Four Friends Kitchen to Double Down With New South University Location

When Four Friends Kitchen opened in Stapleton two years ago, the ownership group wasn't quite sure what to expect from the neighborhood. But nearby residents responded quickly and enthusiastically to the restaurant's Southern-inspired breakfast and lunch menu, turning the place into a perpetually busy destination. Using that success as a springboard, Four Friends will add a second location later this summer at 2070 South University Boulevard, just north of East Evans Avenue.

The new Four Friends will take over where Redford's Tavern recently closed. "We had been scouting around the whole city for a while," co-owner Tim Thornton says. He and his business partners, Kurt and Sarah Pletcher and Genefer Thornton, liked the space because of its proximity to the University of Denver, established residential neighborhoods and a number of new apartment buildings, he adds.
The distance between the first and second locations also means a whole new set of customers to win over. "It's basically going to be the same concept and menu as our Stapleton location," Thornton notes, so newcomers can expect slow-cooked grits in five variations, eggs Benedict built on fried green tomatoes, and Southwestern influences and healthy dishes to bolster the Southern options. After some initial shuffles in the kitchen, Four Friends now has chef Treis Rainey overseeing the menu.

Four Friends serves breakfast and lunch from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily in Stapleton; Thornton says customers can expect the same at the new spot, "plus or minus a half hour on either end."