This summer's hottest restaurant and bar openings around Denver

Meet the newbies

️‍🔥 Ajax Downtown near Denver's Union Station is the sister restaurant to the popular Ajax Tavern in Aspen. The upscale spot serves American cuisine with a focus on live-fire cooking. Signature entrees include a mesquite smoked chicken and 100-day dry aged ribeye.

🍕 Osteria Alberico in Englewood hails from Frasca Hospitality Group, which earned a Michelin star in 2023 for its Boulder-based restaurant Frasca Food and Wine. The new casual-style Italian restaurant specializes in Napoletana-style pizza and rustic pastas.

🇲🇽 Xiquita serves upscale Mexico-city inspired cuisine in Uptown. Head chef Erasmo Casiano, a James Beard semifinalist, is also the force behind Lucina Eatery & Bar. The restaurant's draw is their corn tortillas, handmade through an ancient cooking method called nixtamalization.

🥩 Carne — a sleek steakhouse in the River North Art District — is the latest venture from well-known chef Dana Rodriguez, the culinary director of Casa Bonita. The global menu features Argentinian steak, Brazilian picanha and South American roasted bass.

🌊 The Hampton Social, a chain from Chicago-based Parker Hospitality, brings coastal cuisine to LoHi with crab cakes, calamari and tuna tartare. The menu puts a strong emphasis on rosé, featuring 15-plus pink wines. The two-story building also boasts an expansive rooftop patio.

🦘 Two Hands is an Australian-themed cafe based in New York City that's making its Colorado debut on Denver's Tennyson Street. The vibrant space also features a coffee bar counter. Seasonal menu standouts include the pesto cavatelli and pan-roasted half chicken.

🍸 Saverina and Halo Rooftop Bar are located in the Kimpton Claret Hotel in the Denver Tech Center and led by former Citizen Rail's head chef Christian Graves. Saverina specializes in Italian pasta, while Halo offers cocktails and unobstructed views of the Front Range.

🥢 Chopstix Fusion is a low-key Chinese restaurant in Aurora serving Hong Kong-style dishes. Menu highlights include the beef chow fun, chicken and salted fish fried rice, and Sichuan boiled beef. There's also a variety of housemade desserts and teas to choose from.

🍝 Night Off is Bakery Four's new evening concept, offering a prix fixe tasting menu including two to three pasta dishes, a main course, dessert, and small bites along the way. Limited seatings are offered for $90 per person. It operates out of the bakery's Tennyson Street space.

🇫🇷 Le Clare's, a boutique patisserie on East Colfax, offers sweet and savory French-inspired treats. Although you can't go wrong with this menu, the stars of the show are the eclairs, whose flavors change with the season. Be sure to try the "lox and everything bagel" one for a fun twist.

The other side: The city is losing some notable restaurants and bars as others enter the scene.

• Elway's steakhouse in Cherry Creek is closing after two decades on Aug. 31 due to the massive redevelopment project in the area.
• D Bar, a renowned dessert cafe, closed its Uptown location on Aug. 4 because it's not "financially viable," co-owner and chef Keegan Gerhard, a former Food Network host, told the Denver Post. The Central Park location will remain open.
• Mutiny Information Cafe is ending its longtime run on South Broadway on Sept. 22 and reopening its coffee bar and bookstore in Englewood on Oct. 4.
• Bistro LeRoux, a European bistro on the 16th Street Mall, called it quits at the end of July, with owners blaming the ongoing reconstruction of the area.
• Seafood and oyster bar Stoic & Genuine — one of James Beard Award winner Jennifer Jasinski's concepts — is closing Sept. 1 as its lease at Denver Union Station comes up for renewal. Jasinski is also stepping back from her other restaurants, Ultreia and Bistro Vendôme, to focus on Rioja.