Wu's Garden Closing After 25 Years in Littleton

For the past two and a half decades, Wu’s Garden has been serving American-style Chinese food to residents of Littleton and the south suburbs, but it will close its doors on August 24.

Chef Jin Yoong Wu opened Wu’s Garden after working in Denver’s restaurant industry for years; he wanted a place that he could call his own and share with his family. “I built this restaurant, everything you see,” Wu says. “Everything you see is brand-new. I put it in.”

His family restaurant survived the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic because it has always prioritized service for its customers, he says. “To run this kind of business, you have to give customers fresh, quality foods," he explains. "I’ve been working in this kitchen for the past 25 years. I’m the head chef, so everything goes through my hands. What I know and what we’ve always tried to do is provide the customer with quality food and friendly service. That’s how we survived. I built this restaurant and I was planning on staying here for the long term.”

But the landlord had other ideas.

“In 2023, we got a new landlord and [late last year] they asked me, ‘Can you move out?’ They never gave me a chance to negotiate the lease or anything,” Wu recalls. “We wanted to see if we could give up half of our dining space to go to the other space if that's what they wanted. They never even came here, they just want to kick me out.”

The current landlords of the strip mall where Wu's Garden is located took over in 2023 from Hawkeye Consolidated Columbine LCC, which sold the property for over $5 million. It's managed by Lafayette South Pierce Retail LLC; Wu says that management has not told him why it declined to renew his lease. South Pierce also declined to comment to Westword.
According to Wu, while his restaurant was making enough money to pay rent and stay in business, management grew more antagonistic over the past year. The HVAC system for the strip mall stopped cooling Wu’s Garden in recent months; when Wu asked for the unit to be fixed, he says the landlord claimed it was his responsibility — when the terms of the lease clearly state that maintenance of the HVAC system falls to the landlord.

"Even throughout COVID, I always paid my rent on time and have not broken any laws or our agreement," Wu notes. "With them not giving us any explanation, I'm left to wonder, 'What reason do they have to kick me out?' It could be racism."

The Wu’s Garden space is being taken over by Robert’s Italian Deli, a neighboring business that's also 25 years old. According to a statement posted by the owner on the deli's website, Robert's was not involved with the departure of Wu’s Garden. (That statement has since been taken down.)

Wu would like to reopen Wu's Garden in another spot — and he's been encouraged to do so by his loyal regulars, some of whom have been coming to his place for over twenty years — but he hasn't found one yet. “There have been a lot of customers who have been helping me to look for a new restaurant, but it’s not that easy to find a new location that's suitable,” Wu says. “To build a new restaurant from the ground up would cost up to $400,000. So that’s a big risk.”

For now, Wu's Garden is located at 6731 West Ken Caryl Avenue in Littleton, and open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily through Sunday, August 24. There will be a final send-off event August 31. Learn more here.