Dana Monfort thinks of it as a truck stop in Cherry Creek.
No, there won’t be gas. But the 32-year-old with a background in real estate plans to debut three concepts next spring in the building where Crepes n’ Crepes once operated: a bodega, an ice cream shop and a restaurant serving breakfast burritos, sandwiches and more.
“It’s the place to fuel up,” she said.
The trio at 2816 E. 3rd Ave. will be branded Town Pump Provisions, which honors Monfort’s ties to the trucking industry. Her father, Stuart Smith, owns multiple Colorado trucking and moving companies, including Alliance, United and Student Movers. He also owned Buehler Cos. before selling his stake in August.
Monfort, 32, is southwest regional director for Yale Realty & Capital Advisors, a brokerage firm focused on mobile home and RV parks. She married local developer Kenneth Monfort, the son of Colorado Rockies co-owner Charlie Monfort, in 2023.
Monfort signed a 10-year lease with landlord McDougal & Co. last November. While this is her first food venture, she said she has made a habit of checking out local coffee shops and restaurants while traveling.
“I definitely want to tie in those experiences and menu items over time into this menu,” she said. “I want to make it a thing when people come in from other towns, they do the same thing with Town Pump.”
Monfort said she became enamored with New York City bodegas, or corner stores. Replicating that was her original plan when she started planning the concept two-and-a-half years ago. The restaurant component just “just kind of fell into place,” she said, after seeing a void of fast-casual dining in Cherry Creek.
“I always said I’d never get into the restaurant industry,” she said. “But there’s just such a need for this.”
The 720-square-foot restaurant will feature “healthy but hearty” options and is modeled after The Green Collective, which operates in LoHi and Wash Park. Green Collective owner Allison Rifkin is helping Monfort develop the menu and plan operations, and Green Collective head chef Lauren Egdahl will also helm Town Pump’s kitchen.
Town Pump Eats will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, operating from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and serving things such as green chile breakfast burritos, a Mexican kale salad and other bites. There will be gluten-free and vegan options, and beer and wine, along with a frozen mixer for “more fun” drinks, Monfort said.
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The goal is to get customers their food in under 10 minutes. While waiting, Monfort hopes people wander into the 600-square foot Town Pump Bodega to the west.
“We want this to be a very synergistic one-stop shop,” she said.
It will stock both convenience and grocery store staples, including nicotine products and over-the-counter drugs, as well as higher-end items from farmers markets and local restaurants, such as hummus from Ash’kara in LoHi. Town Pump will also have its own branded food items, such as almond milk and salad dressings.
“From the simplest of items to caviar, we’ll have those options,” Monfort said. “It’s going to be that neighborhood corner bodega that everybody goes to and employees recognize you. Not daunting, but you can still get that high-end stuff if you need.”
Monfort will sublease the final third of the building along 3rd Avenue, which is shaped like a horseshoe around a courtyard, to an ice cream shop. She and Rifkin would hint only at the subtenant that will take the 690 square feet.
“Everybody will know them,” said Rifkin. “They’ll bring a line.”
The building is currently undergoing a $1.5 million renovation, which Monfort said is a higher than typical because the building is older.
“We’re taking that baby down to the studs,” Rifkin said of construction.
The courtyard is also being revamped, with seating, umbrellas, plants and vintage gas pumps. The project was designed by 4240 Architecture. MAG Builders is the general contractor. It’s being overseen by Culinary Creative Group’s Kevin Eddy.
Culinary Creative, led by Juan Padro, has been advising Monfort throughout the process, helping with everything from vendor negotiations to back-end software. He also connected Monfort with Rifkin because of her experience building up The Green Collective.
“It’s borderline criminal that Cherry Creek doesn’t have something like this,” Padro said.
The project is largely self-funded, with some family and friends adding to the pot.
Monfort hopes Town Pump becomes a one-size-fits-all destination for everyone from parents walking their kids to school to local finance executives, calling it a “refined but masculine spot.”
She cited Erewhon, a high-end California grocery chain, as a company that’s done that, but said she doesn’t want Town Pump to be a copy-and-paste Denver version.
“People don’t want to go there because it’s literally $30 for a bag of granola,” she said. “It’s going to be that Erewhon experience without the price tags.”
Rifkin said her restaurant The Green Collective was profitable by month two.
“I’m very confident that we’ll be able to do the same here,” Rifkin said.
If that holds true, Monfort would love to expand to other Denver neighborhoods, naming LoHi and Tennyson Street as two possibilities. When she’s dreaming big, Aspen comes to mind as well.
“This could be something that makes a community whole,” she said.