DENReview
Mercantile Dining & Provision
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Architecturally, the renovation of Union Station is a complete success. The old dingy depot has been transformed into a gleaming and elegant testament to Denver’s rise as a city. With its gilded decor and LoDo location, we assume there’ll be 1920s-themed New Year’s Eve parties here from now until forever, but if you’re not waiting for a train or channeling your inner Zelda Fitzgerald, is there enough to bring you back to this place on an average Friday night?
If the cocktails at the Cooper Lounge or the Terminal Bar have left you on the fence with that answer, one visit to Mercantile Dining & Provision should change your mind. This truly beautiful space is split into a formal dining room and a more casual, European-style market with a bar and high top tables. We’re more fond of the bar with its classic black-and-white tile and legion of meat, cheese, and dessert provisions. It’s as good as a lunch atmosphere in LoDo can get. But the modern dining room is also impressive and more intimate, and there isn’t a stuffy white tablecloth in sight. Whichever side you choose, you’ll be in good hands with the educated and attentive wait staff, and excellent food across the board. We like Mercantile so much we can even forgive the rickety name that helps perpetuate Denver restaurants’ ongoing obsession with ampersands.
Great cocktails and an impressive, if somewhat intimidating, wine list are on hand at Mercantile Dining & Provision, but don’t expect anything too outlandish on the dinner menu. Things are pretty buttoned up here, meaning you won’t see any molecular gastronomy or kimchi pupusas, and nothing is deconstructed. Mercantile keeps it relatively simple, but they’re executing at an incredibly high level. Union Station is fortunate to have them as a tenant and if this is where Denver is going, we’re fully on board.