Every opening and closing this week: Gennaro’s space gets new tenant

This week in openings features a newcomer in LoHi boasting an elevated Chinese menu (including, soon, tableside Peking duck service), and the triumphant return (and soon, expansion) of an Italian stable damaged earlier this year by fire. Closings, meanwhile, lead with a Cherry Creek veteran exiting the neighborhood, and a local burger joint closing up shop down south. 

Gennaro’s space gets new tenant, keeps same sign 
“Whatever we do next, that sign will stay on the building until I die.” So said Jon Cook, owner of the building where old-school Italian favorite Gennaro’s Bar and Lounge once held court on South Broadway, shortly after the restaurant closed for good. Today, the sign remains, and now the building over which it presides has a new tenant in the form of Santana’s Cantina. It’s not exactly an on-the-nose match in terms of concept (with tacos and wings replacing red sauce and pasta), so we’ll be interested to see how the surrounding neighborhood responds. 

Blossom by SYC levels up in LoHi
We’ve had our eye on this pending opening since it appeared on our Most anticipated restaurant openings in 2025. The high-end Chinese concept is bringing elevated dim sum and Sichuan shared plates to a space that’s previously housed El Chingon (now pending a return to The Source), as well as Central Bistro, Candela Latin Kitchen, and others. It’s also promising tableside Peking duck service in the near future, but is still waiting on the proper ovens to arrive. Once installed, you can bet we’ll be first in line! 

SYC Concepts and sister brand One Concept Restaurant Group have been on a tear of late, with Sushi by SYC, Go Fish Sushi, Miya Moon, Chubby Fish Sushi, and The Bronze all making a mark on the Denver dining scene, with others like Yuzu Izakaya, and SYC Omakase on the horizon.

Odyssey Italian Restaurant rises from the ashes
The team beyond Odyssey needed a little good luck, with a fire closing the Italian restaurant back in February and its sister concept Ollie & Park’s shutting down for repairs after a truck crashed through its front window. So in a two-birds-one-stone move, it’s nice to see Odyssey’s return this week, with plans to reopen and rename Ollie & Parks to Odyssey Uptown once that project is complete. 

SOL Mexican Cantina cuts out of Cherry Creek
Ten-year leases are common in the restaurant world. So when a spot that opened in 2016 announces its closure in 2026, it’s not too great a stretch to deduce that part of the decision revolves around a decision not to renew for another ten years. That seems to be the case here at SOL Mexican Cantina in Cherry Creek. Between rents going up and competition increasing from the likes of nearby Alteño and the pop-up Tequilería Alteño next door, the team behind the mostly mid-Baja-style Mexican concept just didn’t seem to have the legs for another run. 

Tap & Burger taps out in DTC
The mini burger chain from Culinary Creative Group has closed down its DTC location in Belleview Station. Its other locations in LoHi and Westminster remain open.

“It has truly been our privilege to be part of this community, and we are incredibly grateful for the memories we’ve shared over the years,” reads a sign on the door. 

No word yet on what might replace it, but there’s been a flurry of activity in the area of late. The elevated Mexican concept El Tule has made waves recently with its Oxacan-inspired menu, the Tifa ice cream shop just opened around the corner, and there’s a new Peking duck-based concept just down the street coming from the team behind Brian’s Dumplings that should open in the coming months. 

Here’s the complete list of restaurants and bars that opened or closed this week*:

Openings

• Angry Pizza, 8515 Park Meadows Center Drive, Lone Tree 
• Blossom by SYC, 1691 Central St. 
• Santana’s Cantina , 2598 S Broadway 
• Odyssey Italian Restaurant, 603 E 6th Ave. (reopened)
• Tifa Chocolate & Gelato, 4880 S. Newport St.

Closures

• SOL Mexican Cocina, 200 Columbine St.  
• Tap & Burger, 4910 S. Newport St.
• TBirds, 9701 W 44th Ave, Wheat Ridge 

*Or earlier and not previously reported.

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