Other popular teams will be opening more casual spots soon. Pho King Rapidos is about to debut a new concept in the Edgewater Public Market and YumCha, which is now going strong in Central Park, will return to downtown with a space in Milk Market.
Keep reading for ten new places we're excited to try this summer, in alphabetical order:
Blossom by SYC
1691 Central Street
Projected opening: Summer
LoHi is a hot neighborhood for restaurants, but one space has seen a lot of turnover: 1691 Central Street. Most recently home to El Chingon, which left this spot last year and is now open in the former home of El Noa Noa (as well as Denver International Airport), since 2012 this address has also been home to Central Bistro, Candela Latin Kitchen and Northside Eatery + Market. Will high-end Chinese cuisine be a hit in the neighborhood? That's what Shuang Crossland is hoping. The chef has operated restaurants under the One Concept Restaurant Group brand in Denver for nearly two decades. Blossom by SYC will be part of Crossland's new, more upscale SYC Concepts sister brand; the spot is expected to have striking decor and a full bar.
Boombots Pasta Shop
2647 West 38th Avenue
Projected opening: Summer
The husband-and-wife team of Cliff and Cara Blauvelt is keeping busy. The Blauvelts launched their first solo venture, the rowdy Sunnyside sandwich shop dubbed Bodega, in 2022. The restaurant, which serves craveable sandwiches and more for breakfast and lunch, quickly gained a lot of fans — and the attention of a Kansas City restaurant called La Bodega Tapas & Lounge, which, it turns out, has had a trademark on "bodega" for 25 years. So last July, the Blauvelts rebranded that spot as Odie B's — in the midst of working to open a second location in the Novel RiNo building. They're now in the final stages of developing a brand-new concept, Boombots Pasta Shop, which will be located in the space next door to the original Odie B's. The name is "old-school Italian slang for 'idiots' — which seems fitting for what we're doing," Blauvelt jokes. "Pasta is across all cultures, and nothing is off the table."
Emilia and Restaurant Olivia co-owners (left to right) Austin Carson, chef Ty Leon and Heather Morrison.
Courtesy of Emilia Restaurant
3615 Delgany Street
Projected opening: Summer
The owners of Olivia, one of the best Italian restaurants in the city, will soon open another Italian eatery. Emilia will be located on the first floor of the Current office building in RiNo, and will combine inspiration from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy with an emphasis on local sourcing to create what co-owner Ty Leon describes as "Italian-Colorado cuisine." Think mortadella made with Colorado bison rather than pork, or prosciutto using trout rather than ham flown in from Parma. Count us in.
Johnny Bechamel's
Washington Park
Projected opening: Summer
It's been almost ten years since chefs Spencer White and Alex Figura, along with co-owner Lulu Clair, debuted their fast-casual pasta joint Dio Mio. Since then, it's remained a favorite in an ever-shifting RiNo. In 2022, the team doubled down on its presence in the neighborhood with the addition of Redeemer Pizza. Earlier this year, it made a quick detour to Urban Cowboy in Uptown, where it opened Little Johnny B's — replacing Roberta's, the initial offering in the Public House of the hip boutique hotel. The name was a nod to the "boss of sauce" that the group was already planning to bring to Wash Park: Johnny Bechamel's, which will put that sauce on both pizza and pasta.
Leven Downtown
675 15th Street
Projected opening: Summer
In 2018, industry vet and sommelier Anthony Lygizos opened Leven Deli in the Golden Triangle neighborhood. The daytime spot has become a go-to for breakfast burritos, pastrami sandwiches and glasses of wine during happy hour. At the start of the year, Leven Supply opened near Wash Park; the counter-service restaurant, market and gift shop serves grab-and-go-style meals, as well as a curated selection of high-end grocery goods and approachable wines. Later this year, Leven will add a second deli location in the Central Business District, on the ground level of the Block 162 building. The downtown outpost of Leven will offer an expanded menu that includes dinner service; it will also be outfitted with a full bar, an open kitchen and fully grown live trees inside the space.
Malinche Audiobar
1541 Platte Street
Projected opening: Summer
La Diabla owner Jose Avila has been busy working on several new projects. First up: Malinche Audiobar in LoHi, which will be a mezcal-focused bar with charcoal-grilled eats. It will also be the only spot where you can try Avila's own mezcal, straight from Oaxaca, which you can sip while listening to his personal collection of vintage Mexican records. He's also working on his own food hall next door to La Diabla, where several stalls will serve everything from handmade tortillas and baracoa to seafood and churros, as well as a restaurant near Union Station; both of those are expected to open by the end of the year.
Risica
3463 Walnut Street
Projected opening: Summer
Andrea Frizzi operated Italian restaurant Il Posto in an intimate space in Uptown for a decade before it moved to RiNo in 2017; last year, he shuttered Il Posto after a seven-year run in that neighborhood. Later this year, though, he'll be back with a brand-new venture inside the Edit building in RiNo. "Risica comes from the phrase 'chi non risica non rosica,' meaning if you don't take a risk, you will regret it," the chef explains. The restaurant will be an "energetic" Milano-style pizzeria with charcuterie, oysters and small plates such as classic carpaccio, crudo, patate pasticciate, crostini, arancini, stuffed calamari, burrata made in-house and "a very spirited bar," Frizzi says, with plenty of wines by the glass and simple cocktails priced at $12 or under, with a focus on Aperol spritzes.
Saigon Noodle Club by PKR
Edgewater Public Market, 5505 West 20th Avenue, Edgewater
Projected opening: Early Summer
Someday, husband-and-wife team Long Nguyen and Shauna Seaman hope to have their own brick-and-mortar for Pho King Rapidos, where they'll serve the Vietnamese comfort food they first started cooking out of a trailer during the pandemic. But for now — after a stint at Avanti and then shared space in Park Hill — they'll be satisfied with a new food stall at the Edgewater Public Market. This spot will have a different name: Saigon Noodle Club by PKR. “We aren’t going to serve the same menu we did at Avanti or the food truck," explains Nguyen, "so the name change, the evolution, would help with that.” Expect unique takes on traditional Vietnamese noodle bowls with grilled meats, rice noodles, herbs and pickled vegetables. But also expect stir-fried noodles, Italian-pasta fusion, and longtime favorites like the wings with sticky icky sauce.
SYC Temaki
1573 South Colorado Boulevard
Projected opening: Summer
Sherry Crossland is a name Denver diners should get used to hearing. Her One Concept Restaurant group, which started with Go Fish Sushi, now has many concepts, including the newest additions, Miya Moon in Lone Tree and Mikaku Ramen & Temaki in Aurora. And soon, Crossland will debut the first concept under her more upscale brand, SYC (her initials). While we're still excited for SYC Blossom, which is coming to the LoHi space that was most recently El Chingon, SYC Temaki will open soon; it's currently advertising for a lead chef. Located in the same shopping plaza as another One Concept eatery, the Bronze Empire, the counter-only spot will serve freshly prepared handrolls. Also in the works: SYC Omakase in Cherry Creek North and Sushi By SYC in Broomfield.
YumCha
Milk Market, 1800 Wazee Street
Projected opening: Early Summer
While Lon Symensma's flagship ChoLon remains a bright spot downtown, last fall he turned the ChoLon in Central Park into a YumCha Dumpling & Noodle bar, a concept he'd debuted on 16th Street when it was still the Mall. While that YumCha is booming — it just added a beer garden — Symensma closed the 16th Street location at the start of the year. But soon YumCha will be back downtown, this time in a streamlined new spot in Milk Market, where diners will be able to taste the chef's homemade cheese crisp as well as a Reuben spring roll.
What spots are you anticipating? Send info to [email protected].
