A new restaurant opened in my neighborhood this month, demonstrating that some of us still believe in miracles.
My neighbors had been watching closely as the weeks and months went by and the “opening soon” sign in the window of the Flaming Grill remained unchanged. The space had remained empty for about two years after its previous restaurant tenant fled. We all were delighted to see lights on inside the place again.
It took forever for the new tenants to get the necessary licenses and permits — a problem the City of Denver is notorious for — and they used the time to get the staff hired and trained, the menu refined.
Finally, even though they are still waiting for the city to approve their liquor license, they put a “now open” banner out front and fired up the kitchen. Tables were set, the patio tidied and then the doors opened with waiters eagerly delivering menus and carafes of water to the intrepid diners.
A manager visited every table, asking how everyone liked the food. “Too spicy? Not spicy enough?” “Don’t miss our desserts.”
It was sincere and just plain sweet.
“Come back soon,” she said finally. “How about tomorrow?”
My neighbor says the lamb chops are to die for, and we’re all hoping the Flaming Grill makes it. But the odds are long and not because the owners are doing anything wrong.
The restaurant business in Denver is brutal.
Across the street from the Flaming Grill, the sprawling space on city property that used to house Pizza Republica has been dark for two years now. Or is it three? Nobody will touch it.
Wash Park Social has closed, and even the venerable Imperial Chinese restaurant on South Broadway shuttered this spring.
A recent report, the Denver Restaurant Liaison Project, paints a bleak picture of the dining scene. Menu prices have increased by an average of 28% since 2019, 5.1% above the national average. It’s the highest restaurant inflation rate in the country.
Some insist it costs more to run a restaurant in Denver than in New York City.
At the same time, Denver restaurateurs are making less. The costs of food and the requirement to provide a livable wage for employees have cut margins to the bone. Wages have increased by 50% since 2019, leading some places to cut staff and leave it up to diners to order their meals on their phones, bus their own tables and pay their checks electronically.
I get it, but it feels a little, well, rude.
Meanwhile, diners are drinking less alcohol, long a key profit sector in the restaurant industry, and general inflation has led many former regulars to make eating out a rare treat. Data from restaurant reservation apps show a marked decline.
The State of Denver Restaurants report notes that this is more than just a problem for naïve, wide-eyed chefs who’ve always dreamed of opening their own place. Restaurants contribute 13% of the city’s sales tax revenue and produce 8.3% of local jobs. They are vital to the local economy and essential for attracting conventions and tourism in general.
And let’s face it, they’re important in ways that are hard to measure in simple dollars and cents. They give a city character, cachet. They enhance our image. They make us happy.
Denver scored one spot on the New York Times list of best restaurants in 2025. It was Mezcaleria Alma. Another hotspot, one of my favorite joints in town, La Diabla, is still riding the wave of national publicity it received from its mention in Bon Appetit’s list of the 50 best new restaurants in the country in 2022.
I make it a point to hit my favorites whenever I can. Even during COVID lockdowns, we tried to get takeout from our favorite little sushi joint periodically just to keep it going.
But while I want to do my part to keep them open, we all have our limits.
Two salads and two glasses of water at a friendly neighborhood sports bar last week: $55. A lunch of a chopped chicken salad and a glass of water at a chic place in Cherry Creek: $36. Dinner out on Mother’s Day at a fancy Italian place in the suburbs: I don’t want to know and neither do you.
It’s shocking. We’re experiencing an economic upheaval where price increases seemingly know no limits, whether it’s at the grocery store, the gas pump or the pizza joint down the street. We’re all cutting back, planning staycations, playing mahjong and cooking at home instead of going out.
That’s why the fearlessness of the folks at the Flaming Grill — and all the other audacious entrepreneurs daring to open restaurants in Denver right now despite the stiff economic headwinds — deserves our respect and a little extra love.
We need them, and right now they really need us.
So, what the heck, live a little.
I recommend the whole sizzling fish. Oh, and don’t miss the garlic naan. Delicious.
Diane Carman is a Denver communications consultant.
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