The smell of sizzling food wafts down the corridor as the sound of fingers plucking strings fill the courtyard. The energy inside Avenue 19 bubbles out the door and spills onto the sidewalk — at least, that’s the vision.

At 19 N. Tejon St. in downtown Colorado Springs, the space formerly known as the Tejon Eatery, a remodeling project is underway to transform the 26,000-square-foot food hall into an outdoor courtyard themed food hub, entertainment spot and bar scene. Avenue 19 will feature local food vendors, live music and drinks.

Phil Duhon, Avenue 19’s operations manager, will lead the remodeling and rebranding of the former Tejon Eatery, which shuttered in October because of high labor costs and a lack of customers.

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Duhon, who owns and runs the downtown breakfast restaurant Burnt Toast with business partner John Goede (one of the owners of what will soon be Avenue 19) believes two business choices will be a game changer for enlivening the food hall — atmosphere and hours of operation.

“It’s just a really cool vibe,” Duhon said. “It kind of has almost a Chicago or New Orleans food district vibe with patio cafes.”

From brick walls and streetlamps to plants and patio seating, Duhon said the cost of enhancements will likely reach a quarter of a million dollars.

“The amount of money we spent was exactly for mood and ambiance,” Duhon said. “We didn’t change the footprint whatsoever. That was all strictly for cosmetics, for lighting, just to give it that cool vibe.”

The remodel also meant individualizing the character of the various kitchen fronts within the food hall where an array of local vendors can operate kitchens and sell food inside the hall.

The bottom floor of the food hall will feature a full-service sports bar and the upper floor will include a wine bar that will serve craft cocktails and charcuterie boards.

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The building’s second floor will continue to house the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Museum, but it will no longer be accessible through the restaurant. Museum visitors will enter through the building’s front lobby.

Avenue 19 also will feature a new stage area where bands and solo artists can perform. Duhon said the intention is to bring music that has a fun energy and gets people dancing since the space is planned to operate with typical bar hours (closing time of 2 a.m.) on Fridays and Saturdays.

During the week, Sundays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., live performances are anticipated along with trivia nights, DJs and other entertainment.

“We’re going to kind of go for that downtown vibe that used to be really synonymous with The Ritz and Southside Johnny’s and Old Chicago and things like that,” Duhon said. “I think there’s a big enough market for that.”

Duhon hopes Avenue 19 will open by the second weekend of September. While the upstairs bar would not be operational, he plans for it to open two to three weeks later.

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