Buckhorn Exchange
Buckhorn Exchange is Denver’s oldest restaurant, a National Register landmark serving wild game and Western fare on Osage Street since 1893.
Buckhorn Exchange in Denver, CO
The Buckhorn Exchange is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Denver, opened on November 17, 1893 by Henry H. Zietz — a frontier scout who rode with Buffalo Bill Cody as a boy and was given the nickname “Shorty Scout” by Sitting Bull. The dining room walls hold hundreds of mounted heads and trophies alongside a deep collection of antique firearms, and the effect is less restaurant than frontier museum you can eat dinner inside. When Prohibition ended in 1933, the bar reopened with Colorado Liquor License No. 1, a certificate still on display today.
The menu leans hard into Rocky Mountain tradition: prime beef steaks, buffalo, elk, Colorado lamb, quail, and baby back pork ribs, with rattlesnake and alligator tail among the appetizers and Rocky Mountain oysters as the house signature. Upstairs, a Victorian saloon added during a 1978 restoration pours drinks beneath the same trophy walls. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and since 1994 the 10th & Osage light rail station has sat directly across the street, making it one of the easiest historic stops in Denver to reach without a car.
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Check out the latest Menus & Reservations at the Buckhorn Exchange in Denver, CO.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to do at the Buckhorn Exchange?
- Wild Game Dining: Prime beef steaks share the menu with buffalo, elk, Colorado lamb, quail, and baby back pork ribs, plus rattlesnake and alligator tail appetizers and the house-signature Rocky Mountain oysters.
- Taxidermy Collection: Hundreds of mounted heads and trophies line the dining room walls, most of them collected by founder Henry Zietz and his son over decades on the frontier.
- Antique Firearms: A large collection of historic rifles and pistols is displayed throughout the building alongside frontier photographs and Old West memorabilia.
- Upstairs Saloon: The second-floor Victorian bar, added during the 1978 restoration, serves drinks beneath the same trophy walls in a quieter setting.
- Private Events: The historic dining rooms are available for group dinners, rehearsal dinners, corporate gatherings, and private parties.
What is nearby the Buckhorn Exchange?
- 10th & Osage Light Rail Station: Directly across the street since 1994, putting the restaurant one short ride from downtown Denver.
- La Alma / Lincoln Park: One of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods surrounds the building, with historic homes and a large public park a few blocks away.
- Santa Fe Arts District: About a mile north, home to dozens of galleries and the monthly First Friday Art Walk.
- Ball Arena: Roughly a mile and a half away, making the Buckhorn an easy pre-game dinner stop on Nuggets and Avalanche nights.
- Downtown Denver & LoDo: About ten minutes north, with Union Station, Coors Field, and the 16th Street corridor.
When was the Buckhorn Exchange established?
The Buckhorn Exchange opened on November 17, 1893, founded by Henry H. Zietz, a frontier scout who had ridden with Buffalo Bill Cody’s outfit as a boy and was given the name “Shorty Scout” by Sitting Bull. Zietz built the place as a saloon and eatery for the railroad crews, cattlemen, silver barons, and miners working the rail yards across Osage Street, and filled it with the trophies and firearms he gathered over a lifetime in the West.
Henry Zietz Jr. took over after his father’s death in 1949 and ran the restaurant for nearly three decades. In 1978 a group called Buckhorn Associates purchased the business, restored the building, and moved the bar upstairs to the second floor. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as the Zeitz Buckhorn Exchange, and it remains the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Denver.
When is the Buckhorn Exchange open?
The Buckhorn Exchange serves dinner seven nights a week: Monday through Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sunday from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Reservations are strongly recommended, especially on weekends and around downtown event nights. Check the restaurant’s website for holiday hours and seasonal changes.
Are there age restrictions at the Buckhorn Exchange?
The Buckhorn Exchange is a full-service restaurant and welcomes guests of all ages, and it has long been a family destination for visitors curious about Colorado’s frontier history. Guests must be 21 or older with valid photo identification to be served alcohol at the table or in the upstairs saloon. Parents should note that the dining rooms are decorated with hundreds of taxidermy mounts, which some younger children find startling.