Places · 2 min read · updated August 2026
Larimer Square, block by block
The one block that saved the neighborhood, what's on it now, and how to spend an evening there without a plan.
Larimer Square is a single block, the 1400 block of Larimer Street between 14th and 15th, and it is the oldest commercial block in Denver: the city was platted from here in 1858. It survived the 1960s only because Dana Crawford bought up its Victorian buildings in 1965 and won it Denver's first historic-district designation in 1971. Today it is a canopy of string lights over a full block of restaurants, bars and shops, and on a summer evening it is the busiest sidewalk in the state.
Who's on it
Restaurants first, because that is what the block is for. Rioja, Jennifer Jasinski's Mediterranean room since 2004 and still the reservation to make; Osteria Marco, Frank Bonanno's basement pizzeria with the house burrata; Ocean Prime and The Capital Grille at either end for the expense-account steak; Tamayo, Richard Sandoval's rooftop Mexican at 14th; and, in the space that was TAG for twelve years, NADC Burger up front and the ten-seat Sushi by Scratch hidden behind it. Around the corner on 14th, Bao Brewhouse with UKIYO underneath.
Bars: Corridor 44 for Champagne until 2am, and, downstairs in the Granite Building at 15th, Comedy Works, the 1981 basement club where national headliners still work on material and where the Tuesday New Talent Night launched Roseanne Barr and Josh Blue.
Shops: fewer than there were, but a Pat Milbery mural now runs 391 feet down the middle of the roadway (finished May 29, 2026), the shoe boutique Scarpaletto is returning in fall 2026, and an independent bookstore, Little Blue Pigeon, was announced in March.
An evening
Come at dusk when the lights come on. Drink first at Corridor 44 or the bar at Rioja. Eat somewhere on the block or three minutes away at Rhein Haus if the square is booked out. Comedy Works at 7:30 or 9:45. Then either the walk up 16th to the Cruise Room, or the walk down 14th to the Arts Complex and beyond it to Ball Arena on an event night.
Ownership and money
The block has changed hands and provoked fights: Jeff Hermanson's 2018 plan to add towers behind it drew a preservation battle; Asana Partners bought it in 2020 and refinanced it for $125 million in July 2026. The two-story scale is protected by the historic district; the tenants are not, and the block turns over more than it looks. We check it every month.
Parking and getting there
Writer Square garage on Lawrence at 15th (Comedy Works validates), the Larimer Square garage on Lawrence, or the Arts Complex garage two blocks down 14th. From Union Station it is a seven-minute walk up 16th and left on Larimer, or the free shuttle two stops.