Larimer Street is hot -- but Chelo's has gone cold

Upper Larimer Street was busy Saturday morning -- as it is almost every Saturday these days. That wasn't the case twenty years ago; even as LoDo was starting to boom, this stretch was known as NoDough, and filled with pawn shops, empty storefronts, dive bars and hole-in-the-wall eateries. But today...

By Patricia Calhoun

December 30, 2013

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Upper Larimer Street was busy Saturday morning -- as it is almost every Saturday these days. That wasn't the case twenty years ago; even as LoDo was starting to boom, this stretch was known as NoDough, and filled with pawn shops, empty storefronts, dive bars and hole-in-the-wall eateries. But today it's one of the hottest restaurant areas in town -- which means any remaining hole-in-the-wall eateries are on the endangered list. And Chelo's, at 2012 Larimer, is now gone for good.

For years Chelo's and Johnnie's Market next door made the 2000 block of Larimer a must-stop destination for fans of real Mexican fare. But now Chelo's has closed, and a sign on the window advises fans of its tamales to head a block away, where La Popular is still in business.

For now.

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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.

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