Denver restaurants that still have the same owner after at least forty years

Mark Manger

Still strong at forty years

Mark Monette laughed when I asked him how he managed to stay motivated to keep his restaurant in top form after a long run in the kitchen, but I'm still not done marveling at the fact that Flagstaff House, 1138 Flagstaff Road, Boulder, has been around for four decades under the same family and still manages to stay fresh and relevant.

In fact, not many restaurants can claim forty years under the same owner. Period. But after I filed my review, I started looking around for the ones that can. Here's the list of Denver restaurants that have been with the same family of owners for at least forty years:

Chubby's, 1231 West 38th Avenue, owned by the Cordova family since 1967

La Fiesta, 2340 Champa Street, owned by the Herrera family since 1964

Lucero's, 3657 Filllmore Street, owned by the Lucero family since 1962

The Bonnie Brae Tavern, 740 South University Boulevard, owned by the Dire family since 1934

Blue Bonnet, 457 South Broadway, owned by the Mobell family since 1967/1968

The Wishbone Restaurant, 9701 Federal Boulevard, Westminster, owned by the Lochi family since 1963

Bastien's Restaurant & Steakhouse, 3501 East Colfax Avenue, owned by the Bastien family since 1937

The Saucy Noodle, 727 South University Boulevard, owned by the Badis family (now the Markhams) since 1964

The Taco House, 1335 Wadsworth Boulevard, Lakewood, owned by the Bevelhymer family since 1958

North Woods Inn, 8109 Blakeland Drive, Littleton, owned by the Maten family since the 1960s

Emi-Lene's Sirloin House, 16000 East Smith Road, Aurora, owned by the Kucher (now Krause) family since 1957/1958

20th Street Cafe, 1123 20th Street, owned by the Okuno family since 1946

The Blue Parrot Restaurant, 640 Main Street, Louisville, owned by the Colacci family since 1919

Know of more? Add them in the comment section below.