Restaurant Roll Call: Every Opening and Closing in January

At the end of 2024, we took stock of the biggest food stories of the year, including the number-one hot topic: rising costs and the increased minimum wage. On January 1, the minimum wage rose again; in Denver, it's now $18.81 per hour for non-tipped employees and $15.79 for tipped, while the state's minimum wage is $14.81 per hour for non-tipped employees and $11.79 for tipped.

That's one major factor behind another trend that's taken hold since 2020: the 'burbs. More operators are choosing to open outside of Denver city limits for a variety of reasons, including lower labor costs. It happened last year, and it's continuing in 2025 — 9 of the 22 openings we reported in January are outside of Denver, including a massive new Westminster outpost of arcade bar 1up; the second location of Adelitas, this one in Edgewater; and Yu's Noodle Shop in Lone Tree.

The last week of the month brought Ca Phe, a Vietnamese coffee and banh mi shop, to Thornton, Meanwhile, downtown Denver's latest addition is Bombshells, the only Colorado location of a Hooters-like chain with eleven outposts in Texas; it's owned by strip-club company RCI Holdings. Cafe Miram, the small French Moroccan spot that's been a fixture near City Park since 2017, now has a space four times the size in a former Waffle Brothers in Uptown.

January also brought three  new options for pizza with the comeback of the PZA in a standalone brick-and-mortar on Santa Fe Drive; the grand opening of Mario's Speakeasy Pizza, which has taken over the entire former Pour House; and the debut of Leven Supply, an offshoot of Leven Deli.

Closures continue to be a big story, too. In January, we reported the loss of fifteen spots, including two that had landed on our recent list of the Top 100 Restaurants in the city: Alex Seidel's Fruition and Lucky Noodles (though the Thai favorite may still make a comeback in a new location).

After being closed by a tax seizure in December only to reopen days later, the doors are locked again at Wash Park Grille and its sibling next door, Agave Taco Bar. A sign on the door at Wash Park Grille says the closure is temporary.

The month ended with a trio of surprise permanent closures when the Minnesota-born chain Caribou Coffee pulled the plug on its last remaining standalone metro area outposts, though it does still have three locations at DIA.

Here's the complete list of restaurants and bars that opened and closed in January*:

Openings

The 1up, 4750 West 120th Avenue, Westminster
Adelitas Cocina y Cantina, 5495 West 20th Avenue, Edgewater
Alpaca Chasqui Charbroiled Chicken, 17200 East Iliff Avenue, Aurora
Anne’s Pie Cafe, 5640 West 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge
Bad Ass Coffee, 1735 Chestnut Place
Bar Amorina, 233 Clayton Street
Bamboo Sushi Congress Park, 1160 Madison Street
Bombshells, 1400 Arapahoe Street
Ca Phe, 3911 East 120th Avenue, Thornton
Café Miriam, 1707 Lafayette Street
Coffee Sarap, 3460 Larimer Street
Finch, on the Fly, Denver International Airport, Concourse A
Great Divide Brewery & Roadhouse, 7260 West Alaska Drive, Lakewood
Gyros Town, 1399 West Littleton Boulevard, Littleton
Latchkey Denver, 1308 East 17th Avenue
Leven Supply, 300 East Alameda Avenue
Mario's Speakeasy Pizza, 1410 Market Street
Odie B's, 1350 40th Street
Panda Coffee House inside FlyteCo Tower, 3120 Uinta Street
The Peach Cobbler Factory, 8286 Northfield Boulevard
Power Cone, 8295 Ralston Road, Arvada
The PZA, 644 Santa Fe Drive
Yu's Noodle Shop, 996 Commons Street, Lone Tree

Temporary Closures

Agave Taco Bar, 2217 East Mississippi Avenue
Avanti Denver's first floor, 3200 Pecos Street (reopening March)
Mercantile Dining & Provisions, 1701 Wynkoop Street (reopening early 2025)
Wash Park Grille, 1096 South Gaylord Street

Closures

Bad Habits, 3014 East Colfax Avenue
Caribou Coffee

• 2721 West 120th Avenue, Westminster
• 10611 Westminster Boulevard, Westminster
• 1400 E Hampden Ave, Englewood

Crazy Horse, 1201 East Colfax Avenue
Farow, 7916 Niwot Road, Niwot
Federal Coffee, 2307 Federal Boulevard
Fruition, 1313 East Sixth Avenue
Incantation Brewing, 4233 South Buckley Road, Aurora
Incantation Beer and Coffee, 415 South Cherokee Street
Johnson's Corner Restaurant, 2842 Southeast Frontage Road, Johnstown
Lucky Noodles, 1201 East Colfax Avenue
Melita's Greek Cafe & Market, 1035 Lincoln Street
Pierogies Factory, 7961 South Broadway, Littleton
Sauce on the Rocks, 5869 South Alkire Street, Littleton
YumCha, 1520 16th Street Mall

*Or earlier and not previously reported.

Know of something we missed? Email [email protected].