Ten Years In, the Corner Around Denver Central Market Is Staying Up Later

In early June, the bar inside Denver Central Market had empty shelves and empty stools. Across from it, the glass cases at Butchers at RiNo held no meat. The long High Point Creamery counter between Crema and Izzio Bakery was stripped down to exposed wires and broken drywall. Westword described the scene as three longtime tenants left the food hall at 2669 Larimer St. at the same time.

Five months later, all of those spaces have been filled except one. Across the alley there's a Champagne bar where a punk wine bar used to be. A few blocks south, a ten-year breakfast spot has served its last bacon, egg and cheese. Much of this corner opened in 2016, and the ten-year clock on its leases ran out in 2026. Almost every replacement leans later into the day than the business it replaced, and the market's new lineup is signed through the mid-2030s.

The year the leases came due

Denver Central Market opened in 2016. In June, the food hall's spokesperson told Westword that the departing businesses had been on 10-year leases that had expired. According to the Denver Post's report with BusinessDen, the 12-stall market saw little turnover in its first decade. Lunchboxx replaced SK Provisions in 2021, Call Your Mother took over the Culture Meat and Cheese stall in 2024, and a butcher shop changed owners. That was close to the whole list.

The same ten-year mark shows up up and down Larimer:

Some of these were lease decisions and some were personal ones. Either way, most of the corner reset in the same window, and the businesses that replaced them were chosen with the next ten years in mind.

Inside the market, the new lineup is signed for a decade

The bar is the biggest change. Market owner Ken Wolf bought the assets of Curio, which had been there since opening day, and reopened it as Bar 77. The name comes from Talking Heads' first album. He runs it with Celina Tio, a James Beard Award-winning chef from Kansas City. The two are already partners in The Belfry and Gerard's Pool Hall.

Wolf has been clear about what the bar is for. "I want to activate the market for later evenings," he told Westword in July. He called the bar the "epicenter" of the market and said he wants it to work more closely with the food stalls around it. In the same article, he said the first change was big-screen TVs for sports, and he mentioned live music and karaoke as ideas for pulling people in after happy hour. Published hours have differed between Westword's July report and the market's own listings, so check denvercentralmarket.com before planning a late visit.

The old ice cream counter stayed in the family next door. Izzio Bakery has held two stalls since the market opened, and it took over High Point's former space for a new concept, Tiny Rino Treat House. Westword reported it open by Sept. 5. The market's vendor page lists gelato soft serve, frozen yogurt, sorbets, baked pastry elements and more than 30 toppings. Izzio owner Etai Bar-on told BusinessDen, via the Denver Post, how much the bakery's own business has shifted since 2016. Wholesale was most of the business when Izzio moved in, and today it is "largely nonexistent" because market shoppers buy the baked goods directly.

"Ten years is a long time. The business has really changed over time." Etai Bar-on, Izzio Bakery, to BusinessDen via the Denver Post

The 10-year commitment is what makes this lineup last. "The nine that I wanted to keep signed a 10-year extension," Wolf said in the Denver Post piece. He also said he was about to sign his own 10-year extension on the building. As of Westword's July report, the only stall still open was the former Butchers at RiNo space. Wolf told the Post he would like a deli there focused on "very good sandwiches and sausages," with a small selection of meats and cheeses to take home.

Across the alley, the Noble Riot room went back to its own co-owners

The market's evening push now has company. La Vie En Rose opened Sept. 4 in the former Noble Riot space. It's run by Scott and Nicole Mattson, who also own Nocturne. The room isn't new to them. The Mattsons co-owned Noble Riot with Troy Bowen from 2019 to 2023. Noble Riot, which ran on its own timeline, closed its brick-and-mortar spot Aug. 30, 2025, after six years.

The Mattsons kept the address and changed nearly everything else. Westword's opening preview put the Champagne list at more than 120 bottles. The cocktails center on French spirits like cognac and armagnac, and each drink is named for a French poem, story or place, such as The Vieux Marais or Le Petit Chapeau. The food is small plates built for Champagne: steak tartare, popcorn fried chicken, a "grand gougère" with mornay sauce, and a Paris-Brest for dessert. The Art Nouveau interior, designed with Kevin Nguyen of Regular Architecture, has velvet curtains and a bar curved around a built-in Champagne bowl. "We use the phrase 'finesse over flash' when talking about how we want the experience to feel," Scott Mattson told Westword.

Westword's September review placed it on the block. Meadowlark is across the street, a graffiti-covered alley runs beside it, and Denver Central Market is on the other side of the alley. Meadowlark is still at 2701 Larimer St. Westword lists the bar's address as 1336 27th St. in that review and as 2636 Walnut St. in its opening coverage, so search either one or just walk to the old Noble Riot door. The opening hours ran evenings only, starting at 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. lverosebar.com is the place to confirm current times.

The losses were mostly daytime businesses

The departures that didn't get a replacement fit the same pattern. Port Side opened at 2500 Larimer St. in 2016 and served coffee and breakfast Wednesday through Sunday until its last day on Sunday, July 5. The Denver Post reported that chef and owner Chris Bell chose not to renew the lease, wanting to "go out on my terms, on top, in a good place." He said he plans to take a break and then pop up around town with bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches.

Farther north, The Block Distilling Co. at 2990 Larimer St. told investors in early August that it would take three to four months to wind down. BusinessDen reported that the message gave no specific closing date. That window runs from early November into early December. If the tasting room is on your list, check the distillery's own channels before you go.

So the morning anchor at one end of the strip is gone, the distillery at the other end is closing, and the two biggest additions in the middle are a bar built to keep the food hall open later and a Champagne room that opens at 5 p.m.

November and early December on the corner

The first weekend of November puts two reasons to come by within about 24 hours of each other, and the vintage market comes back two weeks later:

1. Five Points First Friday, Friday, Nov. 6, from 5 p.m. The Five Points BID's monthly night brings live music, local vendors, food and drinks to multiple locations along the corridor. Event details.
2. Larimer Vintage Market, Saturday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Vintage vendors set up at Denver Central Market. Entry is free, most vendors take electronic payment, everyone takes cash, and it runs weather permitting. RiNo Art District listing.
3. Larimer Vintage Market again, Saturday, Nov. 21, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Same setup and the same weather caveat.

Friday, Dec. 4 has the next cluster. The December First Friday starts at 5 p.m. The RiNo Art District calendar lists a three-day Holiday Market at RiNo ArtPark, running 5 to 9 p.m. that Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Cone Tree Lighting is at the ArtPark at 7 p.m. Friday, and the 5th Annual $300 & Under Art Sale runs 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at 73 Art Agency. Full calendar. The ArtPark is a short trip from 27th and Larimer, and a stool at Bar 77 or La Vie En Rose works on either end of that night.

When a block's tenants sign ten-year deals, the effect reaches the homes around it too, and that's the kind of shift my team tracks for clients in 80205. If you're near this corner and want to know what your place is worth now that the lineup is set, Joey Hoisescu and The Lighthouse Collective will put together a free home valuation that accounts for the block as it is in 2026.