Smoking meat takes time and patience. The end result, though, is usually worth the wait.
The same could be said for opening a restaurant in post-pandemic Denver, where things don’t always go as planned, said Terry Walsh, a restaurateur who owns Rolling Smoke BBQ and its four metro Denver locations (as well as one at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on concert nights).
“This is six years in the making,” he said about his latest venture. “We make barbecue, so we are used to that.”
Walsh’s new restaurant, though, won’t sell grilled meat. When it opens, probably in April, the Chubby Unicorn Cantina will instead offer tacos, nachos and other Mexican-American specialties just steps away from Mission Ballroom in the River North Art District.
“The city (government) doesn’t really like outdoor smokers, so it was tough to place one there in the neighborhood,” Walsh explained. “We love the area down there, and we know the long-term plans, so it was either not open anything or pivot to something new.”
Rolling Smoke owner Terry Walsh is opening a Mexican concept at Mission Ballroom called Chubby Cantina. (Provided by Rolling Smoke BBQ)
The Chubby Unicorn, at 4180 Wynkoop St., will be in the plaza across from the entrance to the Mission Ballroom so that patrons walking out of the music venue will find Left Hand Brewing’s taproom on the left and Chubby Unicorn on the right. The restaurant will have close to 90 seats inside and another 40 on the patio, and the goal is to serve a slimmed-down menu on concert evenings and a slightly expanded menu on other nights.
“We want to be the go-to for the neighborhood on non-show nights,” Walsh explained.
To help get the concept started, Walsh recruited Mike Carlin from the now-closed Mikes 2 Cantina, who used to roll with Rolling Smoke when it started out as a food truck. He’ll also have help from some former employees who are bringing recipes from Mexico.
Business by the Mission Ballroom has been choppy over the past six years as development started, stopped and started again through the pandemic, resulting in some changing plans, Walsh said. But the process is moving again, and he is comfortable waiting.
“That is the beauty of having four other restaurants that are doing well … this one doesn’t have to be [at first],” he continued. “2024 was tough, but our ‘tough’ was better than what a lot of people are facing. Our locations inside food halls are really helping us.”
Rolling Smoke’s four permanent stores are at 7100 W. 38th Ave. in Wheat Ridge; 7470 S. University Blvd. in Centennial; 2501 Dallas St., inside Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace; and 1012 Ford St., inside the Golden Mill food hall in Golden.
But for a concert venue, business will be different, relying almost entirely on shows – and that’s another reason Mexican food may work better than barbecue, Walsh said. “We want to be fast and light. Eating a plate of barbecue before going into a concert isn’t the most appealing thing.”