Early next year, a fourth Udi's Bread Cafe will open downtown

Lori Midson

Udi's exec chef Robin Baron and the rest of the Udi's crew will open an Udi's Bread Cafe in downtown Denver.

Quiznos, a national sandwich chain, whose corporate headquarters (and one of its dwindling sub shops) are located at 1001 17th Street, is about to get some stiff competition when Udi's Bread Cafe, bread baron Udi Bar-on's tribute to loaves, opens directly behind the sandwich chain early next year.

"When the developers had the building constructed, the main tenant was Quiznos, but we were recently sought out by the landlord, who really wants a completely different sandwich shop to compete with Quiznos," says Etai Bar-on, Udi's son and CEO of the Udi's kingdom, which encompasses three Udi's Bread Cafes (this will be the fourth); Udi's Pizza Cafe Bar in Arvada; Udi's Catering; Udi's Artisan Bakery; and Udi's granola.

The 2,800-square-foot downtown Denver outpost, notes Etai, will serve breakfast and lunch, with a focus on sandwiches and salads. "We've had our catering company since 1994, and we do a ton of box lunch business downtown -- at least twenty deliveries a day -- and we know we have a lot of customers down there, so this was the next logical step," he explains. "We're definitely ready to be in downtown, and we're excited to do great breakfasts and lunches for a lot of loyal customers."

If everything goes according to plan, the store will open on January 12.