Beer and Carbone's for Sunnyside: The Monkey Barrel Opens

The Monkey Barrel completed the initial stage of its move from 1611 Platte Street to 4401 Tejon Street by opening its bar and kitchen on Wednesday night. Stage two of owner Jimmy Nigg's plan is to build on an additional wing in the coming months to increase dining space and add a stage for live music once a cabaret license has been secured.

The opening also marks the return of Carbone's to the neighborhood, thanks to Tony Lonardo, son of   Nick and Rosa Lonardo, who ran the original Carbone's Italian Sausage Market & Deli at 1221 West 38th Street until four years ago, when they closed their shop after nearly forty years. Lonardo says his parents are doing well and that his mom is still making the sausage. Sandwiches today were being sold with sausage strips (flat patties), but Lonardo says he may switch to a skinless link. Other favorites include meatball sandwiches and stacked Italian subs, and Lonardo also plans to introduce more dishes once an Italian brick oven arrives and is installed in the kitchen.

Some of the neighborhood's older residents dropped by yesterday for lunch, and several agreed that flavors were just like they remembered from the old Carbone's. And now they can wash down sandwiches with one (or more) Colorado craft beers from the Monkey Barrel's selection of about twenty on tap. 

The new Monkey Barrel will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. So far, there's no Peyton Manning mural from artist Gamma Acosta on the exterior wall, but with the way the Broncos played last night, perhaps a Trevor Seimien portrait is in order.