Dalton had experience creating something inviting. He was one of the co-founders of Michelin Guide Recommended Brasserie Brixton, a decidedly un-stuffy French eatery that opened in the Cole neighborhood in 2020, but Jacques would be "more traditional," he said. "We're leaning into small plates here. That's for the neighborhood — for people wanting to able to have a snack and a cocktail, then go across the street and do the same thing."
But now they'll have to do their thing somewhere else. "We had to close, unfortunately," Dalton says, adding that the owners are still working on a deal to reopen.
Meanwhile, Mary Nguyen seems to have worked out expansions. She's now opened her fourth Olive & Finch (there's also a Little Finch) in Denver, this one at the Denver Performing Arts Complex at 1000 14th Street. She "couldn’t be more excited to bring Olive & Finch to the heart of the city’s creative scene," Nguyen says on Instagram. "Whether you’re fueling up before a show or grabbing lunch downtown, we’ve got you covered."
Knotted Root has a new outpost, too. Founder Chris Marchio has come down from Nederland to open a tasting room dubbed Knotted Root Presents the Circular Lounge, a bar at 5126 East Colfax Avenue, in the former home of Bellwether, Horror Bar, Slashers and, most recently, Heartbreak Kid. Circular focuses on two beers, a light Amerian lager dubbed Oh'Kee and an American lager called Home. But Marchio says the new space will be more about enjoying those beers in a relaxed setting with good company than the beers themselves.
"Oftentimes, you go to a craft brewery, you do a tasting, and you sit there and you smell the beers and you talk about them. If you want to do that here, we're sure people are gonna do that and that's great," he told Gabe Toth. "But more important for us is to create an amazing environment — a fun, kind of dive-y, unique environment that is just a great place to hang out with your friends and grab a bite and drink beer, where the conversation is more about whatever random thing you're talking about, like what's on our custom, fifty-disc CD jukebox and some of the artwork and some of the celebrities who have visited our place. And talking more about that as opposed to the beer itself, where we want the beer to complement the experience."
It never really closed, but the Shark Tank-famous Yard Milkshake Bar location at 1600 California Street is celebrating a grand re-opening today, May 17, to mark the end of nearby construction; look for deals all day. “We never closed, but the construction made things tough for a while. Now that the dust has settled, we’re ready to welcome everyone back with a little extra sweetness,” says Chelsea Green, CMO of the Yard Milkshake Bar. “This event is our way of saying thank you to the community for sticking with us.”
And while Cart-Drive RiNo is closed for a few days for a little refresh after a decade in business, it will host a pop-up outside the eatery from 4 to 9 p.m. today and tomorrow. Hot Dog Cart will offer special dogs named after the chefs' own dogs.
In other openings and closings news:
- El Noa Noa usually closes for a winter break, but this time it's not coming back. Instead, El Chingon is taking over the space where the eatery has been for 45 years.
- Teahee, which just opened in the Far East Center, is not your typical boba shop.
- Hearth is opening a location in LoHi, where it got its start at the Highland Farmers Market. That annual event returns May 18.
Teahee is now pouring.
Gil Asakawa
Openings
Circular Lounge, 5126 East Colfax AvenueMantra Cafe, 1147 Broadway
Olive & Finch, 1000 14th Street
Teehee, 333 South Federal Boulevard
Temporary Closing
Cart-Driver RiNo, 2500 Larimer Street (for renovations, through May 18)
Closings
El Noa Noa, 722 Santa Fe Drive (El Chingon going into space)Jacques, 3200 Tejon Street
*or earlier, and not included in a previous list.
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