Welcome to the Denver Gazette’s Metro Moves. You’ll get the latest metro Denver openings, closings, hiring and promotion news here. To submit your company’s news, drop an email to jessica.gibbs@denvergazette.com.

Fixins Soul Kitchen

The soul food restaurant from former NBA player Kevin Johnson and mayor of Sacramento that celebrates Black culture is coming to Denver.

Fixins Soul Kitchen will open in the historic Five Points neighborhood in early 2024. The restaurant will go into The Hooper, a mixed-use development at 26th and Welton. The space can seat 190 people, spans 6,500 square feet of both indoor and outdoor space, and will feature interior design that pays homage to the neighborhood’s jazz roots.

Johnson and his wife, Michelle, founded Fixins in 2019, according to a news release announcing the restaurant’s future opening. The menu will boast chicken and waffles, oxtails, shrimp and grits, deep fried deviled eggs and peach cobbler.

Diners pair “fixins” with their entrée, choosing from collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams, black-eyed peas, red beans and rice and grits. The restaurant will also serve up Bourbons from Uncle Nearest, a whiskey company whose namesake was a former enslaved person and the first-known African American master distiller in the U.S.

Mayor Michael Hancock and former Mayor Wellington Webb attended a celebration of the restaurant’s move into Denver.

“We are excited to continue our national expansion and bring Fixins Soul Kitchen to Denver,” Johnson said in a news release. “I know that the Five Points community is the perfect area to showcase our authentic soul food and together we will make beautiful music!”

Squeeze

The founders of Drybar are looking to shake up the wellness industry with an approach to massage therapy that relies on both high-tech booking platforms and brick-and-mortar locations, and they’ve brought their fourth location to Denver.

The membership-based Squeeze opened on June 30 in Cherry Creek at 875 Albion Street. Guests can book massages online or through the business’ app. Customers will be able to schedule, pay, tip, rate, and review their experience all online.

Guests can save their massage preferences — such as pressure, lighting and music — to their online profile for therapists to review before an appointment. They will also be able to press a “ready button” to alert their therapist that they can come to the room and begin their massage. Squeeze does not charge extra fees for deep tissue, heat therapy, aromatherapy and percussion therapy add-ons.

“It’s such a privilege to be able to bring The Feel-Good Revolution to Denver,” Brittany Driscoll, co-founder and CEO of Squeeze, said in a news release. “We can’t wait to build the best team of massage therapists and look forward to creating an enjoyable and memorable experience for our guests. We are scaling Squeeze nationwide by supporting small business ownership and are excited to support our Operating Partners, Mark & Stacey Jamison, as they bring their first of many locations to Cherry Creek.”

Emerald Eye

New cocktail bar Emerald Eye is slated to open this month in Larimer Square. The Caribbean-inspired cocktail bar will be fitted with tropical designs, vintage-inspired lighting and a botanical wall. Art installed throughout the bar will keep to the tropical theme, evoking “a playful nighttime feel that is sure to enchant visitors,” a release announcing the bar’s opening said. Guests will also find a DJ playing reggae and dance hall vinyl. The menu will comprise modern takes on classic drinks.

The bar at 1403 Larimer Street is scheduled to open July 20 and is one of the latest ventures from Pouring With Heart, a hospitality group launched in Los Angeles that has since expanded to include more than 20 venues in multiple states. The group focuses on opening bars in historic districts. Pouring With Heart has owned Seven Grand at the Dairy Block since 2017 and took over American Bonded in the River North Arts District last winter.

“Larimer Square is a top downtown Denver destination and we are thrilled to be a part of this vibrant neighborhood,” Pouring With Heart’s Denver Director of Operations Erbin Garcia said in a news release. “Our venues, from employees to guests, are people focused. We look forward to celebrating Denver’s amazing cocktail culture and creating a new neighborhood spot that welcomes both locals and visitors.”