"Just take a few months." That was Stumpy's Pizza manager Gretchen Norton's answer when people on Facebook asked whether the pizzeria would reopen somewhere else. Stumpy's served its last day at 138 S. Wilcox Street on Wednesday, August 26, after more than 25 years downtown. The building had sold, and the shop has been looking for a new address ever since. As of early October, no new location has been announced.
On its own, that's a goodbye to a local favorite. Next to the rest of Castle Rock's 2026, it shows a pattern. This year's new restaurants opened mostly at the Promenade, the Outlets and along Founders Parkway. Downtown's biggest dining news is a building west of I-25 that won't open until late 2027. Knowing where the tables went makes it easier to plan a Friday night now, and it explains why downtown's calendar is busier than its storefront turnover.
Where 2026's New Tables Landed
Between April and the end of September, Castle Rock gained a steady run of restaurants and shops. Here they are in order of opening:
| Opened | Business | Address | What's distinctive |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 27 | Starbird Chicken | 6360 Promenade Parkway | Free-range, chef-driven chicken with Nashville-hot and vegan options |
| May 8 | Griddled Crêpes & Paninis | 5050 Factory Shops Blvd., Suite 175 | Sweet and savory crêpes, pressed paninis, espresso, plus a separate griddle for gluten-free crêpes |
| May 11 | Izumi Sushi | 115 Third St. | Never-frozen fish and bluefin tuna, from the owner of the Littleton Izumi |
| May 17 | CV Proper Kitchen & Bar | 2355 Mercantile St. | French-bistro-influenced American menu with Champagne Velvet beer |
| July 14 | The Hot Spot Studios | 729 Barranca Drive, #107 | Walk-in pottery, canvas, candles and mosaics; the first in Colorado |
| July 17 | Jet's Pizza | 62 Founders Parkway, Unit F | Detroit-style square pizza with the "Flavorized" crust |
| Sept. 30 | Border Burger Sports Bar | 810 New Memphis Ct. | Locally owned, three floors, with an upstairs kids' area and a third-floor cigar lounge |
Izumi Sushi on Third Street is the only one of these openings described as downtown. Owner Manna Pan brought the fish-focused menu over from her Littleton restaurant. Most of the others moved into existing commercial spaces. CV Proper, from Upland Hospitality, opened in the former I.C. Brewhouse space after a renovation of about six months. Border Burger, owned by Rick Good, now fills the former Trifecta Sports Bar & Grill building and uses all three floors. Bri and Jacob Blaylock opened Griddled at the Outlets on May 8. Stio announced in April that its 15th Mountain Studio would open at the Outlets in May. Stio's store page now lists that location at 5050 Factory Shops Blvd., SP 150.
The Outlets aren't finished. Their official page lists HOKA as coming soon, with no date. Peak Pizza, a locally owned spot with indoor seating, arcade games and to-go ordering, is slated for Suite 660, also without a grand-opening date.
Downtown's Ledger Ran the Other Way
Downtown's 2026 is mostly a story of change at existing addresses. Stumpy's left Wilcox Street because its building sold, not because business dried up. Before it closed, a Douglas County outlet described the pizzeria as "isn't failing," just displaced. CBS Colorado covered the sale of 136, 138 and 140 South Wilcox, the stretch of storefronts next to the Philip & Jerry Miller Library.
Other closures and moves this year:
- Sawara Sushi at 312 Metzler Dr. closed after 13 years. Its last day was listed as August 15, and there are no plans to relocate.
- Hideaway Bar & Grill at 600 Jerry St. is listed as closed after fires in May, and it's unclear whether it will reopen.
- Thai Wow is moving to 794 S. Perry St. in the Plum Creek Safeway center. It serves made-to-order Thai food drawn from the owners' upbringing in Thailand, and a mid-September owner update pointed to the end of 2026, with no firm date.
- Dunkin' announced Castle Rock's first location on September 1, at 1185 Aloha St. The target was late September or early October, but opening day hasn't been confirmed. It will be a Next Generation store with a drive-through, cold-drink taps and mobile pickup, run locally by Quality Brand Group.
The small number of downtown openings makes the October calendar more important.
Restaurant Week Is the Downtown Map in One List
Downtown Restaurant Week runs October 2 through 11. Participating independent restaurants offer special menu items for the ten days. The Downtown Alliance's list includes Wild Blue Yonder Brewing, Block & Bottle, Stack'd, Courtyard Social and Homegrown Tap & Dough. Through the weekend of October 10 and 11, it's an easy way to check in on the independent restaurants that carry downtown, a few blocks from the empty storefront at 138 S. Wilcox.
Festival Park has events the rest of the month:
- Castle Rock Fall Festival, Sunday, October 18, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with harvest vendors, pumpkin decorating, crafts and a "Creepy Crawlies" wildlife activity.
- Fangtastic Festival, October 30, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's free, with daytime trick-or-treating and vendor booths.
- Starlighting, Saturday, November 21, downtown from 2 to 6 p.m. The ceremony starts at 5, the Star lights up around 5:30, and fireworks follow.
All of that happens on Castle Rock's traditional downtown grid. The next group of restaurants is going up just west of it, across the interstate.
The Brickyard Is Where the Next Restaurants Are Going
The Brickyard covers 31 acres at 401 Prairie Hawk Road, west of I-25 and south of Wolfensberger Road. Acme Brickworks made bricks there for decades before closing in 2019. Confluence Companies bought the land in 2020, tore down the plant, and reused or donated the bricks it could salvage. The plan includes a bike and pedestrian underpass beneath I-25 connecting to the Wilcox Street area. That would let people walk from the new district to downtown.
Construction started on Weatherford Hall, the building where most of the restaurants will go, on September 1. Confluence CEO Tony De Simone called it "the heartbeat of The Brickyard development." Here are the announced tenants:
- Willy Nilly, a new restaurant from Shucking Good Hospitality, the Denver group behind Oliver's Italian, Blue Island Oyster Bar & Seafood, and Ash and Agave.
- Where Food Comes From, a Castle Rock company that verifies and certifies food sources nationally. It's moving its headquarters here and opening a new restaurant.
- Three, a coffee shop and market from the team behind Castle Rock's COFF33.
- Lolley's Ice Cream, its fourth location.
Commercial construction firm Owen-Ames-Kimball is also taking space in the building. Weatherford Hall is expected to be done by the end of 2027. The 145,000-square-foot Castle Rock Sports Center next door is under construction and aiming for summer 2027. It will have competition gyms and pools, fitness rooms, an indoor track and a trail connection.
The developer's 2025 phasing plan shows The Brickyard is meant to keep adding restaurants after that. It called for three restaurants in a second phase and three more in a third, alongside a Great Hall, office space and a hotel. Each phase was expected to take about two years, with full build-out projected for 2030. Tenant lists have changed since then. A June 2025 leasing announcement named different restaurants than the ones confirmed for Weatherford Hall this September, so the September list is the current one.
Town Council supported the project at each step. Council unanimously passed first reading of the rezoning at a February 4 meeting, approved the public-finance agreement 7–0 in June 2025, and approved the site development plan that October.
Reading the Map From Here
For the next year or so, Castle Rock's newest restaurants are spread out. Starbird, CV Proper, Griddled, Jet's and Border Burger opened in different shopping centers, each a short drive from the others. Izumi brought fresh sushi to Third Street. Downtown's independent restaurants anchor Restaurant Week and lead into the Fall Festival, Fangtastic and Starlighting. Across I-25, Weatherford Hall is the first restaurant building in a district designed for walking, with an underpass planned to connect it to Wilcox Street. If the 2027 timelines hold, downtown and The Brickyard will start working as one walkable area by the end of next year. Stumpy's still hasn't announced its new address.
At Ford Fountain Team, we pay attention to where Castle Rock's new restaurants and gathering places open, because those details shape daily life in the town. If you'd like to talk through how projects like The Brickyard fit with your own plans in Castle Rock, we'd be glad to share what we're seeing. Schedule a Private Consultation.
