New Restaurants in Greenwood Village & DTC: Fall 2026 Guide

Two large, chef-led restaurants are coming to the Tech Center. One is a seafood spinoff of Guard and Grace on East Union Avenue. The other is a Mexico City-inspired steakhouse at The Landmark. Both are going into places that went unused for a long time. One is a dining room that was fully built out for a restaurant that never opened. The other is a lot that has been vacant for two decades. The smaller turnover this summer followed the same pattern, as new tenants moved into storefronts the last ones had just left.

That makes the openings easier to predict. If a kitchen already exists, the project can move in months. If it starts with bare dirt, it takes more than a year. For anyone planning a birthday dinner or a client lunch near Orchard Road, the type of space tells you more than any announcement.

A dining room that was already built

G&G Surf Club is Troy Guard's seafood-focused version of his downtown steakhouse, Guard and Grace. It is going into 8100 E. Union Ave., in the Penterra Plaza building. According to BusinessDen's reporting in The Denver Post, Guard signed a 15-year lease with landlord Edgewood REIT for a prebuilt space. That space was meant for an upscale restaurant called Golden Oak, which was planned to open in early 2025 and never did. BusinessDen's sources put the earlier buildout at more than $10 million. Before that, the address was home to McCormick & Schmick's and then sat vacant for years, Westword reported in September.

Guard said he first talked to the landlord about a Guard and Grace at this spot five years ago, but the numbers didn't work. The landlord came back with a second offer, and this time he took it. He told BusinessDen the deal was hard to turn down:

"I'm not really excited about the way Denver is right now, but we're banking on it getting better and these really-hard-to-say-no-to opportunities. If this were a regular opportunity I wouldn't have done it."

Westword described the same dynamic. Guard is weighing offers from landlords who want proven operators in spaces that have been empty a long time. He has a track record nearby. His Los Chingones has been at Belleview Station for nine years, and he says it now does better than his RiNo location, which was not the case before the pandemic. "To me, DTC is way stronger than downtown," he said.

The plans keep the existing space and add to it. Guard said his group would make changes "around the edges" and add an island bar and a raw bar. Westword's September tour described a wraparound bar with a lounge, a raw bar, a sushi bar, an open kitchen, a private dining room, about 225 seats inside, and two large patios. The June lease story put the space at 9,000 square feet. Westword's tour put it at 8,500. KDVR described the menu as seafood-forward, with prime steaks, wood-fired dishes and fresh pasta.

Because so much was already in place, the timeline has stayed short. In June, the target was "by Nov. 1." On September 16, Westword found the room still wrapped in plastic, with saws running, and aiming for October or November. As of early October, the G&G Surf Club site has a signup form but no opening date and no reservation link.

Why The Landmark will take longer than Union Avenue

The Brinkerhoff is the slower version of the same idea. Brinkerhoff Hospitality is led by president and CEO Mark Brinkerhoff. The company opened its first Brinkerhoff at 6373 Promenade Parkway in Castle Rock in September 2025. The restaurant calls itself a Mexico City-inspired grill. Its menu includes fresh-baked bread, prime steaks, fish flown in daily, and cocktails made with tequila aged in house.

BusinessDen reported on July 28 that a second location was planned for 5390 Greenwood Plaza Blvd. Greenwood Village City Council approved the site plan and development agreement unanimously on September 14. City staff told council a 9,800-square-foot restaurant is a permitted use under The Landmark's master development plan. Parking would include 39 spaces on site and 49 off site.

Unlike the Union Avenue project, this one starts from scratch. The applicant told council that Lot 7 has been vacant for 20 years. The contractor said the work includes removing about six feet of fill that had been dumped on the lot. The estimate is about 15 months of construction. No start date has been reported. If crews began this month, a 15-month build would end in early 2028.

The design shows the long-term plan. It calls for handcrafted limestone and reclaimed brick, Corten steel details, a covered patio with folding glass walls, and a solar canopy expected to supply about 15% of the restaurant's power. The applicant described about 150 dining seats plus 20 at the bar, with a valet drop-off.

The Coastal Service fits between the two. It is an East Coast-style seafood and oyster bar from Sean Huggard, founder of Shucking Good Hospitality, planned for the On The Square development at Belleview Avenue and Ulster Street. Mile High CRE reported an early 2027 target in August.

The same thing, one storefront at a time

The smaller changes this summer followed the same pattern on a smaller scale. Westword's monthly opening and closing lists show restaurant addresses changing hands in Greenwood Village, often within weeks.

• 4940 S. Yosemite St. Westword listed Crave Cookies as closed in its July roundup and Sen Tea House as open at the same address in its August roundup.
• South Newport Street, Belleview Station area. Tap & Burger at 4910 S. Newport St. appeared on the July closings list. El Tule opened down the block at 4862 S. Newport St. in June, on Westword's list of Denver Tech Center openings.
• East Arapahoe Road. Yummy Hot Pot opened at 8181 E. Arapahoe Road in July. Moxie Social, a zero-proof drinks and charcuterie spot at 9686 E. Arapahoe Road, had just opened when Westword covered it on June 13.
• 8745 E. Orchard Road. Westword reported on September 5 that the restaurant at Mama Kim's had closed. The spa there is still open.

On Yosemite, a closing in July was followed by an opening in August at the same address. That is the small-scale version of what Edgewood REIT offered Guard. A space with a working kitchen gets a new tenant quickly. A raw lot like the one at The Landmark can sit for 20 years until an operator with a firm plan and a 15-month schedule commits to it.

A calendar for the next year and a half

Taken together, the reported timelines put the openings in this order:

1. This fall: G&G Surf Club on East Union Avenue, if the October or November target holds. Its website is the place to watch for reservations.
2. Early 2027: The Coastal Service at On The Square, based on the target Mile High CRE reported in August.
3. After about 15 months of construction: The Brinkerhoff at 5390 Greenwood Plaza Blvd. No start date has been announced.

Until then, the Castle Rock Brinkerhoff on Promenade Parkway is the only place to try the menu headed for The Landmark.

When a long-empty space nearby gets a new restaurant, that change affects how a home on the next street is valued. If you're thinking about what the Tech Center's dining changes mean for your property, Ashleigh Fredrickson follows these blocks closely and can walk you through it. Get Your Instant Home Valuation.