Sam’s No. 3 Brings Big-Personality Diner Food to Downtown Denver

A plate of fried, cheese-filled chile rellenos covered in pork green chile is a pretty convincing way to begin the day. At Sam’s No. 3 in downtown Denver, it can arrive alongside rice, beans, eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy—or whatever else sounded good when the famously sprawling menu landed in front of you.

This is an old-school American diner with the energy turned up by its downtown setting. Booths, counter seats, a bar area and indoor tables fill with people making their way through breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, often at the same time. The room can get loud, especially during a busy brunch stretch, but it remains a conversational sort of bustle rather than a hushed meal.

Sam’s No. 3 has also had its turn on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, though the more useful thing to know is how many directions the menu can take a table. One person can settle in with pancakes and coffee, another can order a smothered burrito, and someone else can make a serious lunch out of a burger or French Dip. It is a diner in the generous, anything-goes sense of the word.

Breakfast is served all day, which removes the usual pressure to make a morning decision before noon. Omelets, pancakes, waffles, breakfast burritos, avocado toast, fried chicken and the usual egg-and-potato combinations are all in the mix, along with enough variations to slow down even decisive diners.

Pancakes have their own following here, and they make good sense for a straightforward breakfast. But Sam’s is particularly fun when it gets a little more excessive. The breakfast stacker, for example, brings together crispy hash browns, cheese, onion, crumbled bacon and two eggs in one hearty arrangement.

Then there is the BBBBB&T, an enormous breakfast sandwich served on sourdough with a large side of hash browns. It is the sort of order that explains the restaurant’s reputation for portions before the plate has been fully cleared.

Omelet people have plenty to investigate, including a supreme omelet with jalapeños for a little extra heat. Freshly made corned beef hash has appeared alongside the option of canned hash, a small but welcome distinction for diners who have firm opinions on the subject.

The house green chile is one of the menu’s recurring threads. Made with Hatch chiles, it appears as sauce, salsa and pork green chile, ready to be spooned over breakfast plates and Southwestern specialties that might otherwise be perfectly respectable but less memorable.

The chile rellenos breakfast is a good place to see the kitchen’s diner-Southwest overlap in action. The rellenos are fried and cheese-filled; the pork green chile provides the dish’s main flourish. Rice and beans turn it into a substantial plate, while a side of eggs or potatoes can make it a very substantial one.

For a different kind of full commitment, the loaded burrito combines macaroni and cheese, tater tots, eggs and chorizo. It is not trying to be restrained. Neither are the burritos that come smothered in green chile, which are well suited to diners who regard sauce as an essential food group.

Refried beans hold their own beside these larger items, and fluffy biscuits with sausage gravy offer a route back toward traditional diner breakfast territory. The menu does not make diners choose between a classic biscuit-and-gravy morning and a chile-covered one.

The menu keeps going long after breakfast. Burgers, sandwiches, fried chicken and other diner standards make Sam’s workable for a mixed group in which not everyone wants eggs at 1 p.m.

A smothered chili dog is one of the more direct lunch choices, especially for anyone who has already decided that green chile belongs on nearly everything. A grilled ham-and-Swiss sandwich offers a more familiar counterpoint, and the two make a nicely mismatched table order.

The French Dip comes with the option of creamy horseradish, a useful little extra for cutting through the sandwich’s richness. It is a reminder that, beneath the menu’s sheer size, there are plenty of smaller choices and add-ons that reward a closer read.

Vegetarian diners are not confined to a single fallback plate; the broad menu includes a substantial selection of meat-free possibilities. Individual offerings can change, but the range gives a table with different appetites more room to order without negotiation.

Portions at Sam’s No. 3 are notably large. Breakfast plates can pile up eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, beans, rice or other hearty sides in combinations that make a single meal stretch well beyond the booth.

Sharing can be sensible for smaller appetites, and leftovers are a common outcome rather than a sign that anyone misjudged the meal. A giant sandwich with hash browns or a loaded breakfast platter can easily become two rounds of eating.

That scale also changes the rhythm of ordering. Rather than each person trying to conquer an enormous plate, a table can choose a few things in different directions: pancakes for the sweet breakfast person, green-chile rellenos for the savory one, a sandwich for the lunch-minded diner. Sam’s makes that approach easy.

Fresh coffee suits the diner side of the restaurant, especially with pancakes or a traditional egg breakfast. Brunch can go another direction with a very tall mimosa, while a Snickers latte adds a more dessert-like option to the drink list.

Counter seating works particularly well for two people stopping in for breakfast or a casual brunch date. It gives the visit a little of that classic diner closeness, with the kitchen’s steady pace and the surrounding room providing the background activity.

Booths and the larger indoor dining areas make more sense for a longer meal or a group that has collectively decided to explore several corners of the menu. The setting has plenty of character without requiring a special occasion.

Even when the dining room is active, meals commonly come out hot and promptly. The pace is useful downtown, where Sam’s can fit into a sightseeing day, a conference break, a casual city breakfast or a final Denver meal before heading toward the airport.

The menu is large enough that a first visit can involve a few minutes of serious consideration. Staff guidance is helpful here, especially if the choice has narrowed to green chile, a giant breakfast sandwich, an omelet, a burrito or a standard diner plate and somehow all of them still sound reasonable.

Parking nearby has included free street spaces and paid garages. Waits vary: some visits are quick to seat, while weekend brunch and major downtown event periods can bring a crowd. Reservation reports have varied as well, so it is worth checking the current policy ahead of a busy visit.