Indian restaurant slated for vacant downtown Greeley space

GREELEY — A Thornton couple has purchased the former home of the Isla Bonita and Vista del Sol Mexican restaurants in downtown Greeley with plans to open an Indian restaurant and bar there this spring.

Peter Sitaula and Kathy Parajuli closed Monday on the spot at 908½ Eighth Ave., buying it from Castulo Venegas for $510,000.

The main level of the building is about 5,200 square feet, with about 60 percent of that restaurant space and the other 40 percent an adjacent bar space. Both will be incorporated into the new establishment.

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Sitaula said Friday that he’s still determining a name for the restaurant. He’s hoping to open by mid to late April.

The purchase is not the only one locally for the couple, who plan to move to Greeley. Sitaula said he’ll be closing in the next couple of weeks on the purchase of a Shell gas station at the southwest corner of 54th Avenue and 10th Street.

Sitaula, who is a licensed certified public accountant, also owns three gas stations in Federal Heights and a liquor store in Commerce City.

Venegas and his family, who owned the restaurant space since 2000, ran Isla Bonita for several years. After closing their restaurant a few years ago, they leased the space to the owners of Vista del Sol, which eventually closed about a year ago.

“It’s got all the fixtures in it,” said Randy Marshall, a broker for SVN who represented both sides in the sale. “It’s turnkey basically, read to go.”

The full basement includes mostly storage space and a small events room.

The only work that needs to be done before Sitaula opens his restaurant is mostly cosmetic, including cleanup, painting, new carpet and building a buffet table. He said he’s expecting the remodel to take about 40 to 45 days.

“It’s a good place,” Sitaula said. “It’s a pretty nice downtown. It’s a really business-focused area.”