Popular Tivoli Student Union Kiosk Opening Eatery in Aurora

A longtime staple on the Auraria campus is finally branching out to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The Hawaiian/Korean fusion kiosk s’ONO! will morph its current setup and also open a new eatery in Aurora, where Ono Era will take over the Golden Wok space.

It’s the latest evolution for s’ONO! founder Misty Wise. Growing up in Denver, Wise was surrounded by Korean food like japchae, kimchi, and mandu. On vacations, she’d visit family in Hawaii and learn about other kinds of cooking. “Getting to know how to make different things and learn about different cultures through food was what initially drew me to the culinary scene,” Wise says. “That eventually led to putting different cultures together to make different dishes.”

But while cooking was a passion, she did a stint in banking and finance before switching to a culinary career, making sushi at Hapa Sushi Grill and Sake Bar and running delivery for Golden Wok out in Aurora. 

She was operating a Snowfox Sushi out of a metro King Soopers in the early 2010s when she was approached by Soyon Bueno, one of the heads of the Asian Student Association at the University of Colorado Denver. Wise had already been catering some campus events for the association, and he said there was an opening at the Tivoli Student Union. Partnering with her sister-in-law, Suzanne Young, who brought Vietnamese influences into the mix, Wise opened s’ONO!, a food kiosk in the Tivoli, just over a decade ago.

A contemporary Asian-Hawaiian fusion spot, s’ONO! has always focused on poke bowls, sushi, and Korean street-food staples like fried dumplings and kimchi. As other ventures nearby went out of business, Wise took over their spots and opened more kiosks catering to students. Slurps specializes in ramen and pho. And after the McDonald’s outpost in the student union closed, Wise opened the Snack Shack, where her team offers burgers and other American fast-food staples. 

While her three spots survived the pandemic, a recent management change at the Tivoli called for Wise to merge her trio of eateries into one. She was catching up with a former employer, Ken Wong, when he said he was looking to retire and sell Golden Wok. Wise had toyed with the idea of opening a brick-and-mortar location for a few years, but always held off. Now the circumstances seemed right.

Having the opportunity to open a restaurant in a different part of town “feels like a blessing in disguise,” she says. “Having to move all our employees and everything into the business, there was no way we could keep everyone on.”

So this summer, she will open Ono Era in the former Golden Wok. Slurps will remain open in the Tivoli.

“A big part is having a good crew that I can depend on,” Wise says. “I know a lot of businesses in Denver and even in the Tivoli that have had a massive turnaround in employees. That was probably their biggest struggle. If you can’t find good help, then you’re screwed, honestly. I’ve had the same employees since I started, and then people I have eventually added to the crew. They’ve all been dependable and trustworthy. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.” 

Gaining a commercial kitchen at the Golden Wok space will allow her to take on more catering jobs and expand her food offerings, too.

“My favorite thing to cook is probably Korean barbecue,” Wise says. “We had it on campus for a short period when we first opened s’ONO!, but because of a lack of kitchen space, we had to take it off the menu.” Now she’ll be able to offer galbi short ribs, grilled pork belly, and other Korean barbecue staples at Ono Era. But she’ll also keep many of the favorite menu items of Tolden Wok regulars and add some from Snack Shack, too, as well as introduce some new street-food offerings.

“My hopes for this place are to get it busy again, because when Ken first started here and I was helping out, this place was packed all the time,” Wise recalls. “Even lunchtime was bustling, but since COVID, he hasn’t been able to offer dine-in. So for the past six years, he hasn’t had anyone actually sit in the restaurant; it’s just been to-go and delivery.”

While Golden Wok was once fine dining, she plans to make Ono Era a more casual spot that offers everything students came to love at the student union…and share it with a much larger dining scene. 

Ono Era is scheduled to open in June at 15282 East Hampden Avenue in Aurora. For more information and updates, visit denversono.com/us or follow them on Instagram at @sono.tivoli.