And there's been plenty of action in 2009. For starters, we lost Ha Noi Pho, the restaurant at 1036 South Federal Boulevard that served great Vietnamese breakfasts and was also the site of a dramatic police shootout in the fall of 2007. But the address didn't lose a day of business: The new owners stepped right in, changing the name to Can Tho Pho and keeping much of the menu. Also changing hands, but not names, was the Mozart Lounge, at 1417 Krameria Street; changing names but not hands was 5280 Steak House (the spot at 1480 Arapahoe Street that was Gallagher's until last fall); it's now Hickory Prime Steak House, and its sibling next door, at 1040 15th Street, also has a new name: Le Chateau, a switch from La Fondue.
Restaurants/watering that have closed for good in 2009, roughly in the order that they disappeared: The Continental Club (right after last call on January 1), Cebiche (it's rumored to be moving, but no new location has been announced), the Recovery Room, Cafe Etoile, Maxwell's, Pizzeria Mundo, the downtown Pulcinella, Macaroni Grill in Cherry Creek, Aix (the space will reopen under new owners as Olivea in May), Blackberries Bar & Grill (that spot at 3090 Downing Street once held the Kiva, which it may return to), the Buenos Aires Grill and Redfish Brewhouse in Boulder (the space is now the Boulder Drafthouse). And while their owners closed both the Squealing Pig and the Auld Dubliner, this week they opened Marmalade Cafe in the former Dubliner spot at 2796 South Broadway.
More restaurants/watering holes that have opened since January 1: Mark & Isabella (425 South Teller Street in Lakewood), South Broadway Grill (2200 South Broadway), 9th Avenue Grill (900 Jersey Street), Heaven Star (7600 West 120th Avenue in Broomfield), Lakeside Waffles (replacing Meltz at 4335 West 44th Avenue), Fidel's (in the former Metro Kitchen, at 12 East 11th Avenue), Firehouse Subs (10600 Grant Street in Thornton), Arugula (2785 Iris Street in Boulder), Happy Noodle House (835 Walnut Street in Boulder), Organixx (1520 Blake Street), Vert Kitchen (704 South Pearl Street) and Katie Mullen's Irish Restaurant and Pub (1550 Court Place, shown above), the surprise hit of the year.
So far.
