With all the changes taking place in the University Park neighborhood, on and off campus, we wanted to feature three long-standing restaurants that have survived the test of time. Two did it by hardly changing a thing. The other did it by changing to meet changing consumer tastes. The others? Well, they’re gone.

The retail restaurant business is already difficult enough without being near a college, in this case the University of Denver. With clientele turning over every four years and the bulk of classes on campus for only 30 out of 52 weeks, you have to be creative – and/or provide a rock solid offer. But, Mustard’s Last Stand, Jerusalem Restaurant and Spanky’s Roadhouse got there following different paths. Continue reading Three restaurants defy turbulent University Park changes →

We recently reported about the closing of Fermaentra, a craft brewery located at 1715 East Evans Avenue – just west of the DU campus. At the time, it was thought that another microbrewery would occupy the space and replace the University of Denver’s only walkable microbrewery.

The cost of rent was cited by Westword as the cause for the closing of Fermaentra and a new brewpub was expected to come in its place. To our surprise, several days ago the building was transformed into the Art Hookah Lounge. Still, it is hard for many to believe that the new Art Hookah Lounge will generate much more traffic and business than its predecessor – but we could be wrong. Continue reading From Hops to Hookah – University Park going up in a puff of smoke →