Third culture Chinese food on 1st and Broadway.
Ken and Doris' Cantonese American cooking. Walk-in only, in Baker, Denver.
Open from 11 AM every day except Tuesday.
“We are ABC's (American Born Chinese) cooking Chinese food for other ABCs!”Ken and Doris, MAKfam
MAKfam draws on traditional Chinese cooking, American Chinese flavors, and recipes from the family. The Weekday Lunch Combo's pork belly rice plate is Mama Wan's, the chef's mom's recipe.
It started as a pop-up in the New York City area, became a Denver food hall stall, and since 2023 it's had its own room at 1st and Broadway: small, busy, red booths, and hip-hop after dark.
The MICHELIN Guide has named MAKfam a Bib Gourmand in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and the James Beard Foundation named Chef Kenneth Wan a semifinalist for Best Chef: Mountain in 2025 and 2026.
What's on the menu
A few of the dishes people come back for. The full menu, with every allergen listed and vegan and gluten-friendly options marked, is one tap away.
Small bites
- Chinatown Dumplings$11
House-made chicken and chive potstickers, MAK soy, cilantro, fried shallots.
- Crab and Cheese Rangoons$11
Five pieces, house-made, with vegan duck sauce.
- Wings$15
Crispy jumbo wings, spicy málà or salt and pepper.
- Málà Mozzarella Sticks$12
Numbing, tingling, with Uncle Tony's chili oil.
Bao buns
$5.50 each, or any two for $11.
- Beef Bao$5.50
Hong Kong cha chaan teng satay beef, yogurt sauce, cucumber.
- Pork Belly Bao$5.50
Shredded pork belly, pickled radish, hoisin, sesame.
- Spicy Chicken Bao$5.50
Numbing Sichuan peppercorn, spicy mayo, pickled radish.
- Marinated Shiitake Bao$5.50
Vegetarian, with Thai basil ranch.
Big bites
- Sizzling Spicy Noodles$18.50
Wheat noodles, Uncle Tony's chili oil, málà, cabbage.
- Singapore Noodles$18.50
Rice vermicelli, wok-tossed Spam, madras curry, fried egg. Gluten free.
- Corned Beef Fried Rice$18.50
Grass-fed corned beef, egg, pickled mustard greens.
- Pork Belly Ssäm for Two$38
Crispy-skin pork belly, butter lettuce, bao, hoisin, ginger scallion oil.
Weekday Lunch Combo, $15: a plate plus small bites, 11 AM–2 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Walk in. Here's how it works.
- We're a full-service restaurant and we don't take reservations. Come in and we'll seat you.
- The room is small, so dinner often has a wait list. It tends to move quickly, and we text you updates, so you can wait at one of the bars on South Broadway.
- Large parties are hard to fit, especially on weekends.
- Hip-hop and rap play, especially after dark, explicit lyrics included.
39 West 1st Ave, Denver, CO 80223
At 1st and Broadway in Baker. 720-982-5011
- Monday
- 11 AM–8:45 PM
- Tuesday
- Closed
- Wednesday, Thursday
- 11 AM–8:45 PM
- Friday, Saturday
- 11 AM–9:45 PM
- Sunday
- 11 AM–8:45 PM
We are a pro-MSG restaurant.
We use it, sparingly, for umami, the way soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken bouillon already do. Here's why the old scare about it was never really about food.