Taste the different cuisines of the world without ever leaving the Choice City!
AUSTRALIA
Waltzing Kangaroo: For tried-and-true Australian fare — including from-scratch meat pies, vegetable pies and dessert pies — head to the Waltzing Kangaroo. Steve and Mae Phillips moved their family from Australia in 2015 just to open Waltzing Kangaroo and share their passion for the meat pie, a fresh-baked, hand-held delicacy that is authentic (and iconic!) Australian comfort food. From the classic steak and gravy to the more unique Thai green curry chicken, each pie is rife with slow-cooked, tender meat served in a handmade shortcrust and puff pastry shell. Don’t forget to try the ever-popular Australian side dish, mushy peas, and snag an egg custard tart for dessert.
Location: 1109 W. Elizabeth St., Fort Collins
CHINA
LuLu Asian Bistro: This locally-owned, authentic Asian eatery serves up a variety of Japanese, Chinese and Thai options for dine-in or take-out. Try the Coconut Prawns or any of the Authentic Signature Dishes, which highlight true Chinese cuisine. We also love the Bento Box options for dinner. Don’t miss the saki bomb challenge!
Location: 117 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
Beijing Noodle: Husband-wife team Tianxi “Dennis” Zhang and Yirong Sun opened this hidden gem in October 2018 and it has become a local go-to for rou jia mo, or Chinese hamburgers. A meal common in northwest China, the staple consists of homemade handheld yeast buns stuffed with soy sauce-braised pork belly and diced green peppers. Tucked into an unassuming West Stuart Street strip mall, Beijing Noodle favorites also include oil spill noodles, served with spicy garlic and housemade Sichuan sauces, and Henan gravy noodles, a steamed and stir-fried noodle dish common in Sun’s home of Henan Province. Chef’s specials feature steamed and pan-fried dumplings, five-spice pig ears and thinly-sliced cold pork belly smothered in a house sauce and chili oil.
Location: 1005 W. Stuart St., Fort Collins
CUBAN
Babalu’s Cuban Café: After operating a successful food truck, Rosa and Frank Jimenez, opened a brick-and-mortar offshoot in downtown Fort Collins. Babalu’s is currently the only Cuban restaurant in Fort Collins. The café is open to the public from 8 am to 3 pm, Tuesday through Saturday serving pastries (you must try the pastelito guava), burritos and Cuban coffee for breakfast and savory Cuban sandwiches, empanadas and arroz con pollo for lunch.
Location: 140 W Oak St, Fort Collins, CO 80524
CZECH REPUBLIC
Colorado Kolache Company: Nancy Agnew, along with her husband, Odie, and their two teenage grandchildren, opened Fort Collins’ first dedicated kolache bakery in January 2022. Kolaches, pillowy yeast dough filled with sweet and savory fillings, have Czech roots. Using a more than century-old Czech kolache recipe, the family-run business has created more than 70 varieties of the treat, which are offered on a rotating basis. Savory options include breakfast staples like bacon, egg and cheese to kraut burgers and even sloppy joes, while sweet kolaches include fruits like apricot, blueberry or cherry, or the popular strawberry cheesecake.
Location: 1717 S. College Avenue, Fort Collins
FRANCE
Philippe, an authentic French bakery and bistro in Old Town Fort Collins, serves decadent pastries, desserts and authentic regional French dishes in an unfussy, cheerful atmosphere, Chef/owner Philippe Boutinet’s love of food and hospitality was solidified early. He grew up on his family’s vineyard in France, and became an apprentice chef in his hometown of Cognac, France at age 13. He moved to the U.S. and spent his formative years working with several renowned chefs: Thomas Keller of French Laundry, Patrick O’Connell of The Inn at Little Washington and others. At Philippe, Boutinet serves up French specialties for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including Parisian omelets, pain perdu (sourdough French toast), quiche Lorraine, mussels with homemade fries, steak frites and more. Friday specials change weekly and sell out quickly.
Location: 133 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
Le Creperie & French Bakery: Jean Claude grew up living and breathing French pastries at his father’s bakery in Brittany, France. After taking over the bakery and running it for a few years, Jean Claude moved to Florida. There he opened Croissants de France, cherished by local residents and visitors alike, before moving to Fort Collins. Now at his bakery,
Le Creperie & French Bakery, Jean Claude prides himself on baking everything from scratch the artisan way: without pre-mixed powders, chemicals or preservatives. Nine types of croissants, and a gorgeous case of beignets, crepes, pear almond tarts, cinnamon nut rolls, gluten-free macarons and more greet you at this friendly bakery, along with French specialties like croque madame and French onion soup.
Location: 2722 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
JAPAN
Japango: Japango, located in downtown Fort Collins, is open for lunch, dinner, and late night. The small chain started in Boulder, but expanded into Fort Collins shortly after the COVID years. The sushi is the real deal: Japanese-sized sushi and rolls; high quality fresh fish; and friendly, attentive service. Yukiji Iwasa, Master Sushi Chef, has been at the helm for over 20 years with the company.
Sean and Jamie have already been valued members of the fampango at the Boulder location and have eagerly hit the ground running as the GM and AGM in Fort Collins. Sean started at Japango in 2017 as a bartender, stepping into a management role in 2020 and has become someone we can invariably lean on. Jamie joined the team in May of 2023, instilling her extensive restaurant background into becoming a pillar of our organization
Location: 125 S. College Ave., Fort Collins
NEPAL
Momos: After feeding his own family momos – traditional Nepalese steamed dumplings – for years, Chef Sulav Magar is now serving them from his mobile food trailer in Fort Collins. Aptly called Momos, the new dining option opened in January 2023. Magar learned the art of dumplings from his Nepalese grandmother and mother, though he didn’t start making them on his own until he joined the U.S. Marines. The menu at Momos is simple: Choose from three types of momos — chicken, pork or veggie — and then choose sesame tomato or peanut sauce for dipping.
Location: Visit Momo's website or Instagram to find where the food trailer will be
NEPAL/TIBET/INDIA
Himalayan Bistro is owned by husband-wife team Dawa and Tashi Sherpa. Dawa grew up in Nepal and at age 15 began working as a porter on Mt. Everest and Annapurna. He moved to Boulder in 1998 and eventually opened Mt. Everest Café in Fort Collins in 2004 with his sister and brother. Tashi was also raised in Nepal where her family owned a popular teahouse that served trekkers hiking Mt. Everest. In 2016, the couple opened Himalayan Bistro where they serve authentic Nepalese food that is heavily influenced by Indian and Tibetan cuisine. Start with the dal soup, a healthy homemade lentil soup with imported Himalayan spices, before tucking into coconut curry, saag paneer (spinach cooked with homemade cheese) or chicken tikka masala, chunks of tandoori chicken cooked in a mild onion tomato sauce and served over basmati rice.
Location: 2720 Council Tree Ave. #184, Fort Collins
MEXICO
The Taco Shop: The Fort Collins Mexican restaurant with late-night street food roots — made USA TODAY's list of best restaurants in the country. The USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year 2025 list, released earlier this year, features 44 restaurants that range from beloved holes-in-the-wall to fine-dining establishments. "We always wanted to do our best, but we didn't expect ... this," said Cesar Lopez, who started The Taco Stop with his wife, Berenice Longoria, shortly after the then-newlyweds moved to Fort Collins in 2012. In the 12 years since, the couple has grown their taco cart into a multifaceted business with a taco trailer, food truck and brick-and-mortar restaurant in Fort Collins' Scotch Pines Village shopping center, 2601 S. Lemay Ave.
Location: 2601 S. Lemay Ave., Fort Collins
SOUTH AMERICA
Juli y Juan’s Kitchen: Alfajores, dainty sandwich cookies featuring dulce de leche cradled between two buttery cookies, are considered one of the top emerging food trends by the National Restaurant Association. Thankfully you can find them in Fort Collins. Raised in Columbia, Juliana Trujillo, who owns Fort Collins catering business Juli y Juan’s Kitchen with husband Juan Andrews Rodriguez, has enjoyed snacking on the cookies for most of her life and started baking them two years ago. The culinary couple initially started selling the cookies to the public between busy catering seasons. Recently, Persimmon owner Raffi Jergerian asked them to make the cookies for his cafe and cocktail lounge, where they’re now available every two weeks (while they last). Juli y Juan’s Kitchen also hopes to offer their alfajores when they reopen to the public with grab-and-go meals and treats.
Location (Persimmon): 251 Jefferson St., Fort Collins
THAILAND
Khon Thai: Family-owned, Khon Thai serves traditional Thai cuisine with an emphasis on fresh, high-quality ingredients and intense flavors. Favorites include Chicken Kao-Soi, Pad Prik-Khing and Thai Fried Rice.
Location: 2900 Harvard St., Unit A, Fort Collins
UKRAINE
The Cooking Studio: After evacuating her home and cooking studio in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tetiana Stratilat is now teaching classes at The Cooking Studio in Old Town Fort Collins. During monthly classes like “Celebrate Ukraine,” the smiling chef teaches students how to make traditional Ukrainian dishes like pampuska, vareniki and borscht, dishes that symbolize Ukrainian culture and are often served at family celebrations. Stratilat came to Colorado with her 16-year-old son, Dmytro, around a year ago as part of the Uniting for Ukraine U.S. Department of Homeland Security program.
Location: 123 N College Ave Suite 130, Fort Collins
