Cafe Aion

Lovely place. Unique and changing cocktails, awesome paella and apps. Some of their best dishes have long preps (45min for paella or half chicken) so put that order in before drinks and then enjoy some apps/tapas which come quickly. Well worth the wait. Atmosphere is both lively and cozy lots of little nooks... Depends on how busy it is. Sunday night was quiet.

We hosted our wedding rehearsal dinner at Cafe Aion and wow, were we lucky. The food was incredible and Dakota and his team created a very memorable experience for us and our loved ones. Highly recommend!

This is my favorite restaurant! I love the food here and the Spanish and French cuisine. I really just feel like you can’t get food like this easily in Colorado. I come here when I’m upset. I come here when I’m happy. I’m really just looking for excuses to come here!

Wonderful food, people and place. We had an amazing meal, cosy and authentic

Awesome food and staff. Trumpet mushrooms is the way to start the meal. Seafood paella is top notch.

This was a lovely little Spanish Cafe in "the hill" district of Boulder. The donuts and French baguette with butter and jam were quite tasty. My main dish of croquet Madame was amazing! Top it off with creative drinks, and the best Sangria in Boulder, and this is a place I will definitely be returning to in the future. Would highly recommend for a high-end meal!

It's a small, family owned restaurant that you should definitely visit! The food is delicious. The service is top notch. We had the green beans and truffle fries for appetizers. The green beans are divine! Then we had the steak which was cooked to perfection! For dessert we had flan and creme brulee - both exceptional! We had a few delicious cocktails to compliment our meals as well.

After living in the Boulder area for over 10 years, this one of my favorite go-to spots. Casual fare. Cool people. Delicious food. Great value.

This restaurant is an absolute oasis of elevated cuisine for this area of town and so greatly appreciated. The menu is extensive (which makes it especially great to bring friends as you know there will be something for them), diverse, and executed at a high level. For me it reads as one of the best menus around. The space is cute and intimate. We’ve been for brunch and dinner a few times now and so grateful for this neighborhood restaurant.

Was in Boulder for four days and ate at Café Aion twice. The food was outstanding, full of flavor, and I’d go back again tomorrow if we hadn’t had to leave town. The service was wonderful, and the environment was cozy and friendly. If you enjoy French and Spanish cuisine at very reasonable prices, I would strongly recommend Café Aion.

Nice place on the hill. Easy to get too. Outdoor seating as well as spread out inside. Excellent paella! Dishes are on the smaller side. Cocktails were delicious.

Nice menu that accomodates vegan, vegetarian & us 'normal' folks! Had delicious French toast with strawberries & blueberries and hot black tea (got extra hot water, tea bag made 2 large cups). Our server, Diego, was very nice and attentive. We sat out on their patio. Great place! (Even got donut holes to go...yum!)

Wonderful, cozy spot for delicious Spanish food (and some familiar comfort foods), great drink selection, and excellent atmosphere. Right in the thick of things in a fun Boulder neighborhood -- stop in for dinner before adventuring, or stop there for a nightcap. You won't regret it!

The food is delicious. The haricot verts have a wonderful garlic smell but not an overwhelming taste. And the paellas—rich in house made ingredients—are worth the wait!

Cafe Aion is Boulder’s best kept secret. DELICIOUS mixed Spanish/Western Mediterranean food, gorgeous patio and indoor cozy window seats. Perhaps because it’s in the University area on the Hill, where all the college kids go, people don’t know about it? We were amazed it was not totally packed. Just spectacular from start to finish. Please support this business because it is a gem we don’t want to lose!

Lunch here is sublime, not just dinner. This is high end gourmet Mediterranean fare hiding at the edge of a student party area where the discerning clientele too often miss it. Yet it's quiet. So delicious. Roasted beet salad, summer salad. Housemade limoncello. Everything our table had was fantastic.

Food was delicious! We had the Wednesday Paella deal- loved the paella, Spanish wine and flourless torte (all are GF). Service and ambience was awesome. Hidden gem in Boulder ❤️.

Cafe Aion is not to be missed! The food is made with care, and special attention to details. Everything we ordered was excellent.

Lived in Boulder for 15 years and never been here. What a gem. Authentic fare clearly prepared by a talented chef. Much attention to detail, beautiful atmosphere in and out, and incredibly warm server. 5 out of 5 easy.

Cafe Aion was a cute small place for fun cocktails and really good food. It's expensive, so I do recommend going during happy hour at 3-5 pm. I did go with a large group and they had set aside an area for us which was very sweet and worked for what we needed. We called ahead to make sure they could accommodate us. It's definitely worth trying if you are in Boulder CO

Their French dishes are delicious. I have been there only 3 times and I liked that they have new things on the menu.

First of all, the food is awesome. But that's not what this review is about. We were staying at a hotel next door, having dinner at Aion with our dog back at the hotel. The dog needed attention and we had to leave before our food came out. The staff were so helpful, packaging everything including our sangria. We wish we could have stayed for dinner, but the whole experience was amazing because they made us feel comfortable

Such a gorgeous place to eat whether you’re indoor or outdoor. You can tell they put a lot of thought into the atmosphere. I had the shakshuka and it was amazing. Great service as well. Definitely will be back.

Best food we’ve had in Boulder!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outdoor seating was a vibe, awesome music playing, food was so good, great deal on wine, dessert was yummy, service was great. No complaints!!!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My aunt and I came here for the Denver Restaurant Week special. We were not disappointed! We had the roasted cauliflower and the housemade hummus to start. We shared the house paella and were very happy! Our only criticism is that the paella was a bit dry, but that may have been based on past experiences. The dessert flan was amazing! Our server was so darling, we would have taken her "to-go".

I ordered seafood paella it was good. The cauliflower was ok wouldn’t order again. I thought that $9 for small baguette with butter was outrageous. Most restaurants serve bread at no charge. Service was good. I won’t go back.

I wouldn’t call the cuisine Spanish other than the paella on the menu which takes 45-50 min to prep. Everything else on the menu was French cuisine. Didn’t really need a resie as the place was empty when we arrived. They brought out a special dessert for husband because it was his birthday.

We've been here a number of times before, as a place to dine before a show at CU. Food: Amazing paellas. One served four hungry adults just fine, with a couple of sides thrown in. If you like group-shared eating, this is a great place. Drink: Excellent cocktails. Service: Earnest and positive but spotty, Things sometimes look longer than expected. Ambience: Eclectic casual. A lot of steps to get in. Biggest challenge at the moment is getting to the place, as the street in front of it has been converted to outdoor dining space, causing Google to take us down a few alleys to get there. Popping this from 4 to 5 stars. We'll be back.

Love this spot! Went there for dinner prior to a show at the Fox Theatre, the location is absolutely perfect for that since it's about a 30sec walk. The atmosphere is perfect for a date night or an intimate get together with friends. Their menu is Spanish focused, lots of tapas options, some burgers, and paella. Their charcuterie board was to die for! A little pricey overall but we also smashed some appetizers. Would definitely visit again!

They charge a 20% gratuity thats not visible enough in the menu until they hand you the receipt. Other than that, food and service were great!

Best food on the hill and Mellow ambience. Sort of inconsistent kitchen hours and often closes early. Took over an hour to deliver our entrees but the food was excellent. Understaffed for how busy it was on a Sunday night. I'm a regular there and love their food and the staff is usually excellent but have had several occasions when they weren't.

Cafe Aion is a nice spot to checkout if you are around The Hill neighborhood of Boulder. They offer a varied menu ranging from tapas to burgers / sandwiches and all the way to a 2-3 person serving size of paella. An additional bonus is that this restaurant offers a handful of vegetarian dishes, if that is something that you are looking for. I enjoyed my juicy and nicely booked Aion Burger with a local micro brew. The large sweet potato fries on the side were a perfect side dish. I would not be opposed to getting this burger again, or checking out the veggie burger as my friend had it and enjoyed it thoroughly. Beyond these dishes, the Vegetarian Tagine was a little more underwhelming. It was bland and lacked needed spices. All in all, I think Cafe Aion is a worth wile spot to check out for lunch or dinner should you find yourself on The Hill.

Was OK the food was somewhat glorified and pretentious, pertaining to be actually better than what it was, but OK nonetheless, the salmon was overcooked and small portion which was disappointing. The salad was very much basic shop bought quality

The atmosphere was pleasant. Food and drinks were good. On complaint, though, the hostess asked me and my date if we were ready for the check twice! It felt a bit intrusive, and I felt like I was being rushed out of a restaurant that wasn't busy. A simple "the kitchen is closing" would have been preferred.

I have traditionally loved this place, and was very excited to bring my partner here for the first time for date night. But the night started off not so great when we came in without reservations and the server made us sit at the bar, even though it wasn't that busy and there were multiple tables available and empty the entire time we were there. To top that off, the server seemed crabby. When I ordered the Nicoise salad, which traditionally comes with a hard boiled egg, the boiled egg came out with liquid yoke. I cannot stomach liquid yoke, and asked for a hard boiled egg with solid yoke. They said they couldn't bring me one. That was disappointing. The menu seemed a little weak as well, compared to the other times I'd been there. All my favorite things were no longer on the menu (roast chicken, gnocchi, trout, flan). It was a disappointing night and I won't be returning there, sadly.

We really wanted to like this place. The decor was great and the menu looks really good.  We ordered the hummus, olives, beet salad, parsnips and gnocchi The place has the appearance of being home cooked but that is not the case.  The hummus could’ve been straight out of a sabra container with frozen Sysco pita heated up.  The olives were branded as marinated Spanish olives, but they are straight up kalamatas out of a can with some olive oil.  Beet salad was the worst and doesn’t include any fresh ingredients. The waiter was nice. The chalkboard menu and atmosphere give the masquerade of an authentic chef inspired restaurant but sadly it is another inspirationless boulder bust.

No wait. Friendly service. Appetizers were ok, though nothing special. Paella was not good and pricy. Mussels were off. Left more than half. Fingers crossed we don't get sick.

Dishonest business! My friend and I went for dinner on a Tuesday. Our waitress told us it was happy hour all night on Tuesdays.We asked for 2 orders of mussels and fries ($10 each) and 1 beet salad, all on the Happy Hour Menu. In addition, we each had one drink, and were told these were $3 off for Happy Hour. When I got the check, I made the mistake of trying to be gracious. I barely looked at it and put down my credit card. When I realized I had been charged $95 for the meal, I told the waitress there had been a mistake. She told me our orders were the larger orders from the regular menu. She did not offer to revise the charges, despite my telling her we had ordered off the happy hour menu. She is also the manager, and despite my leaving phone messages twice, no one has called me back. I will not give my business to such a dishonest restaurant again..

I had been before, loved it, paella is small but the quality won me over. This second time they gave us a table next to a window that hadn't been insulated though, and it was freezing. We simply couldn't sit there, so explained our issue and they just didn't care. Terrible. We had to leave, scrambling to find another table on a Saturday night. Amazing. We ended up at Flagstaff instead. Spent almost a $1000 (yes a thousand) there instead. Cafe Aion server... big mistake, BIG MISTAKE!

Cozy place, but left disappointed. We were celebrating a graduation, but the rushed 90-minute time limit (despite a reservation) and a completely burned grilled octopus dish ruined the experience. The staff didn’t handle the feedback well—no apology, and the mostly inedible dish was still charged, along with a 20% service fee which they did not earn.