New owners acquire Dickens restaurant in downtown Longmont

LONGMONT — New owners have taken charge of one of Longmont’s oldest restaurant venues, The Dickens at Third Avenue and Main Street, and are finding ways to navigate the effects of COVID-19.

Noella Colandreo and Anthony Sanschagrin took over the classic downtown eatery on March 1, just in time for the pandemic to shut down the operation. “Anthony and I have always been able to roll with the punches, but this was extreme,” Colandreo told BizWest.

The couple, who ran a catering company in Tampa, Florida, before moving to Colorado, used the time to rebrand and figure out a path forward. The restaurant at 300 Main St. is now called Dickens 300 Prime, and it features a new menu focused on steak and seafood, Colandreo said.

“Luckily, we have the patio, the lounge and the dining room,” she said of the steps they’ve taken to operate with the limitations on capacity forced by public health orders. Tables are spaced to permit social distancing.

The couple will also operate the Dickens Opera House, which is a 300-seat venue upstairs over the restaurant. The first live event is planned for that space on Sept. 11 featuring the Eagles tribute band The Long Run. Given social distancing, the event will be limited to 50 tickets, which have now gone on sale.

“The way I’m looking at it, we’re paying the electric and other bills for upstairs, so at least it’s generating some revenue,” Colandreo said. 

Dickens 300 Prime is the trade name used by their corporate entity, SRN Enterprises LLC. The building remains in the hands of its existing owner, Third Avenue Ventures LLC which is operated by Douglas William van Riper of Niwot.

The structure was built as an opera house by William Henry Dickens in 1881 and opened in 1882. It has had numerous uses over the years, including as Farmers National Bank — which Dickens owned — and Longmont College. 

Dickens was shot to death Nov. 30, 1914, while sitting in his home. The killing shot was thought to have been fired from outside the home by Rienzi Dickens, William’s son. Rienzi was convicted of second-degree murder on May 28, 1915, but the verdict was overturned in 1921. A retrial resulted in acquittal. The slaying of William Dickens remains unsolved.

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