"Honestly, I don't think we would have opened a restaurant anywhere else right now. It's just too risky and too expensive." That's Justin Cucci, founder of Edible Beats, in an October interview with the Denver Post. He was explaining why his group is opening Pip Food + Drink on the ground floor of the building that already holds its El Five.
His answer explains more than one restaurant. In Lower Highland this fall, almost every new door is opening in a space controlled by someone who was already here. Edible Beats is building under its own rooftop bar. Paul Tamburello, who owns Little Man Ice Cream, is re-leasing the two units in his building at 1575 Boulder St. The Wooden Spoon bakery on 32nd Avenue didn't close. A group with three restaurants in the neighborhood bought it. The newcomers are on Bryant Street, and they're building apartments rather than dining rooms.
Downstairs From El Five
When Sushi Ronin closed in 2025 at 2930 Umatilla St., it had been in the building for about a decade. Edible Beats put in for the space. Corey Ferguson, executive chef at El Five, told BusinessDen in September that the team "thought they were done opening restaurants" unless this exact scenario came up.
Cucci's reasoning in the later interview is practical. El Five "does still have overflow and has a pretty solid fan base," he said, so a room downstairs starts with a head start. "We're not starting at zero."
What makes Pip interesting is how deliberately it differs from the group's other places. Ferguson described a less regimented room aimed more at a bar crowd, and listed the details:
- Price point: tapas at $5 to $9 a plate, well below El Five upstairs, with cocktails at $8 to $15
- Menu: several kebabs, crab mousse on a shrimp chip, Iberian ham and cheese rolled in grilled ciabatta, plus kalimotxo and a coffee-focused barraquito
- Format: built for walk-ins, with reservations only for larger groups and a semi-fixed lineup of bites and drinks still being priced
- Room: 2,000 square feet, about 100 seats across high-tops, booths and a seasonal patio, designed around bright blues, repurposed metal and old movie posters, meant to recall a Moroccan spice market
- Hours as planned: Wednesday through Sunday, 3 to 11 p.m. midweek and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends
The space is also a first for the group. Ferguson said Edible Beats has never before moved into a second-generation restaurant space, and the buildout moves the bar and kitchen to the front and works to bring in more light.
As of the Denver Post's October 13 piece, Pip was "set to open in the next 5 to 7 weeks." Counted from that date, the window runs from about November 17 to December 1, so it may be open by the holidays rather than by Halloween.
The Building Where LoHi Got Its Name
A few blocks south, the same pattern plays out at a different scale. Tamburello bought the 0.3-acre property at 1575 Boulder St. from the Olinger Mortuary in late 2002 for $800,000, according to BusinessDen's August reporting. Little Man's original location sits on that land, and he also owns the parking lot across the street and the building on Little Man's other side. "That's where LoHi started," he said of 1575 Boulder. "We named that the LoHi marketplace, which started the whole buzz of LoHi."
Two long-running tenants left the building within six months of each other. Dimestore Delibar closed in October 2025. Scarlet Salon, open since 2007, a year before Little Man arrived next door, closed at the end of March. Tamburello has leased both spaces.
The former salon is becoming The General Store, the second location of Nicole Haas's gift-and-small-bites shop from downtown Littleton. It may matter more to the block's daily routine than the restaurant does. The LoHi store will cover 3,000 square feet, twice the size of the Littleton original. Haas described inventory running from gifts to plants to frozen meals, and said she may eventually add produce and explore a liquor license once she has a feel for the neighborhood.
The reason it matters comes down to geography. BusinessDen noted that the nearest convenience stores to that corner are the gas stations at Zuni Street and Speer Boulevard. The General Store's website now lists LoHi hours of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, at 1575 Boulder St. Unit D. That would give the block a place to pick up a gift, a plant or dinner in the freezer case until 10 or 11 at night, a few feet from the line at Little Man. The site still shows a "Coming Soon" image for the LoHi store, so a quick call to 720-655-0480 before walking over is sensible.
Around the corner, in the old Dimestore Delibar, is The Acadian, a Cajun restaurant from chef David Simpson. WhatNow Denver describes him as a Denver native and Tulane graduate who co-founded Tremé, a Cajun and Creole restaurant in Bogotá. Permit documents list jambalaya, truffle tenderloin steak and Louisiana-style braised short ribs. The plans cover 4,900 square feet with a patio along Boulder Street, a second-story bar and rooftop dining. "It's going to be absolutely next level for LoHi," Tamburello told BusinessDen. As of WhatNow's October 14 report, no opening date had been confirmed.
Where Each One Stands for the Last Week of October
| Place | Address | Operator | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pip Food + Drink | 2930 Umatilla St., ground floor | Edible Beats | Expected about Nov. 17 to Dec. 1, per Oct. 13 reporting |
| The General Store | 1575 Boulder St. Unit D | Nicole Haas | LoHi hours posted on its website; call ahead |
| The Acadian | 1575 Boulder St., former Dimestore Delibar | Chef David Simpson | Under construction; no confirmed date |
| Wooden Spoon | 2418 W. 32nd Ave. | Edible Beats since August | Open Wed. to Sun., 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Little Man Ice Cream | 2620 16th St. | Paul Tamburello | Fall hours; Pumpkin Patch through Oct. 31 |
The Bakery That Changed Hands Without Changing
The Wooden Spoon is the clearest case of the neighborhood's existing operators stepping in. Westword reported in July that Edible Beats had bought the 32nd Avenue bakery, keeping the name, the five employees, the recipes and the equipment, and reopening on August 5 after the former owners stepped away from management.
Cucci told the Denver Post the purchase wasn't strategic at all. "That was a bakery we loved and in a neighborhood we love. I'm a day one person there." He also explained the feedback signs in the shop: the recipes had lived in the founders' heads, and his kitchen was still learning when a batch is perfectly proofed. "We have not changed a single price. We have not changed a single recipe. We're just still finding our feet." The one addition so far is a maple-bacon croissant for fall. In September, Ferguson said the bakery had been selling out of pastries every day after a slow first couple of weeks.
The bakery's own website lists hours of Wednesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday. If you remember an 8 a.m. opening from earlier coverage, the posted schedule now starts an hour earlier.
Add it up and the Wooden Spoon gives Edible Beats a bakery to go with Linger, Root Down and El Five, all in the neighborhood, plus Vital Root on Tennyson Street. Pip will be its fourth LoHi restaurant. Ferguson ranked the group's places by customer volume with Linger first, followed by El Five, Root Down and Vital Root. The company is now employee-owned through an ESOP, and Cucci frames new openings as ways to grow that ownership. "I want to earn our place, and earn respect from the neighborhood," he said.
The Outside Money Is on Bryant Street
The neighborhood's one large new project comes from out of town. BusinessDen reported in October that demolition started in September along Bryant Street between Speer Boulevard and 29th Avenue. Pagewest, an Aspen-based development and investment firm, plans about 300 apartments in two seven-story buildings, one on each side of Bryant. The firm paid $8.5 million for the 1.5-acre site in October 2025. BusinessDen's report gave no building name or completion date.
Compare that with the other changes. Tamburello paid $800,000 for his 0.3 acres on Boulder Street in 2002 and has kept the building in the hands of local operators. Edible Beats grew by moving downstairs and buying a bakery it already loved. If Pagewest's buildings get built, a few hundred more neighbors will be within walking distance of a $5 tapas plate on Umatilla and a 10 p.m. errand next to Little Man.
This Week, Before the Season Turns
- Little Man's LoHi Pumpkin Patch runs daily through Saturday, October 31, with "Freaky Friday Fright Night Flicks" at 7 p.m. on Friday the 30th, per Visit Denver's listing.
- Little Man's fall hours are noon to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to midnight Friday, 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, according to its location page.
- The Wooden Spoon is closed Monday and Tuesday, so plan a croissant run for Wednesday through Sunday.
The new places opening on these blocks were chosen by people who already know them, which is also how Nick Bruce approaches LoHi. If you're thinking about how changes like Bryant Street or the Boulder Street re-tenanting might shape your own corner over the next few years, schedule a consultation and we'll walk through it calmly, block by block.
