Drunk Driver Smashes Into Last El Señor Sol

The homegrown Mexican chain once had a handful of locations in metro Denver. This spot was the sole survivor.

January 29, 2024

This restaurant was not designed as a drive-thru. Patricia Calhoun

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El Señor Sol, a homegrown chain founded in the early 1990s by Felipe Duran, at one point had between a half-dozen and eight locations in the metro area (no one was ever quite sure), including an El Señor Sol in the old Zang Brewing Co. building by the Children's Museum. That one closed in 2017, though, and over the years the group dwindled to just one spot, at 6651 South University Boulevard in Centennial.

That location took a major hit early on January 27 when an SUV crashed into the eatery perched just to the side of South University, knocking down posts and plunging through windows and the front wall. The crash severed a gas line, and also earned the "highly intoxicated" driver a DUI charge, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department, which notes that the building is currently "uninhabitable."

Fortunately, the current owner does have a sibling restaurant nearby. While it doesn't have the Señor Sol name, it has the same menu. "Everything's the same," says Jose Padilla, who posted a sign on the outside of the South University spot suggesting that disappointed diners head to Camino Real, at 5935 South Zang Street in Littleton.

As for the last actual El Señor Sol, Padilla is looking at what it will take to get it back in business. "I don't know how long right now," he says.

Myrna Soltero Diaz would warn him not to be optimistic. In January 2023, just a week after she opened Chula, a car crashed into the side of her Mexican eatery at 3866 South Broadway in Englewood, an updated version of another homegrown Mexican chain, 4G's. The repairs took more than three months.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

Contact: Patricia Calhoun

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