Hospitality & Tourism  January 19, 2021

Denver-based Italian restaurant chain expanding to Colorado Springs

This story first ran on BusinessDen.com, a BizWest partner. 

DENVER — Mici Handcrafted Italian is sharing its family recipes with Colorado Springs.

The Denver-based chain of Italian restaurants will be opening a new corporate location at 3703 Bloomington St. at the end of February, according to CEO Elliot Schiffer.

The 1,800-square-foot location, which was previously a Smashburger, fits 46 seats.

Mici, which is known for its pizza and pasta, has five other locations in Parker, Highlands Ranch, Lafayette and Denver’s Central Park (formerly Stapleton) and Hale neighborhoods.

The chain was founded in 2004 by Miceli siblings Jeff, Michael and Kim, who used family recipes passed down through generations to create the menu. Schiffer joined the company as CEO in 2017.

Mici recently closed its original location at 1531 Stout St. in downtown Denver after 16 years due to low traffic and sales as a result of the pandemic.

But despite that closure, the chain hopes to add two more locations in Colorado this year, including in Boulder and possibly Aurora.

It also recently launched a franchise program, and hopes to open three franchise locations around the country in 2021.

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