Hacienda Colorado was founded by Tim Schmidt in Lakewood in 1998; at one point, the homegrown chain had grown to six Front Range locations, all touting their “Mountain Mex.” But in 2019, the company was acquired by Texas-based Uncle Julio’s Mexican from Scratch.
In February 2020, it opened the first co-branded Uncle Julio’s – Hacienda Colorado in a new, two-story, 9,721-square-foot building at 3298 Youngfield Street in Wheat Ridge. After a five-year run, that spot quietly closed last week…leaving just locations in Lone Tree, Westminster and Colorado Springs. The spot on the 16th Street Mall never returned after the COVID shutdown, the original in Lakewood shut its doors in 2023, and the location off Colorado Boulevard and I-25 served its final meal last March. That space will reopen soon as the first Denver outpost of another locally-owned Mexican chain, Los Dos Potrillos.
Although Uncle Julio’s has offered no explanation for the Wheat Ridge closure, diners serve up plenty of opinions in their comments on the Westword Facebook page. Says Roger:…