By Zachary Urban
The new brew-pub up the street in the old Valente’s spot named Colorado+ has been a long time coming. There must have been some pent up demand for this kind of establishment. They had such a large turnout for their “invite only” soft opening, they ran out of food. You know a new restaurant is going to be successful when the kitchen is cleaned out of food within three days. Their kitchen is now back to being fully stocked. When I pulled up to the restaurant for the second night of their three night soft opening on the parking lot was packed. While the soft opening was by invite only, that didn’t stop the neighborhood from showing their overwhelming support for the new brewery. There were plenty of people who showed up for the soft opening who were invited by someone other than the owners. I heard one guy bragging unknowingly to the owner that he had snuck into the soft opening. The atmosphere exudes a “Come one, Come All” attitude. At the end of the day whether you had an invite, asked for an invite via facebook the night before like I did, or you invited yourself, the staff was extremely welcoming and helpful. The place was humming. More importantly great food and even better beer was flowing. The food was awesome. I had a couple of Lamb sliders that were great. I also tried several local brews from breweries located in Arvada to Telluride. But don’t go there expecting to be served Milwaukee’s best, because they only serve beers brewed in Colorado.
If you are unfamiliar with Colorado’s beer brewing scene, this means they have over 56 different beers from only Colorado breweries both large and small. They are still hiring, if you know anyone who is looking for a job.
Colorado+ isn’t just another great restaurant for Wheat Ridge , it is a regional draw for people all across the Denver Metro area. The fact that the new restaurant’s focus is on having beer from breweries all across Colorado, you’d think this would be the main draw for people. I think that their food will be the real draw for folks. When you go into the restaurant, you’ll notice that while the location of the building will always remind you of Valentes, this new space will remind you of Colorado.
The interior design of the space was crafted by local couple Kim and Chad Harr, owners of Lakota Skye Environments. The Harr’s are known around town for their involvement in all things related to promoting community in Wheat Ridge. They help organize the kids “Trick or Treat” Street during Halloween. Chad serves on the board for Wheat Ridge 2020. The Harr’s did an absolutely amazing job recreating the space to fit the Colorado theme. They sourced Colorado materials to decorate the place, and used items such as Frisco, Colorado beetle-kill pine to adorn the bar. I am looking forward to going back there time and time again. It’s great to see new businesses opening on 38th, there is also a new business in the old Cebiche spot, called The Office, but I haven’t’ made it across the street yet. I am too busy trying each of the 56 Colorado beers on tap at Colorado+
Zachary Urban can be reached at 720-252-5930 orwww.zacharyurban.com.