Peyton Manning Plans a “Southern-Inspired but Colorado-Rooted” Restaurant

When Manning’s Steaks and Spirits opened in Littleton in December 2024, more than a few people got excited, thinking that former Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was bringing a new food venture to the metro area. 

That turned out not to be the case. But if a proposal made to Littleton City Council on April 14 by the Gastamo Group comes to pass (ahem), the Hall of Famer will lend his name, image, and promotional prowess to a mixed-use development that would include a 15,000 square-foot, full-service restaurant, among other amenities.

Dubbed “1st Street Farms,” the development would be built at the intersection of South Santa Fe Drive and Mineral Avenue. The Gastamo Group is partnering with Manning on the project and is seeking a public-private partnership with the City of Littleton as well. 

According to the group’s presentation, the restaurant will feature “Southern-inspired but Colorado-rooted” cuisine, namechecking Manning’s New Orleans and Tennessee roots. While still in the conceptual stage, the presentation called out dishes like shrimp and grits and oysters, along with “classic Americana dishes” (read: burgers?), that “balance comfort and tradition with the bounty of the Rockies, delivering food that feels both familiar and entirely new.”

In addition to the restaurant, the complex would include a 13,000 square-foot bar and wedding venue, a community park complete with a turf football field (naturally), and five acres of landscaped gardens and paths. The play is for the space to act as a venue for concerts, festivals, and farmers’ markets, along with other events hosted by community organizations. 

Gastamo Group is perhaps best known for the original Park Burger in Platt Park, as well as Homegrown Tap & Dough, Park & Co., Perdida, and Lady Nomada. It was founded by chef Jean-Philippe Failyau.

With a projected cost of $28 million for the development, the Gastamo Group is hoping the community benefits of the venue itself, as well as the capital improvements the development will make, are enough to get the city to help cover part of the bill. Without that, the project may not proceed. 

While Manning is an equity holder, his main purpose is as a promoter of the project, according to the presentation.

“This is not just a project with his name attached,” it notes. “It is a place inspired by his story — where his legacy of connection, inspiration, and community live on.”

If not the love of chicken parm that Manning displayed in his ads for Nationwide Insurance.