fusion restaurant. The interior design of the restaurant still has the same architecture as before, but everything is completely renovated from the use of recycled materials from Denver, which gives the entire place a unique industrial-cozy-retro look. With railroad tracks being used for lighting fixtures, vintage neon lights as wall decor, and the restored wood used for the tabletops and counters in the restaurant, I couldn’t help but feel more connected with the city.

I couldn’t wait to begin the food course! Ace Eat Serve definitely did not disappoint my taste buds as I tried their most popular items on the menu. Our first course began with the sticky bao buns (​$5 each) in pork belly, short rib, and tempura mushroom. The pillow-like buns in combination with the variety of meats and vegetables were some of the best bao buns I’ve ever tasted. It was definitely a great dish to kickoff the dinner.Next, our server brought us the ‘Golden Rice’ ($12) and ‘Spicy Market Beef Ramen’ ($15). The golden rice contains egg yolk fried rice, crispy bacon, poached egg, and scallions while the beef ramen contained braised short rib, spiced beef broth, wheat noodles, daikon, shiso, bean sprouts, and bok choy. I personally prefer the golden rice from the standard chicken fried rice dish because the texture isn’t overly greasy and the flavoring is complimentary with our other dishes. For the beef ramen, I was actually blown away with the broth! The spice is a nice punch to the overall ingredients and it also somehow emphasized the natural flavors of the vegetables as well. Both the dishes are enough for 1-2 people and I highly recommend ordering them when you visit.

Lastly, my friends and I had the treat of tasting an off-the-menu food item that was personally delivered by Ace Eat Serve’s Master Chef. The chef served us dumplings that were cooked with the exact recipe from his own mother, which I thought was a sweet sentimental touch to the menu. Although I didn’t remember the exact name of the dumplings, he described them as being “crazy dumplings” because the flavor is uniquely incredible. I initially took note of the dumpling’s yellow coating, soy sauce, and scallions since it didn’t appear like a traditional dumpling. However, once I took a bite of it, it quickly became my personal favorite dish.

All in all, my friends and I were extremely pleased with every single food item. With the consideration of the restaurant being located in Uptown, I find that the pricing is pretty affordable. Plus, the portion sizing is also pretty generous for one person. The waiter, managers, staff, and owner of the restaurant were so amazing that I believe the service was just as high quality as the food. As you’re reading this, I’m happy to say that all the food items are now available on the menu– so be sure to check it out if you stop by Denver!

After the dinner, my friends and I head towards the ping pong area where we got to play in the VIP room. As I was walking towards our ping pong table, I noticed the diverse demographic of people who were playing- elderly, kids, young adults, couples, and parents were all part of the ping pong action! Despite my lack of hand-eye coordination, my initial plan of playing “a few rounds” of ping pong ended up being an hour-long amateur tournament with my friends. I soon realized that playing at the ping pong area is the icing on the cake at Ace Eat Serve. It was such an entertaining element of my dining experience that I knew this restaurant would easily be one of the most memorable food spots I’ve eaten.

Thank you to the Ace Eat Serve team for hosting my birthday dinner and making it such a highlight of my trip- I hope all my readers can get the chance to dine at your restaurant! Let me know in the comments below your favorite part of my dining experience and make sure to share this blog post to all your foodie friends! Until next time- Ressa