Restaurant Roll Call: Every opening and closing in May

April showers may bring May flowers, but the past month also saw a lot of new restaurants popping up, making serious upgrades to the Denver dining scene. For those keeping score, we reported on 30 new openings, including four that were on our Nine Most-Anticipated Spring Restaurant Openings list. 

Among the highlights was the debut of Johnny Curiel’s Milpero, the final name for the Michelin-favorite chef’s first tasting-menu concept. We’ve already started the countdown for when Curiel’s latest collects its first two-star award.

Also making a big splash was the long-awaited return of chef Theo Adley (of Marigold fame in Lyons) with Heretik, bringing a boisterous Basque-style wine-and-dine experience to RiNo. Come for the rotisserie chicken, but stay for the cheesecake. 

Rounding out the hit list were Madeline, which took over the former Fruition space on Sixth Avenue (don’t miss the tom yum toast), and Odd Rabbit in Boulder. But we also have to give a special shout-out to Monarch, the pizza-and-chicken concept from Somebody People executive chef Justin Freeman, which has settled into a permanent home at Urban Cowboy Public House after years of pop-up events. 

Sadly, the scene also saw closings over the last month, although there were twice as many openings. Lucile’s Creole Cafe shut its Littleton outpost shortly before it was squeezed out by its landlord, DISH Network. Both Noodles Express and Osaka Sushi had to flee the soon-to-demolished Belcaro Shopping Center. And Reckless Noodle House surprised everyone by shutting down with no warning. 

Perhaps less of a surprise was that another Colfax restaurant closed its doors. The owners of The W, which ended operations over Memorial Day weekend, were so fed up with the construction effort that they considered the closure a lucky break. 

“We were fortunate to have an opportunity to leave, as our lease was ending,” co-owner Carrie Wigglesworth told Westword. “We were relatively new and unestablished, and we had the chance to exit the chaos cleanly, as it isn’t getting any better. Others are not as fortunate.”

Like many Denver restaurants, The W was already under pressure from increasing costs like rent, wages, food costs and insurance. But Wigglesworth said the added stress of the Colfax construction project proved just too much to bear. 

“Some of the restaurant owners still on Colfax … struggle against the barricades and barrels, and they still have leases to satisfy. Bury those same businesses behind years of construction that drive away pedestrian and vehicular traffic while they have to satisfy 10-year leases, and it’s a recipe for failure.”

Here’s the complete list of restaurants and bars that opened and closed in May*:

Openings

17 Szechuan Taste, 6600 W. 120th Ave., Broomfield
Bar Tropical, 7939 E. Arapahoe Road, Greenwood Village
Blind Tiger at Jack’s Modern Steakhouse, 9155 Park Meadows Dr., Lone Tree
Convict Coffee, 1135 E. Evans Ave.
Champagne Tiger’s Country Club, 601 E. Colfax Ave.
Crepe Therapy, 1295 University Ave.
CV Proper Kitchen, 2355 Mercantile St., Castle Rock
Dry Dock Pub, 1101 S. Pearl St. 
East & Co., 2100 Central Ave., Boulder
Encanto Taqueria y Cantina, 10155 E. 29th Dr.
The Flaming Grill, 891 14th St.
Fusion by Tino’s, 1519 Wynkoop St.
Hell or High Water, 3542 Walnut St.
Heretík, 1441 26th St.
Hip Hop Ice Cream, 4430 West 29th Ave.
Madeline, 1313 E. Sixth Ave.
Milpero, 3455 Ringsby Ct.
Mendocino Farms, 1380 16th St.
Monarch at Urban Cowboy, 1665 Grant St.
Mujka, 3900 Elati St.
Odd Rabbit, 5863 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder
Pattern Break Brewing, 3550 Frontier Ave., Boulder
Petunia Bakery, 4055 Inca St.
El Pollo Loco, 6441 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood
Reunion Bread, 1250 S. Pearl St.
Riot BBQ, 5607 US-85, Sedalia
Roll It Up Sushi, 5505 W. 20th Ave.
Spitz Mediterranean Street Food, 2615 Walnut St.
Starbird Chicken, 6360 Promenade Pkwy, Castle Rock
Taco Bell Cantina, Concourse A, Gate 49, Denver International Airport
Tonic Zero Proof Bar, 5767 South Rapp St., Littleton
Two Lazy Dogs, 1531 Champa St.
Ugly Rice Korean Street Food, 8450 E. Iliff Ave.

Closings

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii, 2990 Speer Blvd.
Baere Brewing, 320 Broadway
Colorado Plus, 6995 W. 38th Ave., Wheat Ridge 
Le Creperie d’Audrey, 2501 Dallas St, Aurora
Hinman Pie, 3600 E. 40th Ave. 
Lucile’s Creole Cafe, 2852 W. Bowles Ave., Littleton
Noodles Express, 703 S. Colorado Blvd 
Osaka Sushi, 3940 E. Exposition Ave.
PrimoHoagies (multiple locations)
Reckless Noodle House, 800 Sherman St.
Underground School of Magic at Church & Union, 1433 17th St. #150
Under the Umbrella Cafe and Bakery, 3507 E. 12th Ave.
The W, 5001 E. Colfax Ave.  
Yolee J Filipino & Thai, 830 S. Buckley Rd., Aurora 

Temporarily Closed

Ollie & Park’s, 1210 E. 17th Ave.  (because of a vehicle crash)
Parisi, 4401 Tennyson St. (because of a fire)

*Or earlier and not previously reported.

Know of something we missed? Email editorial@westword.com.