Chop Shop is ending its 10-year run on East Colfax Avenue. The casual urban eatery will hold its last day of service at its original location on Sunday, April 7.
“We were at the end of our 10-year lease, and we had the option to renew at market value,” chef and co-owner Clint Wangsnes told The Denver Post. “…Our landlord presented us with double rent, and we had to humbly decline.”
Wangsnes opened the fast-casual American grill, at 4990 E. Colfax Ave., in 2014 with business partner Christian Anderson. It drew a quick following for its affordable, chef-driven menu with specialties like 48-hour, slow-cooked short rib, roasted sirloin French dip and chopped salads.
“It was our first try at running our own concept, and we built that restaurant from scratch when my kids were just babies,” Wangsnes said. “It’s just unfortunate because this is not something we really wanted to do. I’m going to miss the block.”
Chop Shop still has two locations in metro Denver: one in the Lowry neighborhood at 200 Quebec St. and a second at 3150 S. Broadway in Englewood.
And when one door closes, another opens. Wangsnes and Anderson are also getting ready to open a third at 799 US-287 in Broomfield at the end of April.
“The goal is to take some of our Colfax staff to our Broomfied and Lowry locations,” Wangsnes said. “Hopefully, we should be able to keep everyone and give everyone a home, which helped us with our decision-making.”
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