Choice City is an american restaurant in Old Town, Fort Collins.
Editorially verified August 19, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Why locals love it: A corner room beside the Armstrong Hotel, it reads as hotel dining from the street and gets skipped for it.
Tip: It sits at Olive and College beside the Armstrong Hotel, so it works equally for a sit-down dinner or a pre-show plate; note the Tuesday closure.
Address: 104 West Olive Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524
La Piadina griddles Emilia-Romagna flatbread sandwiches from a container kitchen at The Exchange in Fort Collins, with Italian wine and local beer.
Why locals love it: A container kitchen at The Exchange is easy to dismiss as festival food; the flatbreads are the real Emilia-Romagna article.
Tip: A piadina crisped to order plus a glass of Italian wine on the plaza is one of the city's best cheap dates.
The Welsh Rabbit Cheese Shop cuts over 50 European and Colorado cheeses on Walnut Street in Fort Collins, with monger-built boards and wine flights.
Why locals love it: A working cheese counter that quietly seats you for boards and wine flights; most walkers-by take it for retail only.
Tip: Ask the mongers for samples before you commit; boards and wine flights make it a quiet pre-dinner stop.
Young's Cafe has long been Fort Collins' Vietnamese standard-bearer on South College Avenue, from crab cheese wontons to the house fried rice.
Why locals love it: It sits in an unglamorous midtown strip mall far from Old Town foot traffic, so visitors rarely find the city's best Vietnamese room.
Tip: Portions run generous and lunch is the value window; the dining room fills with regulars who have come for years.
La Piadina griddles Emilia-Romagna flatbread sandwiches from a container kitchen at The Exchange in Fort Collins, with Italian wine and local beer.
Why locals love it: A container kitchen at The Exchange is easy to dismiss as festival food; the flatbreads are the real Emilia-Romagna article.
Tip: A piadina crisped to order plus a glass of Italian wine on the plaza is one of the city's best cheap dates.
Olive Tree International Market stocks certified halal meat and Middle Eastern groceries on South College Avenue in Fort Collins, open daily to 20:00.
Why locals love it: From the road it looks like any small strip-mall grocery; inside is the city's deepest Middle Eastern pantry and halal butcher counter.
Tip: This is where Fort Collins buys halal lamb, goat and chicken; the shelves cover the Arabic pantry from spices to sweets.
The Welsh Rabbit Cheese Shop cuts over 50 European and Colorado cheeses on Walnut Street in Fort Collins, with monger-built boards and wine flights.
Why locals love it: A working cheese counter that quietly seats you for boards and wine flights; most walkers-by take it for retail only.
Tip: Ask the mongers for samples before you commit; boards and wine flights make it a quiet pre-dinner stop.
The Fox Den roasts in-house and runs a no-waste model on Laporte Avenue in Fort Collins: thrifted mugs, jar deposits and a bulk bean refill station.
Why locals love it: A zero-waste cafe on the residential west side that roasts on a 3-kilo machine behind the counter; no signage shouts about it.
Tip: Bring your own cup or jar; to-go pours carry a refundable deposit. Founder Patricia Acheson opened the room in March 2022.
Purpose Brewing and Cellars is Peter Bouckaert's tiny Fort Collins taproom on South Mason Street: four or five new beers a weekend, barrels and sours first.
Why locals love it: Peter Bouckaert brews 4-hectolitre one-offs in a strip-mall unit; the beers never leave the room, so you drink them here or never.
Tip: Bouckaert spent 21 years as New Belgium's brewmaster; whatever barrel-aged beer is on this weekend is the order. Closed Monday to Wednesday.
