Kudos to Wheat Ridge Parks and Rec Dept for another great performance in the park series. Hot days made it a treat to pack the lawn chairs, sunscreen and water to sit at Anderson Park on Wednesdays and listen to great music at the evening performances. Thanks to Scientific & Cultural Facilities District – SCFD, Wheat Ridge Parks and Rec, Wheat Ridge Cultural Commission, Colorado Folk Arts Council and LiveWell for sponsoring these great evenings (and daytime kid performances) of live entertainment. Great food trucks (a savory and a sweet each week rounded out the enjoyment. Thanks especially to Beth June and staff for being the entertainment wranglers. Their enthusiasm and love for the parks dept made each concert extra special. We have been going to these summer concerts in the park since the days when they were at Panorama Park on Sunday nights. Years and years of music and we can’t wait for the 2027 season!
Cheryl Brungardt
Longtime Dist 1 resident
What Mestizo’s Closure Says About Wheat Ridge
We’ve lived in Wheat Ridge for six years, which is long enough to have opinions about it, but not long enough to claim we know how things were “back in the day.” We’ll leave that to the people (like our neighbor, Allen) who have earned that right.
But we do know why we moved here.
After being squeezed out of the Highlands, we wanted more space, somewhere that felt greener and quieter, a place that felt less pretentious.
That’s why it’s hard to see Mestizo Brew Cantina close. If you never made it to the colorful spot at 38th and Pierce, you missed out. It was recently named Westword’s 2026 Best Brewery for Food, a fitting recognition for a place that quickly became one of our favorite places to grab a bite (usually the quesabirria) and a beer (always the lager).
Mestizo is the kind of place that makes Wheat Ridge feel like Wheat Ridge. It’s local and authentic — a damn good neighborhood restaurant and brewery.
From what’s been shared publicly, it sounds like the restaurant is being forced out after a deal with its landlord went sideways. We don’t pretend to know every detail of that situation, but we do know this: it’s hard to watch a small business that has become part of the neighborhood get squeezed out when it seems like there may have been another way.
And, honestly, there’s a little irony to it.
Wheat Ridge has changed a lot in the six years we’ve lived here, and some of that change is exactly what people like us came here for. We’re in our mid-to-late 30s. We want local businesses to support (Wheat Ridge Meats, Clancy’s, King of Wings, and Stylus & Crate are some of our go-tos). We want more happening along 38th. We want to see the city attract investment, new businesses, and new people. We’re excited to be part of that growth.
In other words, we’re not exactly innocent bystanders in the gentrification conversation.
But I think a lot of us who are part of that change moved here because Wheat Ridge already felt like a place with something going on. We weren’t looking to reinvent it. We just wanted to be part of it.
That’s why Mestizo’s closure feels like a bigger loss for the neighborhood. It’s a reminder that the character we talk about preserving in a community doesn’t preserve itself. The small businesses, restaurants, and scrappy local spots that give a place personality are often dependent on individual landlords, leases, and business decisions that have very little to do with what the broader community wants.
We also don’t think the answer is to stop Wheat Ridge from changing — that’s neither realistic nor desirable. But there should be room in the equation for the local spots that give Wheat Ridge its charm, identity, and culture. Otherwise, we risk ending up with another polished, interchangeable Denver neighborhood, where the only thing “local” is a mural on the side of the building (ahem, Tennyson).
So if there’s still a way to do right by Mestizo, we hope someone does. We can make room for what’s next without losing what we love about Wheat Ridge.
Hannah & Sean Fitzsimons
