Save Room for Denver's Best Steakhouse Desserts

It’s mile-high pies in the Mile High City, as some of Denver’s top desserts take the spotlight in the city’s steakhouses. Lamb, beef and vegetables fill up the menus and draw diners, but it’s these show-stopping finales that keep them coming back. Make sure you save room for some of Denver’s best steakhouse desserts. 

 

Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille: Some of the best desserts in all of Denver, steakhouse or not, can be found at this polished fixture. Not only are there numerous options to choose from, including a whole section dedicated to flaming desserts, but each one is intricate, imaginative and complex. Try the Rocky Road bread pudding, studded with butterscotch, chocolate chips, caramel sauce, candied walnuts and toasted housemade marshmallow. Or the deconstructed lemon meringue pie, which has lemon pudding topped with toasted meringue, gingered blueberries and shortbread crumbles. Or the milk chocolate peanut butter candy bar, a nostalgia-filled medley of milk chocolate peanut butter mousse, chocolate cookie crust, hot fudge, whipped cream and candied peanuts. Then of course there are the flaming desserts, like the classic bananas Foster or the Nutty D’angelo, which has crushed pecans flambeed with brown sugar and brandy, served over vanilla ice cream and dipped in white chocolate. 

Shanahan’s Steakhouse: Yes, they really are as tasty as they look. Borrowing inspiration from classic sweets, the desserts at Shanahan’s serve to elevate the saccharine staples and gussy them up with a little pizzaz. The carrot cake, for instance, features delicate wedges of cake nestled on a bed of housemade caramel with a crisp hazelnut tuile. The lemon shortcake, as humble as it sounds, is as lustrous as can be thanks to lemon mousse, candied lemons, strawberry sauce and Chantilly cream. Then there’s the warm s’mores brownie, a delicious and hearty plate that features a fudgy brownie topped with scoops of caramel and marshmallow ice creams, plus graham cracker. 

Elway’s Downtown: Remember Ding Dongs? Those packaged chocolate cakes with vanilla cream are quintessential Americana nostalgia at its finest, even if the real thing doesn’t taste nearly as good as you remember if you pick one up at a gas station these days. Instead, head to Elway’s and try the Ding Dong dessert, which elevates the classic by combining devil’s food cake and vanilla cream with dark chocolate ganache. It’s all par for the course at this metropolitan steakhouse, where staple flavors exceed expectations, be it a Ding Dong, some warm toffee bread pudding or key lime pie with blueberry sauce. 

801 Chophouse: Ingredients like confit kumquats, smoked pecan dust and candied carrots should cue you in to the fact that desserts are anything but typical at this local icon. Along with the rest of the savory menu, desserts here are filled with unique twists and flourishes, enhancing dessert traditions like a cheesecake topped with confit kumquats and blood orange reduction. Or an epic carrot cake laced with candied carrots, burnt honey gastrique and smoked pecan dust. Or a cafe au lait creme brulee with chocolate chip biscotti and vanilla whipped cream. 

Eddie Merlot’s: Who wouldn’t love a cinnamon roll for dessert?! At the local location of Eddie Merlot’s, you can make that fantasy come true. The classic breakfast pastry gets all dolled up with toppings of Granny Smith apples, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and vanilla bean ice cream. If you’d prefer to share your dessert, the restaurant offers a few options designed for two and prepared table side for a little added pomp and circumstance. These include a vanilla Cognac brownie with vanilla bean ice cream flamed with vanilla-infused Cognac and topped with fudge, creme anglaise and spiced pecans. 

Buckhorn Exchange: After a meal filled with smoked rattlesnake, buffalo sausage and fried alligator tail, you’re gonna need to finish on a more classic note. At Buckhorn Exchange, Denver’s longstanding institution for steaks and meaty oddities,  desserts skew refreshingly simple. Chief among them is the ultimate comfort food: hot Dutch apple pie. Buttery, decadent and flaky, the preeminent pie can be accented with cinnamon rum sauce and/or ice cream. 

Ocean Prime: At every location across the country, Ocean Prime always manages to consistently surprise and delight with its homespun appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts. Among the latter at its Denver location, the restaurant features an aptly dubbed mile high carrot cake with cream cheese icing and pineapple syrup, along with blueberry lemon cheesecake, chocolate peanut butter pie with peanut butter mousse and bittersweet chocolate ganache and a warm butter cake with fresh berries and vanilla ice cream.