Zingers is the latest restaurant casualty in the DU neighborhood

Zingers may have turned out some of the city's best green chile, but it wasn't enough to save the joint, wedged into the far corner of a small-mall near the University of Denver, from shuttering. A sign, taped to the front door, thanks customers for their business, while owner Dennis...

By Lori Midson

December 2, 2011

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Zingers may have turned out some of the city's best green chile, but it wasn't enough to save the joint, wedged into the far corner of a small-mall near the University of Denver, from shuttering. A sign, taped to the front door, thanks customers for their business, while owner Dennis Krieger, who opened Zingers with his son, chalked up the restaurant's demise to this: "Overall, there weren't enough customers, and there's a recession with an unemployment rate of 15 percent for people between eighteen and twenty-four," he says. "It's such a shame."

The now-empty storefront joins several other vacated spaces on University Boulevard between Buchtel and Evans, including the former Spicy Pickle, which closed a few months ago. Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill also shuttered in July, although that plot was quickly snatched up by Thai Basil Noodle Cafe.

"It wasn't the best location for us," Beth Hardy, marketing and PR manager for Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill, told Patrick Langlois, who wrote about the closing "There are other locations close by with parking, so most people decided to go there instead," she added, noting that parking near the DU location was limited.

Whether it's the lack of parking, fickle customers or a bad economy, there are far too many deserted strorefronts near the campus. Who's going to open a taqueria?

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Lori Midson

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