It was a busy summer for the Byington brothers, founders of Queen City Collective Coffee. Eric, Luke and Scott Byington added two more locations to their repertoire: a partnership inside the new Mission Ballroom and a second brick-and-mortar location at 2962 Welton Street, in the former Purple Door Coffee.
The brothers opened the original Queen City cafe inside Novel Strand Brewing Company in the Baker neighborhood in June 2018, where they earned our 2019 Best New Roaster award. When Purple Door owner Mark Smesrud decided to shutter the retail side of his operation in May, he contacted the Byingtons to take over the address. They've spent the summer renovating the spot to make it their own.
"It's a Queen City," says middle brother Scott. "Not that we don't enjoy being in a shared space in Baker, but we are pumped to have our own space, to give our own spin and look and feel."
Part of the project involved knocking down a wall to open up the already bright, window-lined interior, and the brothers also refinished the wood floors and painted the space, adding their logo to one wall and graffiti by Denver artist Christian Millet in the bathroom. They removed the actual purple door that was once the front entrance and gave it to Smesrud, replacing it with a glass door with the Queen City logo. That door opened to the neighborhood on September 27.
"We love being over in the Five Points neighborhood," Scott notes. "It's similar to Baker in that it's a cool, historic neighborhood with culture."
Although the core coffee menu of drinks made with a variety of house-roasted beans is the same at both locations, there's an expanded food menu at the new Queen City that includes sandwiches and toasts. "We partnered with our neighbor, Goed Zuur, to develop three different high-end, artisanal sandwiches for us," Scott explains. The beer bar's executive chef, Anthony Lopiccolo, created three unique items, including the opening menu's turkey-Brie and Mediterranean veggie sandwiches, that will change seasonally, as will the two different toast options. Bread and pastries from Rebel Bread complete the food slate.
Meanwhile at the Mission Ballroom, Queen City's lobby bar opens during events; concert-goers can purchase cold-brew coffee and coffee-based mocktails. A selection of these zero-proof drinks are also available at the Five Points cafe.
Queen City Five Points is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Call 303-728-9209 or visit the Queen City website for more details.