The best way to eat in Durango is to stay within a few blocks of Main Avenue. Start with a green-chile-smothered "Cure" at Durango Diner, eat dinner at El Moro, Chimayo or Himalayan Kitchen, and take a big group to Steamworks, which has more Google reviews (6,697) than any other restaurant in town. The dishes and hours below come from each restaurant's own site, checked in October 2026. Hours change by season, so confirm before you go.
Where should you eat in Durango, by neighborhood?
Most visitors never leave a half-mile stretch. These are the clusters worth knowing. Ratings and review counts are Google's, as of October 2026.
| Area | Where | Eat here | The feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown Main Avenue | 500 to 1100 blocks | Durango Diner, El Moro, Himalayan Kitchen, Chimayo | Park once, walk all day |
| Near the train depot | Depot is at 479 Main | Nini's Taqueria, 636 Main Ave, Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar | Quick bites before the whistle |
| East College Drive | Toward Fort Lewis College | College Cafe, HomeSlice Pizza, Cuckoos Chicken House | Student-town budgets |
| East 2nd Avenue | By the river | Steamworks, Animas Brewing, Famburger | Big tables, loud rooms |
| North Main | 2400 to 3200 blocks | Durango Pizza, Frida's, Durango Doughworks | Where residents drive to |
| South side | Camino del Rio, Girard St | Zia Taqueria, Nayarit, Ska Brewing | Easy parking, no crowds |
Locals see the map differently. The durangocolorado.org dining guide sorts the same scene by where residents actually go.
What should you order at Durango's best restaurants?
I pulled these from each restaurant's own menu or website, so you can trust the details. Order like a regular.
- Durango Diner. Order "The Cure." It's hashbrowns topped with melted American cheese, your choice of bacon, ham or sausage, and two eggs, all smothered in the diner's green chile sauce. The menu listed it at $14.89 in October 2026.
- Oscar's Cafe. A 1950s-style diner serving Durango since 1980. It's known for hashbrowns, green chili and chicken fried steak, and a G-scale model train circles the dining room, averaging about 5 miles a day, the cafe says.
- Himalayan Kitchen. Try the momo (steamed chicken or veggie dumplings), Sherpa Stew with lamb, chicken and vegetables, or the mixed grill. Chef Karma Tenzing Bhotia cooks food from Nepal, India and Tibet, at the corner of 10th and Main.
- El Moro. The restaurant occupies a former early-1900s saloon, said to be the site of "Durango's Strangest Shootout." Monday is $15 burger night, with the El Moro Burger and a Mushroom Gruyere Burger on the list. Saturday and Sunday it serves brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Chimayo Stone Fired Kitchen. Dinner every day from 4 p.m., Sunday brunch from 10, and happy hour from 4 to 5:30 daily. The menu follows the seasons; the spring one listed Apple Root Vegetable Soup and Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus. Reservations are strongly recommended.
- 636 Main Ave. Steakhouse fare, fresh seafood and house-made pasta, with a full-time pastry chef making desserts daily. Dinner seven days a week, says the restaurant.
- Nayarit. Fajitas and tacos at 1135 S Camino del Rio, open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with gluten-free options, per its website.
- Taco Libre. Mexican street food plated a little more modern: lucha tacos, street tacos, a family-recipe birria, pozole and ceviche, per its menu page.
- Nini's Taqueria. Giant burritos, grilled quesadillas and tacos across from the train, with ten salsas made fresh daily and a back patio.
- Fired Up Pizzeria. Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizza with handmade dough, fresh mozzarella and hand-crushed tomato sauce, at 735 Main.
- Pop Sushi. Specialty maki, sashimi, nigiri, ramen, rice bowls and izakaya-style small plates. "Pop Hour" runs 4 to 5:30 p.m. daily and 4 to 9 on Mondays, and the restaurant usually doesn't take reservations over eight people.
- Grassburger. Burgers made with 100% grass-fed beef, with fries cooked in beef tallow and a pet-friendly patio at 726 1/2 Main.
- Cuckoos Chicken House. Thirty styles of wings, eight TVs for the game, and over two decades in town, per its site.
Where do you eat breakfast in Durango?
Early, and at a counter. Durango Diner and Oscar's are the two downtown standards, and College Cafe (4.6 stars, about 950 reviews) is the east-side answer. El Rancho Tavern at 975 Main also advertises Durango Diner breakfast and Bloody Marys daily. For something sweeter, Durango Doughworks at 2653 Main sells handmade donuts, organic bagels baked each morning and breakfast burritos, open 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.
For pastry, Bread runs two shops, one at 42 County Road 250 and a downtown cafe at 135 E 8th St, both open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar at 601 Main bakes croissants, quiches, crepes, eclairs and macarons.
Where is the best Mexican food in Durango?
Mexican wins the local vote, and you have more than a dozen choices. Zia Taqueria has three spots: North Main, 400 S Camino del Rio and a Fort Lewis College location that follows the school calendar. The first two are open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, according to Zia. For sit-down plates, try Nayarit (11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with fajitas and gluten-free options), Tequila's (a full bar, seafood and a kids' menu) and Frida's on North Main, rated 4.7 on Google. The Mexican restaurants category goes deeper, and our Mexican food guide ranks them.
Where can you get a beer and a real meal?
At the brewpubs. Carver Brewing Co. has poured since 1988 and bills itself as the first brewpub in the Southwest, with weekday happy hour from 3 to 5. Steamworks serves pizzas, salads and spicy Southwestern dishes, plus vegetarian and gluten-free options. Ska Brewing runs a beer garden with a kitchen open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Animas Brewing opens at 3 p.m. on Mondays and 11 a.m. the rest of the week. See also our breweries guide and the Steamworks spotlight.
What about pizza and cheap eats?
HomeSlice blends New York and Chicago styles into what it calls Colorado style, and it has three locations. J Bo Pizza & Rib Co and Durango Pizza, formerly Happy Pappy's, fit groups. Father's Daughters Pizza is downtown at 640 Main. For fast lunch, try Zia, Macho's or Famburger. See the full pizza guide.
Where do you get coffee?
Animas Chocolate & Coffee at 920 Main, Durango Joes and 81301 Coffee House cover the morning. More in our coffee guide.
Two closed restaurants you can skip
You may see the Ore House, a Durango steakhouse since 1972, on older lists. Its website says a fire on January 1, 2024, ended an era and that it will not be opening its doors "at this time," so don't plan a dinner around it. Gazpacho, the New Mexican restaurant on East 2nd Avenue for 35 years, closed in May 2026, per the Durango Herald.
When should you go, and do you need reservations?
Reserve for dinner on summer and ski-season weekends, especially at Chimayo, El Moro and Seasons of Durango. Taquerias, brewpubs and pizza are usually walk-ins. In summer, eat before 6 or after 8:30 to skip waits. Fall is the local's window, with open tables and aspen color; see the fall colors guide. Planning the trip around meals? The weekend itinerary builds two days around them. Browse every restaurant and eat & drink listing for hours and directions.
