Restaurants in Fountain

Briarhurst Manor Restaurant has overlooked Garden of the Gods Park in the shadow of Pikes Peak since 1876, when Manitou Springs town founder Dr. William Bell constructed the pink sandstone Tudor-style manor. The English country architecture showcases elegant flourishes such as a tiled fireplace, dark-wood boiserie, and a garden room where sunlight streams through towering windows. Not surprisingly, Briarhurst Manor has been hailed as one of the 100 most romantic restaurants in the country according to OpenTable's 2012 Diners' Choice awards.

The cuisine matches the interior’s opulence: Chef Neal Moreno glazes duck-shank confit in a gooseberry cassis, and augments the flavor of Colorado lamb chops with chestnut fig jus. Cabernet sauvignons and chardonnays from Napa Valley punctuate the restaurant's extensive wine list and give beer a reason to feel as insecure as a styrofoam rabbit marooned amid a pack of real wolves.

Owners Doug and Pam Trondson keep the modest café true to its original roots by serving home-cooked meals with a friendly flair. House favorites pad stomachs with rich, bone-sticky basics. Try the ranchman's breakfast ($7.89) with ham, two eggs, and all-you-can-eat pancakes. The breakfast burrito burrows kicky meats, eggs, and cheese inside a flour tortilla and comes with your choice of toast or three-dollar pancakes ($5.99). Since humans love fries, midday nibbles, from clubs ($6.59) to tuna melts ($5.99) to grilled-cheese sandwiches ($5.29), are served with fries, soup, or salad.

For the past 18 years, the chefs at India Palace have been making their northern Indian food burst with flavor rather than an overly spicy kick. To do so, they harness traditional spices such as anise seed, cardamom, and turmeric to concoct their aromatic curries, vegetarian entrees, and gluten-free dishes from scratch. They can customize each of their biryani and masala entrees to individuals' preferred levels of heat and sentience, and they diligently bake naan in a clay oven to sop up every last drop of vindaloo sauce. India Palace also offers an expansive lunch buffet that brims with traditional Indian morsels.

Set within a century-old Tudor-style edifice that once played host to Bing Crosby and Cary Grant, Craftwood Inn graces modern-day diners with gourmet interpretations of wild game meats and stunning views of nearby Pikes Peak. Executive chef Brother Luck relies on a staff of woodsy huntsman to track down the choicest cuts of Colorado elk, venison, and buffalo, which he then daubs with French-inspired sauces that vary in accordance with a rotating seasonal menu. Wines culled from the inn’s expansive cellar fill clinking glasses with reds and whites that shimmer in the glow of chandeliers, fireplaces, and lingering rays of sunlight that filter in through stained-glass windows. Craftwood Inn's large and small dining rooms welcome special-occasion banquets, weddings, and hacky-sack cotillions for up to 150 guests.

Heart of Jerusalem Cafe, a Dining Guide winner, embodies its name from its menu of authentic Middle Eastern cuisine to its decor. Inside the rustic dining room, palm-tree murals offer background to faux stonework and high-arched porticos. Intricately decorated glass lights dangle from the ceiling like exotic ornaments, casting a soft glow on grape leaves stuffed with seasoned rice and shish kebabs skewered with lamb and fantail shrimp. Hummus, tabbouleh, and baganooj eggplant dips spread effortlessly across slices of pita chips and warm flatbread fresh from the oven. Diners may also retreat to the outdoor patio for an authentic Greek dessert, such as a slice of baklava, or to remind themselves that they are, in fact, still in the United States.

Thanks to its impressive selection of varietals from more than 95 local wineries, The Wines of Colorado has been lauded as "one of the most unique wine shops in the country" by Wine Trail Traveler and featured in the Wall Street Journal. Inside, a mural of larger-than-life bottles lines one wall, and an adjacent room houses an expansive tasting counter that stocks a lineup of bottles filled with Colorado reds and whites, which are often compared to Californian vinos. Their food has received it’s fair share of recognition as well, earning numerous awards, including Best Creekside Dining from the [Gazette] in 2010 and 2011. The chefs sizzle up signature buffalo wine burgers and creamy dill mahi-mahi, which guests can enjoy on the pine-tree-lined outdoor patio as they sip wine mere steps away from the burbling Fountain Creek.