The original Chop Shop shuttered after a decade on East Colfax Avenue when its landlord raised the rent, but owner Clint Wangsnes is hopeful that the move will give a boost to delivery business at its nearby Lowry location. It also plans to open an outpost in Broomfield soon.
Two new barbecue joints just debuted. Rolling Smoke BBQ, which Oklahoman Terry Walsh launched as a food truck in 2014 before adding locations inside Stanley Marketplace and in Centennial, now has a third outpost in Wheat Ridge. Over at McGregor Square's Milepost Zero food hall, Adobo owner Blaine Baggao has launched Gayle's Texas BBQ.
There's also a pair of new ice cream shops. Little Man debuted its ninth location in Greenwood Village, with a tenth slated to open in downtown Littleton this July, while Scoops opened its new Park Hill shop after moving out of its longtime Whittier home earlier this year.
The Denver Health building on Broadway, which is home to the Best Unexpected Persian Food at Urban Cafe & Restaurant, also now has a poke concept. This is the second location of Aloha Cones, which operates its original outpost in Honolulu.
Chuey Fu's, a Latin-Asian concept known for its pho burrito, opened a second brick-and-mortar on East Colfax. Further east on the street is a new Mexican eatery, Sarahi's Kitchen, as well as Dân Dã. This venture from An Nguyen, the former owner of Savory Vietnam, pays homage to the dishes people came to love there as well as at her parents' longtime eatery, New Saigon. It is located next door to her sister Thoa's bakery and cafe, Banh & Butter.
After closing its Colfax taproom at the end of February, Lady Justice Brewing is now pouring at its new digs in Englewood, in the former Sunroom Brewing space.
While golf bars have been a big trend for a while, bocce ball is the draw at LOB (“Love of Bocce"), a Toronto-born concept that has opened a location in LoDo. It's outfitted with a nine-hole mini-golf-style bocce ball course, plus a full bar and restaurant serving backyard barbecue-inspired foods such as smoked wings, burgers and pulled-pork sandwiches as well as a Canadian staple that can be found at a few other Denver eateries, poutine.
The Olive Tiger, a hair salon and barbershop with a full cocktail bar and lounge, is now open in the Highland neighborhood.
Town Hall Collaborative has introduced a number of changes recently, including the addition of coffee shop Queen City and Other Dog, a vegan hot dog cart from the owners of the Easy Vegan.
RiNo's newest music venue, Two Moons Music Hall, also debuted this week. The project is part of Jake Soffes's Pearl Street Hospitality group, which includes Hudson Hill, Lady Jane and the Wild.
In other openings-and-closings news:
- Milieu Fermentation is set to open on May 4 in Aurora.
- Longmont's first food hall, which announced eight of its nine food vendors, will debut Memorial Day weekend.
- The team behind Rooted Craft American Kitchen will open Eat'Ya Pizza on the 16th Street Mall next month.
- Restaurant Olivia will add a new Italian concept, Emilia, in RiNo next year.
Openings
Aloha Cones, 601 BroadwayChuey Fu's, 2205 East Colfax Avenue
Dân Dã, 9945 East Colfax Avenue
Gayle's Texas BBQ at Milepost Zero, 1601 19th Street
Lady Justice Brewing, 3242 South Acoma Street, Englewood
Little Man, 4940 South Yosemite Street, Greenwood Village
LOB, 1755 Blake Street
The Olive Tiger, 1701 Platte Street
Other Dog at Town Hall Collaborative, 525 Santa Fe Drive
Rolling Smoke BBQ, 7100 West 38th Avenue, Wheat Ridge
Sarahi's Kitchen, 8135 East Colfax Avenue
Scoops, 2247 Kearney Street
Two Moons Music Hall, 2944 Larimer Street
Closures
Chop Shop, 4990 East Colfax Avenue*Or earlier and not previously reported.
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