There’s a certain hour—somewhere between late afternoon and the first real hunger of evening—when the rules of dinner loosen. One drink becomes two, one plate becomes three, and suddenly you’re not just eating dinner, you’re full-on experiencing it. At FiNO on East Colfax, that in-between hour isn’t a prelude. It’s the whole point.
If you need a quick and easy label, FiNO is a Mediterranean restaurant, but this mid-century modern enclave is more about chasing a mood. It channels the ritual of a tapas crawl in Spain, the golden L’Aperitivo in Italy, the unhurried ouzeri culture in Greece, and the small-plate generosity of a Turkish meze. Those all-important hours when afternoon slips into evening and your only real decision is what to order next.
Your meal here doesn’t exist so much as meander. You’re journeying through Italia, after all, via Campari shaved ice with FiNOcello, a menu of spritzes (both boozy and N/A) and house-made pasta brightened with preserved lemon. Or maybe you’re partying in Spain with plates of briny olives and crab- or tomato-topped toasts and a glass of Basque Ameztoi. And definitely don’t leave before dropping into the Eastern Med for the amazing, caper-heavy charred cabbage, whose sauce you’ll be scraping out of the bowl with forks, spoons, and/or fingers.
That sense of drift, of moving from place to place guided by what sounds good, feels especially at home on this stretch of East Colfax. FiNO anchors the ground floor of the All Inn Hotel, a restored 1950s motor lodge whose reopening is all about celebrating its Colfax spirit and history. The 54-room boutique property, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, maintains cool features like its patterned vertical windows and glowing neon sign, while bringing it up to date with modern technology and amenities.
FiNO fits seamlessly into that vision as the hotel’s playful, groovy restaurant, all good vibes and sculptural minimalism. Olive green booths curve into banquettes, textured woven flooring grounds the room, and the bar and lounge are outfitted with mid-century furniture. And then there’s the preserved stone wall of what millennials and Xers may remember from Rockbar. (Yes, there’s MD 20/20, only it’s mixed into a secret menu cocktail. Apologies to your liver.)
Out back, the restaurant opens into one of the most expansive patios in town, a combination wine garden/ultimate summer hangout. The patio is an extension of FiNO and its menu, while the 150-capacity wine garden is made for lounging with a glass or celebrating an event.
That sense of ease carries into the way FiNO approaches its ingredients—thoughtful sustainability without the pretense. Take a lemon, whose juice balances and tarts up drinks, but instead of discarding the peel, it’s used for essential oils and cocktail garnishes. Not to mention, once our little citrus has been thoroughly juiced and/or zested, it can live on in limoncello and lemon candy. Nothing rushed, nothing wasted; everything given the chance to stretch a little further.
And that’s what FiNO is all about. A culture built around enjoyment rather than efficiency, where you come for a drink and an app and end up settling into a night that keeps offering one more reason to stay.
To learn more, visit ALLINHOTEL.com and FinoColfax.com.