Even with all the very real challenges involved in opening and maintaining restaurants in the Denver area, April still recorded twice as many openings as closings. Even more heartening were the number of expansions of existing businesses, suggesting that some current operators are doing well enough to justify added growth rather than simply surviving day to day.
In fact, nearly half of this month’s openings were either added locations of existing Denver-based restaurants or new concepts launched by Denver-based hospitality groups. They include the fifth location for Mary Nguyen’s Olive & Finch, this one in the Golden Triangle; Ash & Agave in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center, from the Shucking Good Hospitality Group (Oliver’s Italian, Blue Island Oyster Bar and Seafood); and the just-this-week opening of the Virginia Village outpost of Park Hill’s Local Butcher & Deli.
Also coming in hot among new openings this week is Wash Park Social Club, which replaces the former Wash Park Grill at the bustling corner of South Gaylord Street and Mississippi Avenue. Up in Boulder, the highly anticipated Odd Rabbit sushi debuted; it’s a concept from the team behind the Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning Glo Noodle House…