El Chingon Closed Over Unpaid Taxes

According to a notice on the door, El Chingon owner Lorenzo Nunez Jr. owes nearly $44,000 in unpaid taxes. Molly Martin

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The doors are locked at one of the restaurants on our top 100 list, and letters from the Colorado Department of Revenue taped to the door note that the business owes a total of $43,934.02 in unpaid taxes dating back to February 2023.

El Chingon got its start in 2010, when the late Gloria Nunez, her son, Lorenzo Nunez Jr., and her grandson, chef David Lopez, opened the first iteration of the Mexican eatery in a strip mall in Arvada before moving the business into a small space in Berkeley.

By October 2021, the family decided that El Chingon had outgrown the Tennyson Street building it had called home for eight years, so it closed with plans to move to LoHi.

The process took longer than expected, though, and El Chingon didn't open the doors at 1691 Central Street until January 2023. During its run there, it attracted some notable names, including Nuggets player Christian Braun, reality star James Kennedy from Vanderpump Rules and Broncos players Kendall Hinton and Montrell Washington.

click to enlarge

El Chingon moved to LoHi in 2023.

Molly Martin

But no one has been able to dine there since a seizure notice was placed on the door. On May 21, the restaurant posted an Instagram story noting that it would be closed for the night.

El Chingon is the fourth restaurant to operate at that address in less than ten years. The space was previously home to Central Bistro, Candela Latin Kitchen and Northside Eatery + Market.

The restaurant has not replied to a request for comment, but we're hoping this longtime family-owned business can find a way to make yet another comeback.