The Universal sits in North Denver's Sunnyside/Highlands neighborhood, serving its full breakfast menu all day rather than cutting it off by late morning. The dining room is brick-lined and lit by natural light, a step up from classic diner fluorescence while keeping the format familiar: counter service energy, plates that arrive unfussy.
The menu runs on a handful of house specialties. Cornbread Rancheros — black beans, roasted tomato salsa, eggs, and avocado over cornbread — has become the dish regulars order first. House-made biscuits and gravy round out the classics, while a rotating grits-of-the-day, built on Anson Mills organic heirloom grits, gives the menu its daily changeup; the same grits show up folded into the breakfast burrito.
Coffee is locally roasted, and the restaurant has held its spot in the neighborhood for over a decade.
The menu runs on a handful of house specialties. Cornbread Rancheros — black beans, roasted tomato salsa, eggs, and avocado over cornbread — has become the dish regulars order first. House-made biscuits and gravy round out the classics, while a rotating grits-of-the-day, built on Anson Mills organic heirloom grits, gives the menu its daily changeup; the same grits show up folded into the breakfast burrito.
Coffee is locally roasted, and the restaurant has held its spot in the neighborhood for over a decade.