As Denver-Area Red Sauce Joints Shutter, This Littleton Mainstay Is Expanding

In many major metropolitan areas of the U.S., like New York and San Francisco, Little Italy sits next to Chinatown. In Littleton, there was just Robert’s Italian Deli and Wu’s Garden Chinese restaurant sitting side by side in the same suburban strip mall for nearly 25 years. 

But, as we reported in August, Wu’s Garden was forced to close after the strip mall’s new owner declined to renew its lease, offering Robert’s Italian right of first refusal to assume occupancy of both the old Wu’s as well as the neighboring goldsmith space.

It’s a notable expansion, given both the fate of neighborhood red sauce joints in recent months and the emergence of newer, more modern Italian spots joining the scene like Florence Supper Club, Na Favola and Johnny Bechamels. 

Last month, Robert’s Italian broke ground on its plans, which are one part evolution, one part returning to its roots.

Most notably, Robert’s Italian Deli will soon actually have a deli again. Bob and Jean Bruso opened Robert’s Italian Deli in 1999 as just a deli counter with three tables, featuring Italian meats, cheeses and other sandwich staples. After a few years, they added pizza to the menu, and eventually had to remove the deli make room for more tables as the popularity of its pizza business grew.

Ever since, the restaurant has been slowly expanding, taking over the real estate left behind by its neighbors. In 2009, it added the space left behind by a mortgage company to create what is the dining room today. Now, as it adds Wu’s Garden and the goldsmith shop to its manifest destiny, the restaurant is undergoing a far broader facelift. 

With the expansion, the deli counter will return, bringing back not only the meats and cheeses, but also fresh bread baked daily from the restaurant, along with prepared dinners, sauces, charcuterie and made-to-order sandwiches available to eat in-house or to-go. Surrounding it will be an Italian market with kitchen staples like dried pasta, equipment and other supplies. 

The restaurant will soon move from its current location into the former Wu’s space, where the restaurant and deli will reside together. The area where the restaurant sits now will be absorbed into the already-expanded bar space, which will be dubbed Sportzzeria, complete with big screen TVs and game-day activities. 

According to the owners, the idea was to retain a quiet dining area separate from the loud sports bar, but to share a kitchen and other facilities. Both the bar and the restaurant will have their own dedicated entrances, as well as second, shared entryway.

During construction, Robert’s Italian Deli remains open, with a short closure planned once the new space is ready for relocation. They expect the process to be complete sometime in mid-March.

Robert’s Italian is located at 6745 West Ken Caryl Avenue in Littleton and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit robertsitaliandeli.com