The Denver Steakhouse Serving The Same Frontier Foods Settlers Ate 150 Years Ago

When you think about certain foods today, it's hard to imagine that similar versions of those same dishes have been served up for hundreds of years. Modern chefs might have added their own personal touch, but the dishes themselves have stood the test of time. That's even more the case at The Fort Restaurant in Morrison, Colorado, just 20 miles outside of Denver.

Though The Fort opened in 1963, the restaurant proudly serves up dishes that would've been familiar to Native Americans and Western settlers around 150 years ago. The Fort's staples include buffalo, elk, and quail — and, according to the restaurant's website, it serves more than 80,000 entrees of buffalo each year. Looking at the menu, those entrees come in the form of Josepha's Buffalo Empanadas — named after the wife of Kit Carson, a famous mountain man, explorer, and fur trapper from the 1800s. The menu also heavily features other preparations of bison (a hefty beef steak alternative that's jam packed with flavor), including bone marrow, bison sausage, ribs, sirloin, and even a bison filet mignon. And it's no surprise The Fort also offers one of Colorado's most famous dishes, Rocky Mountain Oysters. 

For the less adventurous, The Fort offers steaks, lobster, trout, and shrimp and grits. The restaurant also serves up creative drinks, such as the famous 1840 Hailstorm Premiere Julep — a mix of bourbon or scotch, sugar, and mint. But while the menu is creative on its own, with an historical nod to the 1800s, the restaurant itself fits that theme as well.

If you wandered off the interstate, you might not even realize The Fort is actually a restaurant at first glance. That's because it looks strikingly similar to a historic fort from the 1800s, even bringing The Alamo to mind. It started in 1961 when Elizabeth Arnold read about Bent's Fort, which was a fur trade fort in Colorado that was built in 1833. Together with her husband, the pair built a similar adobe castle on a red rock property they purchased that same year, which was originally supposed to be their family home.

According to future proprietress Holly Arnold Kinney, it took 22 men to create the 80,000 mud and straw bricks required to build the main part of the fort. The project went over budget, so the owners decided to start a business in part of the building to recoup the lost money — and that's how The Fort was born in 1963. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. And, since then, it has won multiple awards, including the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 17 consecutive years, the Best Steakhouse award by The Colorado Sun in 2024, and it made it onto OpenTable's 100 Most Scenic Restaurants in America in 2017.

Sometimes, restaurants with unique designs or scenic locations can be hit or miss when it comes to the actual food. But that doesn't appear to be the case with The Fort. Whether it's the historic ambience or the rustic, game-focused cuisine, The Fort has a lot to offer to diners passing through the Denver area.