Why You Should Visit Denver This Summer AFAR 6 hrs ago
Photo Jeff Fierberg
Grab an alfresco drink at Dairy Block Alley.
America’s cities are back: bigger, bolder, and packed full of exciting events, new outdoor spaces, and reimagined dining. Check out Cities We Love for inspiration this summer.
Three hundred days of sunshine, low humidity, and no bugs just some of the reasons that metro Denver lives outdoors. Other reasons: more than 150 craft breweries with beer gardens (check out the Denver Beer Trail map to get your bearings), outdoor film venues (try a dive-in movie at the Elitch Gardens water park), and 850 miles of paved bike trails, including the new outdoor art–focused 5280 Trail connecting Denver’s inner-city neighborhoods.
At the end of every year, we compile a list of all the restaurant and bar openings and closings over the previous twelve months. As 2021 approached, we expected our roster to be a devastating record of the toll that the coronavirus pandemic took on the industry.
And yes, there were many closings in 2020 around 120 in all, including both longtime favorites like El Chapultepec, the 20th Street Cafe, Racines, Vesta and Zaidy s Deli, and newer starts such as Euclid Hall, Old Major, Julep and Biju s Little Curry Shop. (We did not count restaurants that have gone into hibernation, such as Coperta and Beast + Bottle, in our tally.) But surprisingly, the numbers weren t that different from previous years. In 2019, we recorded slightly more than 120 closings, while 2018 came in at nearly 100. In fact, predictions for the restaurant industry have been dire for the past three or four years, primarily because of oversaturation, the increase in labor costs and the high price of real estate