Every Restaurant and Bar Opening and Closing This Week

After restaurants were allowed to reopen their dining rooms on May 26, Illegal Pete's took its time getting back to the burrito business. All of the company's locations had shut down completely (not even offering takeout or delivery) on March 17, so Denver was more than ready when the Illegal Pete's at 270 South Broadway became the first in the chain to reopen on June 18 — just in time for founder Pete Turner's birthday. The remaining locations have since followed suit, and on September 4, an entirely new Illegal Pete's opened its doors at 2230 Oneida Street in the Park Hill neighborhood. This is Turner's twelfth restaurant overall and the seventh in metro Denver. And like the other outposts, the newest is open for patio dining (the dining room will remain closed initially), as well as takeout and delivery.

Another Denver fast-casual original, Chop Shop Casual Urban Eatery, just launched a new fried chicken concept called Hatched, serving buckets of chicken, a variety of sides and fluffy biscuits for takeout and delivery from Chop Shop's Englewood eatery at 3150 South Broadway. Chef/owner Clint Wangsnes has come up with a classic fried chicken recipe reminiscent of childhood takeout buckets, only better. You can order from Doordash (look for the link on Chop Shop's website) from 3 to 7:30 p.m. daily for now, though Wangsnes says he hopes to extend hours soon. A family meal with an eight-piece bucket, a choice of two sides (don't miss the bacon-green chile mac and cheese) and four biscuits runs $37, or you can order smaller combos and à la carte chicken. Hot wings (Buffalo or Korean) and Little Man ice cream pints are also available.

And we've discovered that other brand-new restaurants are quietly opening in vacant restaurant spaces. The Paramount Cafe location on the 16th Street Mall, which closed two years ago, finally has a new tenant: Local chain 3 Margaritas claimed the address and is now serving lunch, dinner and happy hour daily.

Here's our complete list of restaurant and bar openings and closings from August 31 to September 6, 2020:

Restaurants and Bars Opening This Week*
3 Margaritas (formerly Paramount Cafe), 519 16th Street
Crawling Crab II, 3215 South Wadsworth Boulevard, Lakewood
Hatched Fried Chicken (takeout and delivery,) 3501 South Broadway, Englewood
Illegal Pete's Park Hill, 2230 Oneida Street
Raising Cane's, 3609 Wadsworth Boulevard, Wheat Ridge

Restaurants and Bars Closing This Week*
Daz Bog, 501 West 12th Avenue

*Or earlier, and not previously reported.

Do you know of any openings or closings that aren't on our list? Let us know in the comments, or send an email to [email protected].