Chopsticks China Bistro is seized for non-payment of sales tax

Lori Midson

I was longing for hot and sour soup and soup dumplings yesterday, but when I pulled into the parking lot of Chopsticks China Bistro, 5117 South Yosemite Street, one of my favorite joints to get both, the dining room was dark and the front door and windows had been plastered with signs, the verbiage of which pointed to a bleak picture for the future of the Chinese restaurant owned by David Lee, who reopened the bistro a year ago after shuttering the original Chopsticks at 2990 West Mississippi when his lease ran out.

When I interviewed Lee last year, prior to the move, he was hopeful that the suburban Greenwood Village address, which peddled a liquor license and was double the size of the Mississippi location, would be a sure hit. "I think we'll do better in the Tech Center," he told me.

Sadly, it appears that Lee was too optismistic, because Chopsticks has been seized by the state of Colorado for non-payment of sales tax, to the tune of more than $12,000. Ouch. And on October 19, at 11 a.m., all of the restaurant's furniture, fixtures, equipment and inventory are being auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Bummer.