New Restaurants in Castle Rock CO: What Opened in 2026

Border Burger Sports Bar opened at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 30, at 810 New Memphis Court. On opening day the building still read "Trifecta" across the top. A temporary "Now Open" banner hung out front, and permanent signs were still to come.

That sign is a good summary of Castle Rock's restaurant year. Many of 2026's most noticeable openings went into rooms people already knew by another name. Most of the new names clustered near I-25 rather than downtown. And as of the first week of October, the town had lost about as many places to eat as it gained.

Three buildings, three new names

These are the clearest cases, where a business closed and a new one took over the same space within the year.

The Mercantile Street change was a rebrand, not a new owner moving in. According to DougCo Social's opening-day review, the Centennial I.C. Brewhouse closed the same day as Castle Rock's and reopened as Champagne Velvet Tap House & Kitchen just six days later. The Castle Rock building took about six months. The name comes from Upland Brewing's flagship 1902 pilsner. Hours start at 9 a.m. every day, which makes it a breakfast option as well as a dinner one.

Badger & Bloom opened quietly. It stayed at the Outlets but replaced one boba shop with another, in the former Sharetea space.

New Memphis Court saw the biggest swing. DougCo Social's closures list includes both Trifecta and Black-eyed Pea on that street. Border Burger has reopened one of those buildings. It runs a sports bar across all three floors of the old Trifecta building. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and until 10 p.m. on weekends. The owner also runs Border Burger Bar in Manitou Springs, and the concept is locally owned rather than franchised. Its chicken comes from RedBird Farms in Englewood. Sweet potato fries come with a side of marshmallow fluff for dipping.

The count that frames everything else

DougCo Social's running Douglas County openings and closures page was last checked against each business's own site on September 29. By our count of its Castle Rock entries, nine food-and-drink places opened in 2026: Starbird Chicken, Bar Hummingbird, Griddled Crêpes & Paninis, Badger & Bloom Boba, Izumi Sushi, Champagne Velvet, Jet's Pizza, Par Club, and Border Burger.

The same page lists ten food-and-drink closures:

• Stumpy's Pizza, last day August 26, looking to reopen elsewhere
• Sawara Sushi, closed August 15 after 13 years
• Trifecta Sports Bar & Grill and Black-eyed Pea, both on New Memphis Court
• Hideaway Bar & Grill, after two fires in May
• Jack in the Box on Wolfensberger
• Gluttony & Graze
• Sip Tea
• Sharetea
• Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen

Nine openings against ten closures means the total number of places to eat barely changed this year. What changed is which names are on the doors and where in town the new ones sit.

Where the new names landed

Taken by location, the 2026 openings lean heavily toward the I-25 side of town.

The Promenade at Castle Rock. Starbird Chicken opened at 6360 Promenade Parkway in April 2026, and the Douglas County News-Press reported a community grand opening on April 27. Bar Hummingbird, at 6371 Promenade Parkway next to The Brinkerhoff, was open by late March.

The Outlets at Castle Rock. Griddled Crêpes & Paninis opened Friday, May 8, at 5050 Factory Shops Blvd., Suite 175, on the Outlets' outer strip. Badger & Bloom is a short walk away at 4991 Factory Shops Blvd. Border Burger's building on New Memphis Court is near the Outlets, not one of its tenant spaces.

Founders Parkway and South Perry. Jet's Pizza opened July 17 at 62 Founders Parkway, Unit F, at the northwest corner of Founders Parkway and Front Street. Par Club, a golf-simulator bar with six bays and a full bar, held its grand opening in February at 774 S. Perry St., Suite A. The Hot Spot Studios isn't a restaurant, but it belongs on a list of new places to spend an evening. It's a walk-in craft studio that opened July 14 at 729 Barranca Drive, Unit 107.

Downtown. Izumi Sushi at 115 Third Street is the only downtown name among the year's openings.

Downtown's fall week runs on restaurants that were already there

Downtown Castle Rock Restaurant Week runs October 2 through Sunday, October 11. The official Restaurant Week page lists 24 participants, and each one is creating a special item that isn't on its regular menu. Each restaurant's offering is posted on Downtown Castle Rock's social media channels.

The 24 participants:

• Scileppi's at the Old Stone Church
• Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Co.
• Castle Cafe
• Bien Y Tu
• Playa Bowls
• Block & Bottle
• B's Craft Deli & Market
• Z'Abbracci - Pizza, Pasta & Tap House
• Angie's Restaurant
• BAGL
• Union Bistro
• Arayes
• Sinners & Saints
• Stack'd
• Dos Santos
• Wide Awake Eatery
• Port of Subs
• Courtyard Social
• Castleview Cafe
• The Compas Mexican Street Tacos
• Homegrown Tap & Dough
• The Office Co. Bar & Kitchen
• B&B Cafe
• Mashawi Damascus Cuisine

None of the nine 2026 openings above is on that list, including Izumi. Restaurant Week is a showcase for downtown's established independents, and the remaining days of this year's event fall entirely on that group.

Izumi is still worth knowing about on its own. It opened May 11 with a friends-and-family invite night. It takes reservations at (720) 749-6172 and also welcomes walk-ins. Omakase orders above $100 need three days' notice, and orders above $200 need a full week, so the chefs can source the fish. The restaurant orders fish three times a week.

The pipeline, with dates treated as targets

DougCo Social's own advice on coming-soon dates is to "read fall as a mood, not a promise." Here is where each announced Castle Rock project stood in the first week of October.

• Peak Pizza, Outlets at Castle Rock, Suite 660. A New York-style, fast-casual pizzeria with an arcade and soft-serve. On October 6 the owners said they were aiming for mid-to-late October, with no firm date, and beer and wine service depends on a pending license.
• Dunkin', 1185 Aloha St. in Founders Marketplace. This will be Castle Rock's first, built in the chain's Next Generation format with a drive-thru and planned hours of 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. The early forecast was late September or early October. As of October 5, Dunkin's store locator still showed "Coming Soon."
• Thai Wow, 794 S. Perry St. in the Safeway-anchored Plum Creek center, from the two chefs behind north Denver's Country Thai. On September 16 the owner said they're targeting the end of 2026. An October 2 report from What Now Denver gave no opening date.
• Chicken Salad Chick, The Meadows. Under construction, with a patio and drive-thru planned. No date announced.
• HOKA, Outlets at Castle Rock. A retail store with no opening date announced.
• Pilates Addiction, 333 Perry St. downtown. Construction is paused, and on October 5 the studio said it expects to open around Christmas 2026.

Thai Wow will be the second new name on the 700 block of South Perry, after Par Club. Pilates Addiction will be the second new downtown business of the year, after Izumi.

The fall calendar stays downtown and at the parks

The new restaurants have spread out toward I-25, but the town's dated fall events still happen in its older public spaces.

1. Saturday, October 17, 1 to 4 p.m. The Town is calling this year's Spooktacular "revamped." It's free, with activities at the Amphitheater and Millhouse at Philip S. Miller Park, 1375 W. Plum Creek Parkway.
2. Sunday, October 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Fall Festival at Festival Park, 300 Second St., includes "Creepy Crawlies Around the Rock."
3. Friday, October 30, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fangtastic Festival downtown.
4. Saturday, November 21, 2 to 6 p.m. Starlighting in Historic Wilcox Square and Festival Park. The ceremony starts at 5 p.m., the star lights at about 5:30, and fireworks follow right after. The listing also advertises the 90th annual firefighter chili supper and a paid "Flip the Switch" auction, with a $2,000 starting bid and bidding open through November 6.
5. November 22 through January 3. Downtown holiday carriage rides.

The Chamber's Starlighting page still labels one schedule block "2025," and the full program is marked "Coming Soon." Check the times again in November.

Commercial turnover like Border Burger moving into the old Trifecta building is one of the ways a neighborhood changes, and it plays out next to the homes nearby. If you own in Castle Rock and want to know how this year's changes affect what your home is worth, or you're weighing a rental and want a management quote, Colorado Dream Properties can give you a clear local answer. Request a free home valuation or a property management quote, and we'll walk you through the numbers for your address.