Denver’s denizens looking for a bistro-styled meal have a new option on the famed 16th Street Mall. Little Finch, a restaurant in the style of Uptown’s Olive & Finch, opened last week at 1490 16th, site of a former Starbucks.
Mary Nguyen, owner and operator of the aforementioned Uptown location – which opened in 2013 – as well as one in Cherry Creek that opened in 2017, created the Little Finch concept as a complimentary option. Unlike its bigger siblings, Little Finch, doesn’t have a full kitchen, and its menu options are more limited.
That said, The Denver Post described the dining options as “serving craft coffee and breakfast pastries in the morning, to-go sandwiches and salads, plus a rotating specialty menu with hot dishes like chicken pot pie, beef bourguignon, a Cuban sandwich, and brunch items on the weekends. There’s also desserts, like mini cakes, white chocolate covered homemade Twinkies, and macarons, plus refreshing cocktails and mocktails at night.”
“Limited,” in the end, is all a matter of perspective. The 82-seat restaurant includes room for nearly three dozen on the patio, which should serve as a pleasant location during Denver’s sunny summer days.
“We did a soft opening a few weeks ago, and learned a lot about what the neighborhood needs and wants,” Nguyen told The Post. “The city is doing such an amazing job to reinvent 16th Street Mall. We were originally going to make it a takeout-style café, like the Starbucks used to be, but it’s really changed since then. I wanted to create a place where there’s no expectations… There aren’t a lot of places where you can sit and work with a great glass of wine, and not feel like there’s an expectation to dress up like you do at a bar or restaurant, or order a ton of food,. Here you can come in and out quick and easy, grab a drink while you wait for a table at ChoLon, or sit here all day on your laptop.”
Nyugen told The Post that future expansion plans for both the larger Olive & Finch concept and the smaller Little Finch concept are under way, with the River North (RiNo) and Lower Highlands (LoHi) neighborhoods under consideration, along with the Denver Tech Center and Boulder.
