January 28, 2025

Owners shutter downtown Greeley Luna’s, plan refresh

GREELEY — After nearly nine years in downtown Greeley, the popular Luna’s Tacos & Tequila has shut down for a quick reboot.

The ownership trio of Ely Corliss, Brian Seifried and Samantha Corliss announced on their Facebook page that they would close the Greeley location for a short time to allow time to rejuvenate it.

“We weren’t quite living up to our expectations of value, quality in food and service, and that reflected a bit in our sales,” Seifried said in an interview. “We thought long and hard about how to get some momentum going there. It really comes down to, we need to take a pause, rethink what it looks like and feels like.

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“In this economy, value is really important, and we need to figure out how to continue to hold value and put something out there that will work well for people’s budgets,” Seifried said. “Hopefully when we get back open, it’s a place where people want to come once a week or twice a month instead of a couple times a year.”

Greeley Downtown Development Authority executive director Bianca Fisher said she was surprised to hear of Luna’s temporary closure.

“Restaurant ownership is becoming increasingly challenging, especially in Colorado where the menu-price inflation was highest in the nation —  largely due to food costs, labor costs, rent increases, etc.,” Fisher wrote in an email response to questions. “It’s a tough industry right now and we can only imagine that this was a tough decision to make.

“That said, we are confident in the owners’ ability to take the time to evaluate and come back better than ever, whenever is most appropriate for them to do so,” Fisher said.

The Luna’s closure is among other locally-owned restaurants in Greeley that have closed in recent months: Kenny’s Steakhouse and Fat Albert’s.

Centennial Hospitality Group opened its downtown Luna’s Tacos & Tequila at 806 Ninth St., in 2018, and it was the first in Greeley with a rooftop seating area.

It said it has been difficult to get Greeley residents to visit downtown; and given downtown is event-heavy, they struggled with staffing the right numbers at the right times.

“Bringing people to downtown Greeley is difficult, everyone around is experiencing it,” Samantha Corliss said in an interview. “It gets frustrating when we go to the west side of Greeley and see all these chain restaurants packed. It’s a little tiring. We’re exhausted and need to take a step back, tighten things up on our end, and make a plea to the community to support small businesses.”

The partners opened Luna’s in Windsor in April 2024, and it will not close, the partners said. Business there is going well, but the building is also 118 years newer than their downtown Greeley building, which is experiencing some maintenance challenges. Corliss said there were some maintenance issues that would have demanded they shut down anyway, so this is a good time to take care of those as well.

In all, the group has 14 Wing Shack locations, four Sexy Sammies locations and two Luna’s Tacos & Tequila.

Overall, Seifried and Samantha Corliss said, they want to encourage residents to frequent small businesses before they go away.

“Some of the other communities around us have a little more sense of urgency to support small business, and have an appreciation for supporting small business,” Seifried said. “We’re still kind of building the culture in Greeley.

“If people love something, whether it’s a microbrewery or a place to see a concert, or a restaurant, it’s important to support that and spread the word,” he said.

Seifried said they hope to reopen the restaurant as soon as possible, and they have no plans to change the concept — they just want to re-energize it.

“We’re committed to doing it right,” Seifried said, “so that when people walk in, they feel the energy we have, with the best tacos, the nicest selection of tequila, and the best hospitality in Northern Colorado.”

After nearly nine years in downtown Greeley, the popular Luna’s Tacos & Tequila has shut down for a quick reboot.

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Sharon Dunn is an award-winning journalist covering business, banking, real estate, energy, local government and crime in Northern Colorado since 1994. She began her journalism career in Alaska after graduating Metropolitan State College in Denver in 1992. She found her way back to Colorado, where she worked at the Greeley Tribune for 25 years. She has a master's degree in communications management from the University of Denver. She is married and has one grown daughter — and a beloved English pointer at her side while she writes. When not writing, you may find her enjoying embroidery and crochet projects, watching football, or kayaking and birdwatching on a high-mountain lake.
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