Everybody knows that Colorado is home to purple mountain majesties and fruited plains, 300 days of sun a year and fabulous ski areas, insufferably fit people and even the current National League champions. But when it comes to indigenous culinary highlights, the best most folks can usually muster is "Rocky Mountain oysters."

With Denver and Colorado in the national spotlight next week, we're here to clue everyone in to the state’s impressive gastronomic resume, notched with everything from the invention of the ice cream soda to the launching of the made-to-order quick-casual burrito. Here's a primer on the 10 greatest Mile High taste attractions.

Yolk's on us: Denver Omelet not city-born

The one dish named after Denver definitely wasn't invented here. The late James Beard speculated, "It seems to have been called the Western (sandwich or omelet) until the railroads made it to Utah, and then folks in Utah apparently renamed it the Denver."

Taste it: Try a Denver omelet (with ham, cheese, bell pepper and onions) at the iconic, cowboy-crowned Davies Chuckwagon Diner, 9495 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood.

Where the buffalo roam

When late restaurateur Sam Arnold opened The Fort in 1962, buffalo (actually bison) started stampeding from extinction back to the dinner table. Nowlean bison graces menus across Colorado, and The Fort sells more bison steaks than any other independent eatery in the nation.

Taste it: The Fort, 19192 Highway 8, Morrison, thefort.com

Birthplace of the ice cream soda

The ice cream soda was reportedly invented in 1871 at Otto Baur’s confectionery shop at 1512 Curtis St. as a soother for a patron with a bad hangover. The site now houses Baur’s Ristorante, owned by Quizno’s founder Jimmy Lambatos.

Taste it:Coffee ice cream soda at the Bonnie Brae Ice Cream Shop, 799 S. University Blvd., Denver

Beer is here

Producing more ale, stout and lager than any other state, Colorado is the undisputed capital of American beer. The 92 breweries here range from giants like Coors to Fat Tire-maker New Belgium and canned-craft-ale innovator Oskar Blues. The nation’s largest brew-tasting event, the Great American Beer Festival, is held annually in a city where the mayor was a brew-pub pioneer.

Taste it: Sample great brews at the Falling Rock Tap House, 1919 Blake St., fallingrocktaphouse.com, and the Great American Beer Festival, Oct. 9 to 11, beertown.org, and tour Golden’s Coors Brewery, millercoors.com.

Dawn of the drive-in cheeseburger

Establishments from California and Kentucky to Hamburg, Germany, dispute the claim, but a small granite monument in a bank parking lot at 2776 Speer Blvd. proudly notes: "Louis E. Ballast created the cheeseburger (on this site). His restaurant, the Humpty Dumpty Barrel Drive-In, was Colorado’s first drive-in. The cheeseburger trademark was registered by Mr. Ballast on March 5, 1935."

Taste it: The green-chile cheeseburger at Steuben’s, 523 E. 17th Ave., steubens.com

A fresh burrito is born

The mile-high gastronomic incubator launched the nation's quick-casual dining boom. Restaurant companies calling the metro area home include Chipotle Mexican Grill, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Rock Bottom Brewery, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Old Chicago, Boston Market, Noodles and Co. and Quizno's.

Taste it: Customize a burrito at the very first Chipotle Mexican Grill, 1644 E. Evans Ave.

Naturally in tofu town

Once the butt of granola jokes, Boulder gets the last laugh as the Silicon Valley of the burgeoning natural/organic/green foods industry. This is the healthful birthplace of Celestial Seasonings, White Wave tofu and Silk soy milk, Rudi's Organic Bakery, Wild Oats Markets and Izze soda.

Taste it:at any natural-foods market

Home of the hand-crooked candy cane

WhenAmericans have wanted a true taste of sweet nostalgia, they turn to Hammond’s Candies, opened in Denver in 1920. The factory is the source for handmade candy canes, ribbon candy, caramels and candy "coal."

Taste it: Red, white and blue candies are available at Hammond’s Candies, 5735 Washington St., hammondscandies.com

Hot times in chile season

Denver’s yummiest perfume of autumn is the aroma of green and red chiles from southern Colorado and NewMexico flame-roasted at roadside stands along Colfax Avenue and Federal Boulevard. Bushels of the charred pods go into the addictive sauces, stews, tamales and rellenos we love so much.

Taste it: Buy roasted chiles outside and taste green-chile stew inside at Jack-N-Grill, 2524 Federal Blvd.

Where the hip meet to sip

Colorado’s Rocky Mountain-high attitude is personified by the Sleepytime bear, symbol of Celestial Seasonings, which packages more than 1 billion cups’ worth of tea annually in Boulder. The city also ishome to the ornately decorated Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse and rose-garden patio. Spot-on afternoon tea doesn’t get any classier than the one served in the plush vaulted lobby of Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel.

Taste it: Celestial Seasonings, 4600 Sleepytime Drive, Boulder, celestialseasonings.com; Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, 1770 13th St., Boulder, boulderteahouse.com; Brown Palace Hotel, 321 17th St., brownpalace.com