Bye-bye, pie: Last Marie Callender's in Colorado closes its doors

While a few new restaurants and bars are still scrambling to open before 2012 -- and get some business on New Year's Eve -- other longtimers are calling it a night. The last Marie Callender's restaurant in Colorado closed its doors last weekend, after 21 years at 51 West Dry...

By Patricia Calhoun

December 30, 2011

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While a few new restaurants and bars are still scrambling to open before 2012 -- and get some business on New Year's Eve -- other longtimers are calling it a night. The last Marie Callender's restaurant in Colorado closed its doors last weekend, after 21 years at 51 West Dry Creek Road in Littleton.

That means if you want a Marie Callender's pie, your best bet is the frozen foods section at your local supermarket.

That spot was owned and operated by franchise-holder Rob Grisham. This summer, when Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc.filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, the company announced that it would be closing 27 Perkins restaurants -- four of them in Colorado -- and 31 Marie Callender's locations.

Grisham's spot was not included in that tally.

And speaking of tallies, we're in the process of compiling our Restaurant Roll Call for 2011 -- listing all the openings and closings over the past year. It will be posted January 2; in the meantime, you can read the Restaurant Roll Call for 2010 here. And if you know of a restaurant that recently opened or closed, post the info in the comments below.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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