Despite the incredible number of eateries that continue to pop up in and around metro Denver, relatively few restaurants seem to be closing. We lost Belvedere, the Polish restaurant downtown; its space on 14th Street will soon be replaced by the oddly named Greedy Hamster. Another spot with an even more unappetizing name, Grey Cactus, also faded to black on East Alameda Avenue, after a short-lived attempt to revive the space that had previously held Cafe|Bar. The Bombay Bowl experiment has ended; the last outpost of that fast-casual concept has become a second location for Taja Indian. And the Cheeky Monk gave up on its Westminster operation, although the original on East Colfax Avenue is still going strong.
Over the past month, the metro area also gained a wide variety of new spots. Some are links in chains: A Cheba Hut now fills a long-abandoned convenience store on East Colfax; Cibo, a new concept from the crew behind Marg’s Tacos, has fired up the pizza oven in LoHi; and Max’s Wine Dive started pouring at Seventh Avenue and Sherman Street.
Denver saw some one-of-a-kind openings, too. Pierogies Factory is now rolling in dough on Wadsworth Boulevard. Fort Greene replaced Crash 45 in Globeville. Baur’s Restaurant and Listening Lounge took over the historic downtown space once occupied by Baur’s. And a couple of long-awaited spots finally made their debut in other historic buildings: Solitaire, which took over the two Victorian houses — and some lovely gardens — that had housed Highland’s Garden Cafe is now in bloom, and Ophelia’s is serving up food, drink and live music in another Victorian-era structure, the old Airedale Building. Keep reading for our complete list of April bar and restaurant openings and closings.
RESTAURANTS/BARS OPENING IN APRIL*
Baur’s Restaurant and Listening Lounge, 1512 Curtis Street
Basil Flats, 2900 Baseline Road, Boulder
BBQ House Korean Restaurant, 2680 South Havana Street, Aurora
BluNozer Kaffee-Tiques, 1475 Ivy Street
Buffalo Wings & Things, 7236 East Colfax Avenue
Cheba Hut, 638 East Colfax Avenue
Cibo, 1560 Boulder Street
Crumb Cafe, 217 South Holly Street
Dog Haus, 12023 East Arapahoe Rd, Centennial
Fort Greene, 321 East 45th Avenue
GoBistro, 1111 Broadway
Harley's A Hot Dog Revolution, 1500 West Littleton Boulevard, Littleton
La Guatemalteca, 1500 West Littleton Boulevard, Littleton
Lechuga’s Kiosk, 16th Street Mall between California and Stout streets
Max’s Wine Dive, 696 Sherman Street
Miyako Ra-men Spot, 2950 South Broadway
Novo Coffee, 3617 West 32nd Street
Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox, 1215 20th Street, Northglenn
Parry's Pizzeria and Bar, 100 East 120th Avenue, Thornton
Pierogies Factory, 3895 Wadsworth Boulevard, Wheat Ridge
Seeds Library Cafe, 1001 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder
Solitaire, 3927 West 32nd Avenue
Spangalang Brewing, 2736 Welton Street
Spinelli’s Bakery, 4628 East 23rd Avenue
Two Penguins Tap & Grill, 13065 East Briarwood Circle, Centennial
Taja Indian, 575 Lincoln Street
RESTAURANTS/BARS CLOSING IN APRIL*
Belvedere Restaurant, 323 14th Street
Bombay Bowl, 575 Lincoln Street
Beauty Bar, 608 East 13th Avenue
Cheeky Monk, 14694 Orchard Parkway, Westminster
Grey Cactus, 295 South Pennsylvania Street
Hart's Corner, 5201 West Mississippi Avenue, Lakewood
Leaf & Crumb Bakery, 4416 East Eighth Avenue
Wok Eat, 946 Pearl Street, Boulder
RESTAURANT/BARS CHANGING NAMES IN APRIL*
Crown Social (from Black Crown Lounge), 1446 South Broadway
*Or earlier, and not noted in a previous Roll Call.