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Walk into Tributary Market and Drinkery – the newly opened food hall on 12th Street – and you’ll find a dining experience unlike anywhere in Golden.

Eight food and drink vendors share a compact space, creating a buzzy atmosphere with delicious options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No matter what time you arrive, you’ll be greeted by a diverse array of sights, smells and sounds.  

Tributary represents a major leap in the Golden food scene – a town not celebrated for its culinary diversity. Flavors run the gamut: from Montreal-style bagels to raw oysters to acai bowls to Haitian lattes and everything in between.

In this post, we’ll dish up a summary of each spot, including a first take on SurMesa Taqueria – Tributary’s new taco and ceviche joint.

Woodgrain Bagels serves up bagels and sandwiches from 7am–3pm daily.

Woodgrain Bagels

The Montreal-style bagels at Woodgrain have a subtle sweetness thanks to a cooking process that involves boiling the dough in honey-sweetened water before baking in a wood-fired oven. Woodgrain is a go-to breakfast spot, offering bagels and schmears, bagel sandwiches, avocado toast (try yours with two eggs and black lava salt for $8) and sacks of bagels to go. For lunch, try a classic deli sandwich like the turkey club, reuben or BLT – all served on a bagel, of course

The Canadian at Fringe Pizza

Fringe Pizza

Quick, affordable, wood-fired pizzas with fringe ingredients – that’s the vibe at Fringe Pizza. What are fringe ingredients? Lamb pepperoni, lemon honey, mango jalapeno BBQ and charred pineapple are just some of the unique toppings adorning the menu. “We learned the rules of classic Neapolitan pizza. Then we set the rulebook on fire,” reads their Instagram profile. If experimental flavors aren’t your thing, Fringe offers classics like the margherita for $12 and the kid’s cheese for $10.

Generous Coffee donates 10% of profits to charities.

Generous Coffee

Generous Coffee is brewing more than high-end coffee and espresso drinks. This altruistic company, which was founded in 2017 by former Bachelor star Ben Higgins, donates 10% of its profits to charities. This month, Generous Coffee is supporting Humanity & Hope United and Serve With Love Today – charities based in countries where their beans are sourced. Grab a coffee at their bright and airy stall and support this wonderful and charitable coffee shop!

The braised pork sandwich at Mr. Miner Meat and Cheese.

Mr. Miner Meat and Cheese

Word on the street is Mr. Miner Meat and Cheese does brisk business. Perhaps it’s their massive breakfast burritos prone to sell-outs or their crispy sandwiches like roast beef with swiss, horseradish, arugula and au jus. Mr. Miner also sells meat and cheese boards for happy hour grazing and takeaway charcuterie fixings for picnics by the creek. I overheard a customer look this braised pork sandwich and say, “Pickled onions? Niiiice.”

Working Title Kitchen and Raw Bar is open from 4pm to late.

Working Title Kitchen and Raw Bar

Raw oysters and crab claws, anyone? Working Title Kitchen and Raw Bar is a great spot for a high-end happy hour, serving up peking duck wings, pad thai spring rolls and other culinary delights at a discount from 4-6pm. Later, once the bubbly starts to flow, the sustainably-sourced dinner menu features upscale pub fare like the smoked salmon caesar and baby back ribs.

Grab a signature smoothie bowl at Kona Bowls for a taste of Hawaii

Kona Bowls Superfood Cafe

After a stint in Hawaii with her family, Golden native Alissa Mattson has returned to Colorado, bringing the flavors of the Aloha state with her. Kona Bowls offers a wide selection of fruit-forward bowls like its signature smoothie bowls, salad bowls, oat bowls and chia bowls. Try the Colorado bowl, an acai based bowl (pronounced: ah-sah-EE) with bananas, strawberries, blueberries and mango – colors of the Colorado flag. Open for breakfast and lunch.

10 tap cocktails are available at Tributary’s open air bar.

The Bar @ Tributary

Tributary’s full-service bar serves up a fine selection of beer, cider, wine and tap cocktails like the mountain man-hattan: an elixir made with slow & low rock & rye whisky, strongwater chocolate vanilla bitters and absinth-soaked smoked dried cherries. Grab a craft beer from the rotating tap list or a wine served by the glass or bottle. Save a buck off everything from 2-6pm.

Gelato is generally lower in fat than other styles of frozen desserts.

Amore Gelato

No food hall experience is complete without dessert. Amore Gelato scoops up yummy flavors of the Italian favorite like the crowd-pleasing seasalt oreo. It also serves sorbetto, AKA sorbet – the dairy and egg free cousin of gelato. Get your sweet fix in a bowl, on a waffle cone or in a banana boat complete with whipped cream, nuts and a cherry.

SurMesa is the new venture of Golden foodies Brandon Bortles and Noah Heaney.

SurMesa Taqueria

This newly opened taco and ceviche stall is the brainchild of Golden restaurateurs Brandon Bortles (Abajas) and Noah Heaney (Miner’s Saloon). After polishing off a trio of tasty tacos – steak, shrimp and pork, all freshly topped on corn tortillas – I sat down with Heaney to learn more about Golden’s newest taco joint.

Golden Group: Why tacos?

SurMesa: Brandon is a longtime partner of Mexican food legend Richard Sandervol and saw a niche for a new kind of Latin American restaurant in Golden.

GG: What is your role at SurMesa?

I co-own SurMesa and Nosu Ramen (opening later this year) with Brandon.  

GG: What sets your tacos apart?

Our tortillas and chips are handmade at Raquelitas in Denver. Plus, Brandon and I both have 20 years in the finer dining business, so we know how to treat people right.  

GG: How’d you come up with the name?

It’s a Spanish play on South Table Mountain. Mesa means “table” and sur means “south.”

GG: Who’s the chef?

Brandon, myself and Ryan Gorby, a good friend of mine who will also be the executive chef at Nosu.

GG: How often will the menu change?

We’ll have occasional specials but mostly it will stay the same.

GG: I heard this is a test kitchen for a standalone restaurant in Golden someday.  

Absolutely. But no matter what, we’ll keep this stall and use it as an experimental food lab.

GG: What’s your favorite thing on the menu?

Our veggie taco. That was the consensus with guests at opening night as well.

GG: Rank these tacos from best to worst: steak, chicken, pork, fish

Pork, fish, chicken, steak. But that’s just my personal preference, obviously 🙂

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Hungry? Head over to Tributary Market and Drinkery at 701 12th Street in Golden. And follow Tributary on Facebook and Instagram for special discounts, live events, new menu items and more.