Joe Gennaro opened Gennaro's Bar and Lounge on South Broadway in 1951 and his son, Leonard, ran the joint for decades — until 2008, when he sold it to Jon Cook, who owns many other properties up and down the strip.
The Gennaro's legacy continued after that under Tonya Tiscanni, who oversaw the place and served her family's recipes there for fifteen years — until January 2024, when it shut down temporarily "due to the owner's health," according to an update on its Facebook page.
A group of Tiscanni's friends, including Karla Kanh, came together to help reopen the place, bringing it back with a new menu last May. But its revival was short-lived and the doors are locked again. "If it does reopen, it's not gonna be us again," says Kahn.
Cook, who still owns the building, confirms that news. "We have several deals working," he says, but it's not certain who might take over the space or what it may become.
One thing, however, is non-negotiable. "The Gennaro's sign that has been on there since the '50s will not be leaving the building," Cook assures us. "That's a promise made to Leonard when I bought the building from him. Whatever we do next, that sign will stay on the building until I die."
There are three other closures to report this week. Wash Park Grille and its sister restaurant across the street, Agave Taco Bar, will not reopen after being seized for unpaid taxes in January. The Wash Park Grille property is currently listed for sale for $6.5 million amid an ongoing lawsuit between owner Jeff Estey and the estate of his late business partner, Greg Sauber.
The 16th Street Mall has lost another restaurant ahead of the planned celebration of its reopening: This past week, Colorado's last remaining Mellow Mushroomclosed at 16th and Lawrence.
This week's four openings include two coffee shops. Drive-thru coffee chain 7 Brew opened its first metro area location in Aurora, while Mango Tree, which debuted its first cafe in Englewood in 2021, added an outpost in Littleton.
The owners of Michelin-starred Alma Fonda Fina opened their fourth new restaurant in less than eighteen months. Alteño, inspired by chef Johnny Curiel's father, is now serving inside the Clayton Hotel in Cherry Creek, and we got a first look at the team's biggest restaurant yet.
Bryan Dayton's Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality, which includes Oak at Fourteenth, Bellota and Corrida, opened a new C Burger in Boulder. The concept, which first debuted in DTC, uses 100 percent locally sourced, regeneratively raised organic beef from Dayton's Colorado Cattle Company for its patties.
In other openings and closings news:
- Check out what's on the menu at Avanti's three new food stalls.
- Nana's Dim Sum & Dumplings has plans for more new locations this year.
- Bear Leek is set to open in the former Osaka Ramen this summer.
- Get a first look at the new Littleton Brewing Company.
Openings
7 Brew, 13792 East Mississippi Avenue, AuroraAlteño, 249 Clayton Street
C Burger, 921 Pearl Street, Boulder
Mango Tree Coffee, 5624 South Prince Street, Littleton
Closures
Agave Taco Bar, 2217 East Mississippi AvenueGennaro's Bar and Lounge, 2598 South Broadway
Mellow Mushroom, 1201 16th Street
Wash Park Grille, 1096 South Gaylord Street
*Or earlier and not previously reported.
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