Last updated Friday, August 14, 2026
When I surveyed readers this summer about what they wanted more of, restaurant and opening news won by a mile. So this page is the running answer: what's newly open around Littleton 80127 and Ken Caryl, what's coming, and what we lost. A lot of it comes out of county permit files before anyone announces a thing, which is how this newsletter found half the entries below. The Friday email gets each one first.
Hotpot Den, 5934 South Kipling Parkway. A family-run, all-you-can-eat hot pot spot in the old Chen's Kitchen space, with house-made broths and the cook-it-yourself table experience. It quietly became one of the zip's most interesting dinner options the day it opened.
Los Dos Potrillos, 10065 West San Juan Way. Back. The family Mexican standby reopened July 9 after a kitchen fire in March kept it dark for four months, and the line on reopening day said everything about how much this one was missed.
Ken Caryl Kabob, 12652 West Ken Caryl Avenue, Suite A. Mediterranean and Nepalese under one roof, open since last year but still flying under a lot of radars. Their events calendar stays busy, which is usually the sign of a place planning to stick around.
Ziggi's Coffee, 8020 South Sangre de Cristo. The Colorado-grown drive-thru chain, with a grand-opening week of August 27 through 29 posted on its own site. Full details in the newsletter the week before.
The Summit Steak Bar, the Bevy's building on South Alkire. A steakhouse with a live website, dinner menu, and reservation page, but no announced opening date yet. As of August 14 the reservation system showed no bookable dates. I've asked, and the date prints the moment there is one.
Jersey Mike's, 7735 West Long Drive. One zip over, about a mile east of Kipling. The July tenant permit reads like a sub shop starter kit, two kitchen hoods and a brand-new grease trap.
Turnbuckle Distilling, northwest corner of Bowles and C-470. The most ambitious of the batch: a five-acre distillery with a chef-driven restaurant, a silo tasting room, and a working farm on the old Whistling Hare property. Its own site still says Coming Soon with no date.
For the paperwork behind these and every other project in the zip, see What's Going In There?, our development tracker.
Lucile's closed its Littleton location this spring after losing a lease fight we covered as it happened. Beignet season around here hasn't been the same.
Here's the honest part: this page tracks what's new, but the guide readers keep asking for is the one to what's good. That list should come from the people who actually eat here. Reply with the local spot you'd send a new neighbor to first, and what to order, at [email protected]. Favorites run anonymously, first names never required, and the best ones will grow this page into the neighborhood's answer sheet. And if you want each week's restaurant news the moment I find it in the permit files, the Friday newsletter is free.
Your weekly guide to Littleton, Ken Caryl, and the SW Denver foothills. Events, restaurants, trails, development news, and the stuff your neighbors are talking about.