It’s located just steps from a corner of Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall that would have been considered outre a couple of years ago, but location hasn’t kept Oak at fourteenth from packing its room with the town’s foodiest foodies. In fact, they fill the place every lunch and supper, gobbling down the kitchen’s sophisticated takes on comfort food and guzzling down the bar’s crafty cocktails.
A quick glance at their menu suggests a much trashier joint: fried pickles, grilled cheese and tomato soup, pastrami sandwiches. But look closer, and you’ll see that the pastrami is made in-house from grass-fed beef. That the tomato soup is made with San Marzano tomatoes. The fried pickles, well, those are straight-up deep-fried pickles — and even if they call the dippin’ sauce “Green Goddess aioli” we all know what that means: mayonnaise. Yum.
More ambitious entrees include braised boar, gnocchi with preserved lemon, roasted wild mushrooms and ricotta, and roasted grouper with Manila clams. Also, salads.
Here’s something smart: Oak’s cocktail list is divided into low-alcohol concoctions and high-alcohol drinks, which means you can make smarter decisions at lunchtime. No surprise the cocktails are also delicious: Part of the braintrust behind Oak at fourteenth is Bryan Dayton, one of Colorado’s — and the country’s — best drinks-mixers.
With wide windows onto 14th Street, a pleasantly busy atmosphere and smart service, it’s no wonder Boulderites have embraced the place.
UPDATE: On March 10, Oak at 14th was damaged by a fire and will be closed until repairs can be made.
Oak at fourteenth
Contemporary. 1400 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-444-3622, oakatfourteenth.com
