Fort Collins restaurants: Coffee shop and pizza speakeasy open, Midtown wine bar closes
Fort Collins said hello and goodbye to a pair of speakeasies in the past two months, with an Old Town pizza shop opening its new basement bar in May and an underground Midtown wine bar closing its doors in June.
The city also saw the addition of a new drive-thru coffee shop and is getting ready to welcome a Mississippi-born sandwich chain and Boulder-born sushi spot to town.
Here's what opened and closed on the Fort Collins area food scene since late-May — and what's yet to come.
What opened
Ziggi's Coffee opened its third Fort Collins location at 432 12th St., north of Supermarket Liquors, on June 6. It is the latest drive-thru for the Longmont-born coffee chain and features a walk-up window and outdoor seating, according to a news release.
Casa Bonita in Lakewood opened its wonderfully wacky — and recently renovated — doors to timed crowds starting June 23. The reopening marks a new chapter for the iconic Lakewood eatery, which closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, declared bankruptcy the following year and was ultimately sold to "South Park" creators and showrunners Matt Stone and Trey Parker. As Casa Bonita continues to inch toward a full reopening, its first guests will be pulled exclusively from its email list, with no walk-ins allowed, according to the restaurant's website. You can sign up for its email list at casabonitadenver.com.
What closed
Lirano Wine Bar, 3600 Mitchell Drive, has shuttered after nearly five years in Fort Collins. The Midtown wine bar, which opened underneath former boutique wine shop The Cellar in 2018, had been in flux for over a year after the 2022 death of co-owner James Evans, James's widow and business partner Shelley Evans told the Coloradoan. Between grieving, working her full-time IT career and trying to build the wine bar business back up after months of neglect following her husband's passing, "I just wasn't able to make it work," Shelley said. After several unsuccessful attempts to sell the business, Shelley decided to temporarily shutter the bar in early June and announced on its Facebook page Sunday that the closure would be permanent.
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What's coming
Newk's Eatery is headed to Northern Colorado this year. The Mississippi-based fast casual chain is slated to debut in Fort Collins around late September, bringing its soups, salads, sandwiches and personal pizzas to 1700 S. College Ave. The building, which is still in the midst of a major renovation, will also house Dave's Hot Chicken. Newk's Eatery is also hoping to open a drive-thru just west of the Timnath Costco next year, according to Newk's Eatery franchisee Marc Rogers. That proposed restaurant is still in the conceptual phase of planning, with hopes that it can open in May 2024, Rogers said.
Japango is looking to breathe new life into a vacant building in the heart of Old Town. The sushi restaurant — a nearly 25-year fixture on Boulder's Pearl Street — has taken over 125 S. College Ave. and filed a building permit for improvements to the space, which was formerly home to Main Line and the Rove and Element nightclub and restaurant. Japango's expansion into Fort Collins has been in the works for years, according to Erin Banis, who owns Japango with her husband, Jon Banis. The couple hopes to open the Fort Collins eatery by early fall, Erin said.
In-N-Out Burger is eyeing a possible second Northern Colorado location. After purchasing property and proposing a drive-thru at 1450 Fall River Drive in Loveland, the company filed a new conceptual plan with the town of Timnath's planning department in late May. Under those plans, the restaurant hopes to develop another drive-thru at the northeast corner of Interstate 25 Frontage Road in Timnath's Ladera subdivision. The plan is currently being reviewed by Timnath planners.
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Catching up
The Speak Cheesy Lounge is up and running as Fort Collins' first pizza speakeasy. Tucked off Mason Street in a formerly vacant basement space, Slyce Pizza Co. opened the new downstairs bar and dining room on May 22. Appropriately named The Speak Cheesy Lounge, the new addition is part of a larger expansion for the Old Town pizza shop, which also plans to take over the first floor of its neighboring space — formerly home to Wok and Roll Teriyaki — later this year. The downstairs space boasts a 35-seat dining area with a bar currently serving six beers on tap and a variety of wines, according to Slyce owner Jeremy Tand. Diners can either order from Slyce's ground-level shop, 163 W. Mountain Ave., or order food to be brought to their table through special QR code ordering in the Speak Cheesy Lounge. The new lounge is accessible via a staircase and door that faces Mason Street.
Coloradoan reporter Pat Ferrier contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins restaurants: Coffee shop opens, wine bar closes in June
