COVID-19 Leads To Another Restaurant Closure: Rialto Cafe On 16th Street Mall
DENVER (CBS4) - The coronavirus pandemic has proven too much for another long-time Denver restaurant. After 23 years, the Rialto Cafe has announced it will close permanently on Aug. 16.
Rialto Cafe is on the 16th Street Mall and relied primarily on people visiting downtown.
"We have been so lucky to have so many loyal patrons throughout the years," owner Kevin Brown wrote in a Facebook post, "but the majority of our business is also depended heavily on visitors brought to us nightly by the Colorado Convention Center and Denver Center for Performing Arts, and the many downtown hotels."
Those closings and cancellations just made it unrealistic for the restaurant to stay open. Some of the employees had been with Rialto since it opened in 1997.
Brown also said, "We will deeply miss celebrating birthdays and specials dates with you."
A recent survey of Colorado restaurants indicates 95% of them say sales are down considerably compared to 2019.