Illegal Pete’s

Came in this morning to get breakfast for the first time. The food was delicious and the staff was incredibly helpful! Chris, the manager I think, started me out & offered excellent suggestions on what to get, while the other employees informed me what the offerings were and what their favorite combinations were. One employee whose name I missed had very large stretched out earrings and was so friendly to me! Finally, at the register, a tall man with a red beard named Liam was funny and charming and made me feel right at home as I headed for my seat. While I was eating a young lady named Sierra checked in on me to make sure I had everything I needed. Camden at the bar makes a great Bloody Mary! Such a fine group of people– friendly welcoming atmosphere, and excellent food too! I will definitely be coming back!

I have lost track how many times I’ve been here, from perfect fair-​weather days to snowmageddon. If you like Chipotle this place is like Chipotle, except the food is way better, the venue is way cooler, and there’s a bar inside. I don’t have to convince you, pay Illegal Pete’s a visit.

I’ve been coming to this location for short of year now and albeit the lines can get pretty long at times (especially late night weekends/​downtown events), the wait is WELL worth it once you take your first bite.
The employees, bar or food, are quick and courteous. If you catch them at slower business times they are very friendly and welcoming. Even at high volume the service is quicker than you’d expect.
I cannot speak for other locations, but on behalf of this one, you will not be disappointed. I will continue my patronage here as long as I am in this area, and after then I intend to visit when I feel the need for high quality food and great service.
On a side note, if any of the staff sees this, I would like to thank you again for your service; you folks work hard and never fall short. Keep it up, all!

I love you guys because I can substitute guacamole instead of cheese and sour cream! I love you guys because you are consistent as hell and your ingredients are super fresh and your house hot sauce is the bomb!!! Yeah occasionally there is a worker who is a jerk and tries to skimp me on my cilantro, but I overlook that because the majority of your employees kick ass. I have never come here and had slimy ingredients, undercooked stuff or over cooked stuff, or any bad food.
Every time someone says the name «illegal petes» I enthusiastically interrupt them to say «I f**king love that place». I only wish that the line at lunchtime was shorter. I try to go before noon or after 1pm. I accommodate because you’re worth it! You’re a gem.
Did you know that they have breakfast too?! For like $ 5. Seriously. Get in my mouth.

This location fits right in on the 16^th Street Mall. Cool atmosphere, friendly employees, consistently good food. I just love Illegal Pete’s! Pro tip for those of us who can’t (or shouldn’t) finish an entire burrito, they will totally let you order a kid’s burrito and it is just the right size.

First time here on a crowded lunch and had the fish burrito. Not bad, not great, filling. Took forever to receive since hubs had his chicken burrito in 4 minutes flat.
However, I will be back the price can’t be beat and looking forward to trying there other burritos!

This place is great… don’t get me wrong. But, WHY is it that every morning I go into this shop to get breakfast the employees all look and act like they are in some sort of hung-​over induced coma!?! They don’t say hello, they mess up your order, they have 0 F*cks to give.
That being said, the food is still great. :)

Imagine Mexican food prepared like Chipolte but inside an edgy bar. Great fun. Lots of choices with all the fixings. Very casual. Pefect for pre or post game fare.
The staff claimed their chocolate chip cookies are «best ever»… good, for certain, but best ever? Not quite.

I used to frequent the Illegal Petes in the DU neighborhood– but now I frequent the one downtown. The staff at the downtown location is far less friendly, rude and to be honest violate a ton of health codes. The food is always great– if I was rating just based on the food it would be four stars. When ordering my burrito another guest came to the counter to ask for hotter salsa, the cashier began to talk over the guy making my burrito and myself to talk with this gal about salsa in an INCREDIBLY loud voice to the point that I had to repeat everything I was requesting. The fella making my burrito proceeded to tell him he was way too loud and I say yeah that was loud. He went on to talk about himself and his loud tendencies. Dude, if someone says you’re loud maybe you should quiet down a bit.
Then I asked for limes with my burrito… when asked how many I responded with «like four.» In my mind this meant if they are less juicy limes how bout six, if they’re on the juicier side how bout three… the cashier decided to mock me and say «here’s your like four limes, if you need like six let me like know.» Can you say condescending? His attitude ruined my entire experience.
While eating my burrito I look to my right and see the cashier pulling the trash can out of the receptacle. I will say he does have gloves on. He starts pulling the «slop» out of said receptacle with his hands and throwing it into the bin. No broom? No dust bin? Hands?! What I see next made me want to purge my entire lunch… he wiped his wet trash covered hands up and down his apron multiple times. What’s worse is he didn’t take this apron off when he jumped back behind the counter.
I will not be back.

We went for lunch. The line to order was long, at least a good 15+ minutes of standing. We ordered the chili verde, queso, guacamole, chips, a chicken quesadilla and a carnitas burrito, plus margaritas so a fair sampling of the menu was had. The margarita and queso were the stars of the show, followed by the carnitas burrito which was loaded with carnitas and the pork was well rendered, not fatty at all. The quesadilla was lackluster and lacking on chicken as was the chili verde which was flavorful but had very little pork. Being from California, the guacamole was fine, neither great or bad. I would come back again for here for drinks but probably wouldn’t go out of my way if the line was that long again.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit this, but this was my first visit to Illegal Pete’s. Somehow I’ve managed to live in CO for 2 years and not make it in. Better late than never? Anyway, after wandering around Doors Open Denver for the morning, we needed a quick bite to eat before afternoon tour time began, and my friend suggested this fine establishment for a few reasons: (1) it was close by; (2) it had burritos; and (3) it was fast and affordable.
Upon entering, you are pretty much engulfed by a wave of hipster. But it’s not a turn off. Local stickers and posters adorn the walls, music blares from the speakers (they played Bruce, so I approved), and people shimmy through the close packed quarters. We managed to beat the rush and only waited maybe a full 1 minute in line. There were numerous options for food, but we had one goal — breakfast burrito. We made our way down the counter and told the servers what we wanted. I opted for eggs, potatoes, beans and all the fixings. I very much appreciated the fact that they had both meat and vegetarian versions of their green chile. And that if you didn’t want cheese or sour cream, you could have guac for free. AND that they stirred all the ingredients before rolling up the burrito, which made for more balanced bites. The bonus: price. My burrito, which was a very good size, was $ 4.27, tax included. You seriously cannot beat that.
As it was around noon, and we had limited time, I did not visit the bar. But I liked that it was an option if you wanted a quick bite along with a quick (or slowly sipped) drink. Prime location, and there are a few more scattered around Denver and Boulder. Certainly could use a few more, as it beats the other more prolific fast-​casual joints.

Great local spot!!! Very hip interior, if your lame, step into and be made new. The food rocks.
Read my reviews to know that I rarely praise restaurants with a five star review but they earned it. The big fish burrito changed my world.
And if I didn’t love it enough… This obnoxious woman was asked to lower her voice because she was yelling into her phone.

This is one of my oldest haunts on the 16^th St. Mall, back from my days working right downtown.
I don’t come here as near as much as I used to, but it is always a good experience. I love that they are open later than most places in Denver and they put on great shows. The only thing I ever watch out for when coming here is the crowd; there is limited table space and it’s always a bummer to stand around trying to eat a massive burrito with one hand and drink a beer with the other while you are shoulder-​to-​shoulder with hipsters.

Illegal Pete’s is hands-​down my favorite fast-​casual eats in Denver. I LOVE getting a giant salad with chicken, and loading it with veggies, toppings and salsa. So good, and so filling.
Also, everything in there just seems so coool… the staff, patrons, atmosphere, even the copious amount of stickers everywhere scream «this is chill place».
My only complaint is that IP’s is so popular, the parking can be tight and the line to order can get long (especially at lunch and dinner times). But luckily I’ve never had to wait more than ~10 min to order. And of course your food is prepped right as you go, so there’s no wait after you pay.
I wish they would open up more locations, especially up in the Cole/​Whittier neighborhood!

So we asked our Über driver what’s a staple in Denver he said you got to get green chili. So I asked where’s is the best place to get it he said Illegal Petes so here we are. I noticed it’s a Colorado based company kinda like Chipotle just smaller and local. They do custom burritos but obviously better than chipotle. But compared to burrito joints in Texas there’s not a whole lot of options. So I gave them 3 stars because it’s good just not amazing. Staff is very friendly food looks fresh and clean. Just not a lot of flavor maybe if the salsa had more flavor it would be different.

The fact that this place exists makes me very happy.
If you’re in the mood for a breakfast burrito on your way to work /​while traversing downtown in general, you should make a point to swing by this place. Suggest the chorizo and green chile salsa!
Three things:
1. Food was fast. They’ve got making a burrito down to a chipotle-​like science — they asked me 4 – 5 questions about how I wanted to customize my burrito and prep was done in a minute or less.
2. It’s cheap! I got a decently large burrito (not nearly chipotle sized) for less than $ 5 with tax
3. Décor is fun. If a dive bar and a fast/​casual restaurant had a kid, this would be it.
The staff were also talking to one another about being enviro-​friendly, so brownie points there :)
Great spot for a quick morning bite — highly recommend!

So good.
I’d read the great reviews for Illegal Pete’s on Unilocal and tucked them away as an idea for good food later.
The vibe definitely lived up to my expectation and the Pork Carnitas Nachos that I ordered exceeded them. Ingredients were soo fresh, prepared right in front of me and they piled them high on top of the bed of chips before covering them with glorious queso.
How often does it happen that you run out of chips before you run out of the «good stuff» while decimating an order of nachos late night? It happened to me at Illegal Pete’s!

The food: ⁴⁄₅. It’s a no frills Mexican spot. I tried pork, beef and fish tacos, the meat was a little dry and the fish fillet was on the smaller price, but still pretty good. However, I loved their margaritas, which were cheap and not overly sweet.
The service: ⁵⁄₅. The guys working there were friendly and answered all of our questions.
Overall: Can’t beat tacos and a margarita for $ 12.

Burritos and booze. What more could you ask for?
I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of fast casual restaurants. They usually seem cold and bare and not entirely welcoming, but Illegal Pete’s has a comfortable «come and stay» sort of vibe that makes me feel at home.
I love the loud music, the crazy stickers covering everything, and all the colors and warm lighting. Like chipotle, you approach the counter and ask for a burrito, bowl, tacos, or salad. I did the steak burrito bowl for $ 6.99 with cilantro rice, black beans, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and extra cilantro. I thought it was goooooooood. Plenty of food for the price and all the ingredients looked and tasted fresh. I also got plain corn tortillas on the side, which were nice and hot.
Having a full bar and actual bartenders is what makes Illegal Pete’s pop. The bar was packed at 10:30 PM on a Monday night, so they’re doing something right. It’s definitely a really fun atmosphere that’ll cheer you up (and fill you up) when needed, and they’re open until midnight during the week. I’m a night owl so I’m always on the hunt for legit late night food options. :) Thanks, Pete!

I stopped by for a snack on NYE. My friend had sung the praises of Illegal Pete’s for some time, and I was super excited to try it. I had a carnitas taco and a chicken taco. The tortillas were fantastically fluffy. The chicken and carnitas were perfectly flavored. I loved all the fun topping options. The guacamole was perfectly flavored and creamy. The staff were super friendly, and the service was fast. I had a good time and will definitely be coming back!