XO Noodle Bar is no more

Lori Midson

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XO Noodle Bar, the hip (but hardly happening) noodle bar that opened in June at 1612 Wazee Street in the Jet Hotel, shuttered on Saturday. "We totally believe in the concept," insists exec chef Jose Guerreco. But, he adds, "it was a huge struggle to get people in that back space. It was always a challenge, so were looking for a new location."

A location, promises Guerreco, that will support the concept. "There's no place in town serving better noodles than us, so we're looking for a better location -- Highland or the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder -- where we can do the same great things that we did here," he explains. "Everyone loved what we were doing downtown, and there are actually people that are really angry with us for closing, but the location just killed us."

As for the vacated space that XO is leaving behind, it likely won't stay that way for long. "We have an operator that we're currently negotiating with who would take over the space by December 1," Guerrero says. And while he won't reveal what restaurant that might be, he will say that it's a "quick-service place with wok-cooking" that's locally owned, has multiple locations and relies mostly on delivery business.

My guess is Swing Thai. What's yours?