There were no goodbye parties or social media posts. No explanations or heartfelt thanks.
Unlike most breweries that shut their doors — and there were plenty in Colorado in 2024 that did so — these four closed with little fanfare, quietly fading away with little in the way of recognition. So here’s a short goodbye to Little Dry Creek, Mono Mono, Gordon Biersch and El Rancho.
El Rancho, Evergreen
The story of El Rancho restaurant in Evergreen in the past few years has been anything been quiet, as multiple owners and operators did battle. But the end came without so much as a peep — just an announcement last spring that the historic restaurant, located above I-70 at 29260 US-40, would be open for private events only. The current owners currently hope to move the building and sell the land to a gas station operator — something neighbors are fighting. But in the meantime, the closure has also meant the end of the brewery — open since 2016 — which has had a couple of names, including Pygmy Stallion when Bonanno Concepts was (briefly) running things.
Mono Mono Korean Fried Chicken, Lafayette
When restauranteur JW Lee and his company, Seoul Hospitality, bought the little building at 599 Crossing Drive in Lafayette, he didn’t know it also came with a brewery (left over from the previous tenant, Uturn BBQ). So, as an enterprising businessman, he hired two contract brewers to create a pair of beer recipes that would pair with spicy Korean-style fried chicken. But at some point in 2024, the location shuttered and the brewery with it. A representative of Mono Mono didn’t return an email from The Denver Post seeking comment.
Little Dry Creek Brewery has closed in Greenwood Village. (Marc Piscotty, provided by Grange Hall)
Little Dry Creek Brewery, Greenwood Village
At one point, brewer Ty Nash had this spot, located inside the former Grange Hall food market — which was founded by Denver restauranteur Troy Guard — dialed in, winning a pair of World Beer Cup medals. But things didn’t go well after the food hall, at 6575 Greenwood Plaza Blvd. in Greenwood Village, was purchased in 2023 by strip club operator RCI Hospitality Holdings Co., which changed the name to Cherry Creek Food Hall & Brewery and switched out most of the food stalls. So when the operation closed in November, so did Little Dry Creek. A spokesman for RCI didn’t respond to an email request for information about the future of the brewery or its equipment.
Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, Broomfield
At one time, chain brewpubs were all the rage, but that began to change in the mid-2010s as independently owned small breweries took over. Companies like C.B. & Potts, Hops Restaurant & Brewery, BJs Restaurant & Brewhouse, Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, and Gordon Biersh Brewery Restaurant, began to face competition, shrink or close. Private equity firms began investing in some of them, but that hasn’t changed their fate. In November, after being sold three times already (from Centerbridge to SPB Hospitality to the Kelly Companies), the parent of GB shuttered its 23-year-old location at 1 W. Flatiron Crossing Drive in Broomfield, ending a tradition there of award-winning lagers and really good French fries. There are now only two remaining Gordon Biersch locations and a handful of airport stores in the U.S. and Taiwan.