As Denver International Airport expects a record-breaking number of passengers for Memorial Day weekend, three new businesses opened to expand travelers’ dining options.

Airport, city and business officials celebrated the opening of Peet’s Coffee, Elway’s Taproom and Grill and Tacos Tequilas Whiskey for its debut Thursday in the Concourse A West expansion.

It’s the first in a slate of new concessions opening in the coming months within Concourse A.

“This year is going to be the best we’ve had since the airport opened,” said Pamela Dechant, DIA’s senior vice president of concessions.

The addition of new concessions is an essential part of the airport’s wider infrastructure projects to accommodate 100 million passengers a year for its Vision 100 plan by 2027.

“We are being very, very deliberate in our approach to how we enhance the customer experience,” the airport’s CEO Phil Washington told the Denver Gazette. “So this is a big part of that.”

The expansion that finished near the tail-end of 2022 gave room for an extra 10,000 square feet of concession space in Concourse A. The concourse’s expansion — a total of 530,000 square feet — added 12 more gates, half of which are for international flights.

In total, DIA added 39 gates across its concourses to increase capacity by 30%.

There was a delay between opening the concourse and launching concessions along with it due to the pandemic causing construction costs to soar, supply chain delays and uncertainty in the airport industry, Dechant said, but all the concessions planned for the gate expansions are expected to open this year.

The three first concepts in Concourse A are in one space full of modern and elegant flourishes, from glass panel lighting to black leather seating booths and plenty of natural light showing off planes on the runway and DIA’s iconic tent tops.

The new additions combine DIA’s goal to showcase local businesses and attract national names to the airport. Taco Tequilas Whiskey and Elway’s Taproom and Grill (yes, as in Denver Broncos’ former quarterback and general manager John Elway) are both Denver-based eateries. It’s Elway’s second restaurant in the airport.

“It really doesn’t get more local than hearing the name John Elway,” Washington said during the grand opening speeches.

Elway said he had little hesitancy about opening another restaurant in the airport and said the taproom will be slightly different from its counterpart on Concourse B.

For Taco Tequilas Whiskey, owner Kevin Morrison said its airport opening is a big first for the Mexican street food brand that started out of a food truck in 2010.

“It gives a lot of small operators hope that we can play with the big guys,” Morrison said.

DIA also attracted the California chain Peet’s Coffee with its first location in Colorado.

And it’s a familiar brand for flyers as Peet’s Coffee has locations in about 30 airports, said the chain’s senior director of business development Robyn Quintal.

Mayor Mike Johnston emphasized how the airport and the city are working to grow its international presence with new flights such as the newly-debuted route to Dublin and the slated connection to Istanbul.

“Denver’s really expanding its footprint on the international stage,” he said at the opening, “but part of that is we want the customer experience when you come here to both remind you what you love about Denver and things you can only find in Denver.”

Another “marketplace” in the west side of Concourse A featuring local brands is also set to open later this year with names such as Maria Empanada, LoHi’s New American food The Bindery and ramen shop Uncle.

“Sometimes people don’t have a chance to get all the way downtown,” the DIA’s concession executive Dechant said. “So this helps them get a taste of the flavor and culture of what’s going on in Denver.”

The openings also show the airport’s newer approach to integrating concessions into the concourse.

The 1990s industry standard was to build boxes facing inside with back storage against the windows. The airport wants to reverse it now, Dechant said, to get more natural light in and make the shopping and dining experience more inviting for travelers.

“So what we’re doing as we redevelop this, we’re really trying to reduce visual clutter, open up that line of sight, create a sense of calm, attract people to dwell longer in the center of our areas,” Dechant said.

And near the center of Concourse A, not part of the expansion, another marketplace is set to open this year with speakeasy Williams and Graham, The Bagel Deli, Native American eatery Tocabe and D Bar Restaurant from local and award-winning pastry chef Keegan Gerhard.