Cheesman Park’s Secret Garden Bar and Café is closed for business on Oct. 10, 2025.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Secret Garden Bar & Cafe, the restaurant attached to the north end of Cheesman Park, closed its doors suddenly Friday.
Not only are customers being turned away from the closed doors, but the restaurant’s online presence has disappeared. Its website now redirects to a URL vendor and its social media accounts have been scrubbed from platforms.
Secret Garden opened in August 2024 at 1290 N. Williams St., inside a historic mansion at the edge of Cheesman Park. It drew rave reviews — the patio opened up to Cheesman, ensuring easy access to one of Denver’s most popular green spaces.
“I live literally right down that road, so we come here whenever we need coffee or snacks,” said a disappointed Brandon Cook.
The exact reason for Secret Garden’s closure isn’t clear. However, a petition titled “Respect the Workers at Secret Garden Bar and Cafe!” is circulating, which said that management blamed the closure on financial and profitability issues. According to labor organizers, the cafe closed Friday, over a week ahead of schedule, after the petition began being circulated.
UFCW 7 said the employees unionized under its banner in June. Its president, Kim Cordova, described the closure as “retaliatory.”
“It is particularly galling that City Street Investors, a major participant in public-private development partnerships around Denver, would direct such a blatant campaign of union busting,” she said in a statement.
The petition asks that Secret Garden’s owners release financial statements to prove its claim that profitability is the cause of the closure.
City Street Investors denied any allegations of retaliation or union busting.
“The restaurant, which operated at a significant loss since opening 13 months ago, was not financially sustainable,” a statement from a company spokesperson said. “The decision to close is entirely unrelated to the recent employee unionization.”
The company is involved in numerous Denver food establishments, including Terminal Bar in Union Station, Schoolyard Beer Garden and La Loteria along Broadway.
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