Every Opening and Closing This Week: Yardbird Flies the Coop in RiNo and More

Coming off a busy September that brought nearly thirty restaurant and bar openings, October is kicking off with a whole lot of food scene news, starting with a surprise closure.

When a sprawling outpost of the upscale national Yardbird chain opened in RiNo in 2023, it quickly became known for its pricey Southern eats — including $32 fried chicken and a $25 slice of chocolate cake. But turns out, Yardbird flew the Colorado coop last month.

Earlier this year, KDVR reported that a site development plan had been filed with the city, seeking to “take the existing Yardbird Restaurant and rebrand it as Rustic Denver with some minor modifications.” But a Yardbird employee who answered the phone on October 3 confirmed the closure and had no information about any potential rebrand or reopening. 50 Eggs Hospitality, the group behind the Yardbird brand, has not responded to a request for comment; however, Yardbird is now listed in the “previous concepts” section of its website.

There were six more closures this week. The list includes Big Apple Bodega, which shuttered its South Broadway brick-and-mortar but will continue to serve chopped cheese sandwiches and hot dogs at a local Home Depot.

Three chains shut down locations: The Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar in Broomfield, Colorado’s only By the Bucket in Greenwood Village and the DTC outpost of Qdoba — a surprise, since last month the Colorado-based fast-casual burrito chain announced plans to expand in the state.

Sushi Kuro has left Zeppelin Station, leaving us wondering what’s going on at the food hall (its managers have not replied to a request for comment). Josh Schmitz’s plans to bring dinos to the space and rebrand it as Clever Girl never came to fruition; today, it’s down to just one food stall, Uptown & Humboldt. In a video posted to Instagram, Sushi Kuro owner Taylor West said his spot was closing “due to a series of unfortunate events.” But there’s also good news for fans: “For now, our team is taking a little time to rest and reset, but don’t worry — we’ll be back this December with something exciting to share,” Sushi Kuro shared in another Instagram post. It’s also doing a sando pop-up at Migas Coffee from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 18.

October 4 marks the last day for Q House on East Colfax Avenue. We will especially miss its perfect wok-fried cheung fun. But there’s a bright spot on that block, since the former Middleman will soon reopen as the Lowbeam.

There are ten openings to report this week, though many of them are outside Denver city limits, including two new locations of Black Rock Coffee Bar — in Aurora and Westminster — with its tenth in Colorado coming to Northglenn next week.

In Castle Rock, the Brinkerhoff finally made its debut. It is owned by Mark Brinkerhoff’s Brinkerhoff Hospitality, which recently rebranded its two La Loma locations to Savina’s Mexican Kitchen.

Boulder is now home to the third location of Aspen chef Mawa McQueen’s Crepe Therapy Cafe. The Sportsbook Bar & Grill, a Nebraska alumni bar, has also added a third location, this one in Parker.

Lyons Locale is open in Lyons. Owned by Lisa Kaufmann, Jared Polis’s former chief of staff, and husband Ryan Wicker, it’s serving charcuterie paired with wine and cocktails. Leading the day-to-day operations is Amanda Engelhorn, who helped open Spirit Hound Distillers and ran its cocktail program for a decade.

New in Aurora is Society 303 Wine Bar on Colfax, while Sumac Street is serving halal Lebanese food on East Mississippi Avenue.

Chef and restaurateur Mary Nguyen has been focused on expanding her Olive & Finch brand, but this week, she added a second location of its sister brand, Little Finch, with a cafe on the CSU Spur campus in the National Western Center.

There’s a new taco spot in the Virginia Vale neighborhood, Tia’s Taqueria is now open in the shopping center that also includes Basil Doc’s Pizza and Detour Bakery.

In other openings and closings news:

• A Chinese food favorite in Aurora is back after a decade-long break.
• Santo Remedio is still waiting for its permit from the city so that it can open its new Jefferson Park location.
• A world champion pizza maker is bringing his fast casual chain to Colorado next week.
• Paperboy, a popular brunch spot with two locations in Austin, is coming to the West Highland neighborhood.

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

Openings

Black Rock Coffee Bar, 14455 East Arapahoe Road, Aurora, and 10611 Westminster Boulevard, Westminster
The Brinkerhoff, 6373 Promenade Parkway, Castle Rock
Crepe Therapy Cafe, 2273 31st Street, Boulder
Little Finch at CSU Spur, 4777 National Western Drive
Lyons Locale, 442 High Street, Lyons
Society 303 Wine Bar, 9600 East Colfax Avenue, Aurora
The Sportsbook Bar & Grill, 18951 Main Street, Parker
Sumac Street, 7950 East Mississippi Avenue
Tia’s Taqueria, 1495 S Holly Street

Closures

Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, 1 West Flatiron Crossing, Broomfield
Big Apple Bodega, 2231 South Broadway
By the Bucket, 5910 South University Boulevard, Greenwood Village
Sushi Kuro at Zeppelin Station, 3501 Wazee Street
Q House, 3421 East Colfax Avenue
Qdoba, 4955 South Ulster Street
Yardbird, 2743 Blake Street

*Or earlier and not previously reported.

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