When Oskar Blues in downtown Colorado Springs closed recently, the full-service restaurant and microbrewery’s management cited the city’s Tejon Street Revitalization project as a contributing factor, along with other issues like the pandemic.
Blaming the city’s effort to improve the area didn't quite square with food journalist Matthew Schniper of Side Dish with Schniper newsletter, so he decided to look into it.
He spoke with KRCC's Andrea Chalfin about what he found out.
Matthew also spills the tea on his recent staycation at Hotel Polaris, now open near the location of the soon-to-open Air Force Academy visitor center. He also shared some small bites of other local food news.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
At the end of the year, we noticed that Oskar Blues closed in downtown Colorado Springs. The full-service restaurant run by the Longmont brewery had been there since 2017. What did they cite as their reasons for the closure?
They gave a long list of things, actually. They mentioned COVID and the strain on businesses ever since then. They mentioned reduced discretionary spending and more competition for those dollars in the marketplace. And then they particularly called out the construction project on Tejon, the Tejon Street Revitalization.
And the Tejon Street Revitalization, part of the whole point of that was to add more outdoor seating, right?
In part, yes. Expand sidewalks, make them way more pedestrian-friendly, add trees and more streetscapes to make them beautiful. So they all have good intentions for making downtown more walkable.
But Oskar Blues was actually north of that?
It's one block north of the two blocks that were part of the revitalization, and some people were noting that on social media and their comments, why did this take (out) this restaurant, not the others? I found that interesting too. That's what made me want to dig deeper and look at their reasons and whether that checked out.
What did you find out?
I called Downtown Partnership first. I wanted to see, if by their numbers, what the impact of the construction had been on those businesses. It turns out they do track foot traffic through cell phone data, a little Big Brother, but hey, it's useful.
It turns out that foot traffic was actually up 4 percent, a little over 4 percent, 4.3, year over year for the downtown Business Improvement District, which spans a longer part of Tejon. Now, if you isolate Oskar Blues' block alone, it was still up 2.2 percent year over year with foot traffic. So that kind of takes the wind out of the sails of this argument that hurt us in terms of foot traffic alone.
However, Downtown Partnership did acknowledge that despite the higher foot traffic, spending was down. So that's another reason, really. Oskar Blues is partly a brewery, that's part of their brand. But 2025 was the worst year for beer sales in a decade nationwide.
So there are other trends happening here. I don't think that it would be fair to blame the Tejon Revitalization alone because we only have what they said in that press release. We just don't know if there was more to it.
You reached back out to them to get a comment?
I did, yeah. I never heard back.
But I did reach out to other businesses inside of the improvement district to find out what was their story. I spoke to Colorado Craft co-owner Brian Bradigan. He told me his sales were kind of flat year over year, so it didn't have a huge impact.
He said he thought it was going to be worse than it actually was, and for him, he just said, this is necessary growing pains if we want to be a cool and unique city. So he just took it on the chin.
I also reached out to Red Gravy. Chef Eric Brenner there said he was actually up year over year during both March and April during the first two months of construction, still up 2 percent by May. So even when they were shut down, he was still growing. So that's the outlier story on the block.
I didn't have time to talk to every business. I didn't hear from everyone. Those were just two that I did reach out to.
We know that operating a restaurant is a really challenging industry, but does this Oskar Blues closure, is this indicative of anything else about the food scene in downtown Colorado Springs?
I don't think this is a canary in the coal mine moment or something for downtown. I think the reasons they cited are valid; those are ever-present anyway in restaurants. There are so many factors right now that are tough. They're not wrong about what's going on with the economy and people holding their dollars more. And they said dining out is increasingly viewed as a luxury expense. I agree. I mean, not everyone can be out doing this all the time. So there are certainly factors that are valid. I just don't think the construction alone is so problematic.
Taking a peek: Hotel Polaris at the U.S. Air Force Academy
Switching gears a little bit, you took a staycation at this new hotel at the Air Force Academy that opened in 2024. It's the highly anticipated project Hotel Polaris. Tell me about that stay.
It was interesting. You don't see a lot of properties around the country that are tied so closely to a military institution. There's one at West Point called the Thayer, but the whole identity of this project is related to the visitor center opening this summer ahead, slated for May opening. That's part of the C4C, the City for Champions project. It's the last one to open. We already saw the Olympic Museum, we saw the UCCS Sports Center, Wiedner Field, and Ed Robson Arena. This is the last part of that.
This is directly across a footbridge connected to that visitor center. So there's very much a relationship there, but it's also right at the North Gate of the Academy. In time, once those bonds are paid off for the construction, the intention is to gift this to the Air Force Academy Foundation. So there's this really unique relationship there that you don't see at other places
Like the Broadmoor, it is a resort property. The staycation idea: it's inviting to take that long weekend or whatever. There are multiple dining options on property, and, instead of golf, like at the Broadmoor or some other activity, there are flight simulators. That makes it one of a kind. They say it's the only resort in the nation that has professional flight simulators like the ones pilots train on.
On property, there was great food. There's a rooftop sushi lounge with cocktails and great views. There's a lobby level, main eatery, with upscale, fine dining, serving all three meals. We had fantastic meals there. Great wine pairings, really good service.
The views are incredible. They did a great job visually. The coolest part, if you like architecture, the mid-century modern design building is gorgeous. That's worth visiting alone, and it ties into the Academy's own architecture. A great little thing right in our backyard.
Do you have to stay at the hotel in order to eat in their restaurants?
No. You could go in as a guest and even book the flight simulators and eat on property. I would encourage people, now is a great time of the season to do this, or even stay at the Broadmoor during Colorado Appreciation months. There are discounted menus, discounted room rates. The rates are much lower now with lower occupancy. So if you are thinking about checking it out, now is the time.
Quick Hits-Memorable Bites:
- Happy Cow (Old Colorado City): "They really opened with just this whole healthier, more sustainably-minded food, and people really responded strongly and they've had great feedback since."
- Misty Mountain Collective (north of downtown, near Colorado College): "It's a zero waste coffee shop. You can order your latte to go in a glass jar and you bring it back and get your deposit back. .... And there's some cool little drinks that are inspired by tinctures and tonics and potions and stuff."
- AffoGatto Coffee (Falcon): "It's a cat-themed coffee shop, not a cat cafe, so don't be mistaken. You're not going to get to go in and pet a cat. I'm sorry. But they've done a really good job with the cat decor and themes. They give money back to a feline rescue."
- Reception Coffee (North Academy, attached to Hold Fast): "They do a slow bar by morning. It's not meant for to-go, it's meant to sit down and really enjoy a nice drink, talk to your baristas, get to know more about what you're drinking. And at nighttime, the coolest thing there is a build-your-own espresso martini bar."
- Gossip Point (food truck): "It's Indian food and their whole menu is built around butter chicken."
