Eight Most Anticipated Denver Restaurant Openings This Winter

Baby, it’s…not been very cold outside. All the better for getting out and about to try the standout new restaurants that opened this year or explore our new Top 50 Bars list. While it’s fun to look back at the highlights of 2025, though, we’re also hungry for what’s to come from the most anticipated restaurants (and one brewery) expected to open this winter.

While winter doesn’t officially kick off until Sunday, December 21, here are the spots we’re most excited to check out in the coming weeks:

Dear Emilia
3615 Delgany Street
Projected opening: January 29
One year ago, we announced that the owners of Olivia were planning to add a second restaurant inspired by the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Now, we know when Dear Emilia is scheduled to open — and we recently got a taste of what the team has been cooking. The menu will pay homage to dishes and ingredients that the region is famous for, like mortadella, Parmigiano Reggiano, tortellini and bolognese, while utilizing local ingredients — “Italian-Colorado” cuisine, if you will. Our favorites from the preview dinner were the prevalence of Lambrusco (the Italian sparkling red wine that’s a favorite in Emilia-Romagna) and the anolini, a circular stuffed pasta filled with slow-cooked local beef cheek, topped with an ultra-decadent Parmesan cream sauce.

Cafe Tres
2960 Champa Street
Projected opening: January 8
Michael Solis learned how to make Cuban pastelitos and croquetas at his family’s multi-generational bakery in Miami. In 2023, the third-generation Cuban American launched Café Tres, which he’d started by selling pastries at friends’ parties and through direct ordering on Instagram the year before, when he started selling at the City Park Farmers’ Market. Now, he’s getting ready to open a brick-and-mortar bakery in the former home of Rivers and Roads in Curtis Park. This weekend, it’s hosting a final soft opening ahead of its official debut next month. Stop by on Saturday, December 20, and Sunday, December 21, from 8 a.m. to sell out for a taste.

Casa Juani
901 Pearl Street, Boulder
Projected opening: February
Chefs Eduardo Valle Lobo and his wife, Kelly Jeun, are both alums of Frasca and now, they’re opening a spot all their own. Casa Juani is named for Lobo’s mother and will celebrate his Spanish heritage. The space will include a marisquería, where the chefs will prepare raw dishes in front of guests, as well as a twelve-seat chef’s table that will serve a tasting menu. We’re not the only ones excited for this opening: It was recently named one of the most anticipated winter openings in the country by Bon Appétit.

Heretík
1441 26th Street
Projected opening: Winter
Chef Theo Adley, owner of Marigold in Lyons, is a familiar name on the Denver scene as the former executive chef of the defunct and still-missed RiNo restaurant The Populist. He’ll soon be cooking in the Mile High City once again when he opens Heretík, a concept inspired by northeast Spain and southern France where the stars will be rotisserie chicken, small plates focused on seafood and other poultry such as guinea fowl, squab, duck and quail, and a raw bar.

Mar Bella Boqueria
233 Clayton Street
Projected opening: January
All four of the restaurants that Johnny and Kasie Curiel have opened in the metro area since the debut of Alma Fonda Fina in December 2023 have been recognized by Michelin, and in early 2026, they’re adding a fifth to the lineup — though Mar Bella Boqueria will be a change for the culinary couple. Located in the Clayton Hotel & Members Club in Cherry Creek, where the Curiels already operate Alteño, this new concept will reflect their deep reverence for Spain, a departure from their focus on Mexican fare at their other spots. The Spanish neo-bistro and wine bar will also include a twelve-seat chef’s counter, marking the Curiels’ first foray into an omakase-style experience. Those who snag the coveted seats will also be able to order a special item: the two crispy lechon heads that will only be available for chef’s counter guests on a first-come come first-served basis.

The couple isn’t stopping their growth anytime soon. In addition to a new venture in Charleston, South Carolina, the Curiels also just announced plans to open their first tasting menu-only concept, Maize, in RiNo this spring.

Risica
3463 Walnut Street
Projected opening: Early 2026
Chef Andrea Frizzi previously operated Italian favorite Il Posto, which shuttered in 2024 after a seventeen-year run. That November, he announced plans to make a comeback, with a new Italian concept, Risica: a Milanese pizzeria and wine bar set to debut inside the Edit building in RiNo. The opening plans have been pushed back several times already, but construction is underway — and Frizzi is keeping his cooking skills sharp by offering a sneak peek via catering services. That menu includes options such as six-hour braised short ribs, seared pancetta scallops and eggplant ricotta involtini

Uchiko
299 Fillmore Street
Projected opening: Early 2026
It was way back in May 2022 when the parent company of Uchi, Hai Hospitality, announced that it was bringing that restaurant’s sister concept, Uchiko, to Cherry Creek North. As the months, and now years, have passed, we’ve wondered if those plans would ever come to fruition. But now, the company says that the eatery will indeed open early next year in the former Ginny Williams Gallery space, where it plans to host rotating art installations as a nod to the late art collector and philanthropist. On the menu, expect Japanese flavors imbued with smoke and char. If the quality is on par with that of Uchi, which has consistently impressed since opening a location in RiNo in 2018, this spot is sure to draw crowds.

ZoiglBräu
15120 East Hampden Avenue, Aurora
Projected opening: Late February/early March
Dry Dock, which merged into Left Hand this year, will close its Aurora taproom in January after a twenty-year run (it’s looking for a new location). But the space won’t be empty for long. Industry vets Janelle and Ty Nash plan to open their first venture together, a new German-inspired brewery, in the space as soon as the end of February. The name, ZoiglBräu, comes from the German Zoigl beer culture, and the early beer lineup will include a Pilsner, Hefeweizen and Altbier. While the craft-beer industry is facing challenges and changes, new ventures like this are keeping the scene fresh and interesting.