Piccolo, a South Denver Staple for Fifty Years, Will Close April 30

The Canino family has been a part of Denver's dining scene for decades. Patriarch Clyde Canino Sr., who passed away last year, founded the family business more than fifty years ago; at one point, it included three locations of the Piccolo restaurant as well as Tico's Mexican, which Clyde's son Marty continues to run as a food-manufacturing commissary.

But on April 30, the last Piccolo, at 3563 South Monaco Parkway, which has long been run by Marty's brother Vince and serves Mexican and Italian fare, will shutter after five decades. "I'm sitting here trying to realize things are coming to an end," Marty says. "It was just time after COVID. Things have changed so much with mom-and-pops...

"And we're getting older," he admits.

"The restaurant industry as a whole has changed so much," Marty continues. "COVID did have a definite impact on the way things came back. They came back differently. People don't want to take the time to sit down and have a family meal."

And then there were the common post-pandemic challenges of inflation and staffing shortages. While Piccolo tried adapting with new options like counter service, "It just wasn't a fit for us. We wanted to do things the old way," Marty says, recalling the days when he and his family would get together with the owners of other longtime, now-gone staples like Bonnie Brae Tavern and the Saucy Noodle.

But he also sees positive changes in the works in the Southmoor Park area, where this last Piccolo is located. "It seems to be in a new growth period," Marty notes. "It's rejuvenating."

Along with being the site of countless mainstay meals for regulars as well as special occasions like wedding receptions, Piccolo was also the place where many area high-schoolers worked their first jobs. "A lot of the kids that worked for me are coming in; we've had a chance to see their success," Marty says. "The experience, the neighborhood, the area, and having all those kids work for us, including our own — it was just a blast. We learned as much from them as we taught them."

For now, Piccolo plans to be open for its regular hours through the end of the month; any updates will be posted to its Facebook page. The restaurant is not planning to take reservations; tables will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

In a statement announcing the news, the family shared this: "There doesn’t seem to be adequate words to sum up how we are feeling right now. If we tried, this statement would likely go on forever. So, for now, we will just say Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for being our support, our friends, our family."