4 new Denver restaurants opening by the end of 2026 — and 4 delayed to 2027

While school-age kids took their summer breaks and off-the-clock employees made a break for it with vacation, some local chefs and restaurant owners spent their summer poring over blueprints and menu drafts. Their efforts will soon pay off.

Here are four restaurants expected to open before year’s end — with a few updates on others that aren’t too far behind.

Holm

Address: 609 Corona St., Denver

Opening: Late October

Cuisine: Farm-to-table

The building that Table 6 occupied for more than two decades is set to welcome its newest tenant this fall. Holm is the product of the same restaurant group, Paired Hospitality, as Major Tom and its sister tasting menu, Beckon, both off Larimer Street in RiNo. (Beckon’s 18-seat counter boasts a Michelin star.) Expect plates driven by seasonal Colorado produce, such as chicken with poached vegetables; chicken and rice soup; and pasta made on-site.

Risica

Address: 3463 Walnut St., Denver

Opening: Late September or early October

Cuisine: Pizza; Italian

Andrea Frizzi, whose past Colorado enterprises, Il Posto and Vero, drew from his background as a chef in Naples, Italy, returns with what he says is his biggest statement yet. He means that literally. Risica — the emphasis is on the first syllable — has more than 2,100 square feet at the base of a RiNo apartment complex to fill. Frizzi has a new rotating brick oven for his Milan-style pizza, slightly bigger than a Neapolitan pie, and a wide array of Italian specialties. Risica will also have a choose-your-own-charcuterie board offering.

The pizzeria’s name, the 59-year-old Frizzi said, comes from a saying famous among Italians. “It means, if you don’t take a risk, you’re gonna regret it,” he said.

Sadboy Creamery

Address:1201 E. Colfax Ave., Ste. 101, Denver

Opening: Sept. 19

Cuisine: Ice cream

A buzzed-about ice-cream pop-up with a cult following unveils an actual storefront for its cold confections, off Colfax Avenue in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The grand opening is Saturday, Sept. 19, from noon to 5 p.m. Expect pints and creamy pops until the sad boys sell out.

The Stockton

Address: 4701 Marion St., Denver

Opening: November

Cuisine: Steakhouse

The renovation of the Livestock Exchange Building at the National Western Center, now known simply as the Exchange, promised a new restaurant in the absence of the Stock Show’s long-reigning saloon. The wait is almost over, as Boulder restaurateur Bryan Dayton prepares to launch an upscale steakhouse, the Stockton, inside. The kitchen is led by Dayton’s business partner, executive chef Samuel McCandless. (The two work together at Corrida in Boulder.) Most of the beef cuts will originate from their own cattle company.

Denver restaurants opening in 2027

Snipeburger/Tillie’s Tavern Pizza

St. Louis natives Evan Pierce and Eddie Renshaw have followed their stomachs, and those of their customers, since they opened the King of Wings food truck in 2015. They now have two busy restaurants in Golden and Wheat Ridge, and have added a pair of well-received, limited-hour pop-ups inside these locations. Snipeburger in Golden grills smashburgers with what Pierce called a “crispy, razor-thin edge,” while Tillie’s Tavern Pizza in Wheat Ridge makes square-cut, thin-crust pizzas and Italian beef sandwiches. The two concepts will move into a shared location with patio seating at 6995 W. 38th Ave., in Wheat Ridge. It is inside the former Colorado Plus Brewpub. Snipeburger, Pierce said, “has been super popular and deserves its own location.” They hope to open in early 2027.

Leven Deli

The Denver-based cafe and restaurant will have to wait to open its highly anticipated third location in downtown Denver. That’s because the office tower whose base it will occupy, Block 162 at 1520 California St., is on the market, a spokesperson for Leven Deli said. The cafe’s plans are on hold until a new owner steps up.