Losing a favorite go-to restaurant can feel like a stab to the heart, especially if it was the kind of place that always had an extra smile ready for you, or where everyone knew your name and your order. Saying goodbye to that part of your routine stings.
While the city has been riding a culinary high since the inaugural Michelin stars were handed out in September, Denver, has also held funerals for many longtime, beloved spots. After all, with rising labor costs, food costs and labor shortages, running a restaurant is still tough.
So, let’s take a moment to remember these 15 restaurants that closed up shop in 2023, and remind ourselves that eating locally is the best way to support the Mile High businesses that work tirelessly to feed us.
El Tepehuan Mexican Restaurant
After 45 years as one of the best green chile spots around, El Tepehuan is throwing in the towel. You still have time to pay tribute to the beloved Englewood spot, known as El Tep to the most loyal of fans, before owner Graciela Corral retires and shutters the doors permanently on Dec. 31.
Denver Ted’s Cheesesteaks
In April, Denver Ted’s Cheesesteaks shut down its only location in downtown Denver after 18 years with no warning. As one of the most well-known and well-loved cheesesteak purveyors in town, Denver Ted’s amassed a loyal following for its traditional Phillies on Amoroso rolls.
Goed Zuur
Denverites enjoyed their last sour ales and butter boards from Goed Zuur before the upscale Five Points beer bar closed in October. After losing executive chef Anthony Lopiccolo to a new California opportunity in April, co-owner John Fayman, who also owns Backcountry Pizza & Tap House in Boulder, said the mounting issues since COVID were too much to handle.
3 Kilts Tavern
In September, 3 Kilts Tavern did its final Irish jig. The Irish bar in Capitol Hill, which debuted in 2021, was known for its St. Patrick’s Day parties, traditional Irish dance performances and inclusive drag and comedy shows; owners blamed rising cog costs and fewer customers.
Blake Street Tavern
The year 2023 saw the final Colorado Rockies’ Opening Day for the Blake Street Tavern, which retired from the game on April 9, not long after its 20th anniversary. The popular Ballpark sports bar had been one of biggest and most well-known places to catch a game.
Sam’s No. 3
At the end of the year, Sam’s No. 3 will close its Aurora location after 25 years. The diner, popular for its Kickin’ Pork Green Chile that once appeared on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” has a month-to-month lease that ends at the end of the month. The other Sam’s No. 3 locations in downtown Denver and Glendale will remain open.
Courtesy of The FlyFisher Group
Ryan Cobbins opened Coffee at the Point at 710 E. 26th Ave. in 2010. (Provided by The Flyfisher Group)
Coffee at the Point
After a long legal battle with local landlord Matthew Burkett, Coffee at the Point owner Ryan Cobbins decided to call it quits on the Five Points coffee shop after 13 years in January. Coffee at the Point was the second-longest-running business in Five Points behind Welton Street Cafe.
Humboldt Kitchen + Bar
Humboldt Kitchen + Bar’s 10-year lease came to an end in August, and after the owners and landlord were unable to reach an extension agreement — and so did the 10-year era of the neighborhood eatery (and its award-winning burger). Concept Restaurants, which owns eight other restaurants in Denver and Boulder, opened the new American restaurant in 2013.
Josie Sexton, The Denver Post
The bar area and the restaurant beyond it at Apple Blossom in the Hyatt Centric hotel in downtown Denver. (Photo by Josie Sexton — The Denver Post)
Apple Blossom
Siblings Paul and Aileen Reilly, who also the Italian eatery Coperta, closed their farm-to-table restaurant, Apple Blossom, on the ground floor of the Hyatt Centric Downtown Denver hotel, in December. This comes just two years after they closed sister restaurant Beast + Bottle.
Tom’s Starlight
Barley a year after rebranding itself as Tom’s Starlight, the mid-century-style cocktail lounge poured its final drink and went up for lease in November. Co-owner Tom Messina said he was ready to retire. Tom’s Starlight debuted in Sept. 2022 after being known as Tom’s Diner, a traditional East Colfax Avenue 24-hour greasy spoon, for decades.
The Empire Lounge & Restaurant
After a couple of changes in ownership over the past few years, on top of the Marshall Fire’s impact on restaurant traffic in downtown Louisville, The Empire ended its 15-year reign in February. The American comfort food restaurant was founded in 2008 by chef Jim Cohen.
BusinessDen file
Hard Rock Cafe closed its doors after 25 years in July. (BusinessDen file)
Hard Rock Cafe
The Hard Rock Cafe dimmed the lights of its 20-foot neon guitar on downtown Denver’s 16th Street Mall in July after 25 years of holding down the stage. The Florida-based rock-n-roll-themed cafe’s lease was up; downtown has suffered from a lack of office workers and visitors since the pandemic, and the mall itself is now undergoing a massive construction project.
Cyrus McCrimmon, Denver Post file
The oven at the original Pizzeria Locale at 1738 Pearl Street. The Boulder-based restaurant’s fast-casual spinoff included multiple Colorado outposts. (Cyrus McCrimmon, Denver Post file)
Pizzeria Locale
Pizzeria Locale closed its five locations in the Denver area and dissolved the Neapolitan-style pizza business altogether this July. Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson, who are also behind Frasca, Tavernetta and Sunday Vinyl, founded Pizzeria Locale in 2010 and struck up a partnership with Chipotle in 2013 to create fast-casual versions and expand. The original Boulder location of Pizzeria Locale reopened in early 2023 as Pizzeria Alberico.
Piccolo
This south Denver neighborhood staple left its regulars in shambles when it announced its final day of operation in April. Piccolo, which served both Mexican and Italian cuisine, closed its doors after 50 years. Owner Vince Canino cited inflation coupled with a lack of workers and Denver’s minimum age increase as the cause. A new Italian restaurant, Provolino, has since moved in.
Winston’s Smoke BBQ
Pro Football Hall of Famer Winston Hill’s legacy carried on through his Centennial barbecue restaurant, Winston’s Smoke BBQ, when he passed away at 74 in 2016. But rather than dealing with the pitfalls of a barbecue pit, his daughters Heather and Hovlyn closed the restaurant in January after three decades and started a scholarship program in his name at Hill’s alma mater, Texas Southern University. Hill got his start in the restaurant business in Denver in 1979.
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