First restaurant tenant joins redeveloped Old Town Fort Collins corner

A new sports- and family-friendly eatery is coming to Old Town, marking the first restaurant tenant for a redeveloped corner of East Mountain Avenue.

Fieldhouse at the Fort is set to open at 221 E. Mountain Ave. — a mixed-use office, condo and retail building anchored by Elevations Credit Union — this fall, according to Andrew Campbell, who is starting the restaurant and bar with his wife, Jodi.

The restaurant is a longtime dream for the Campbells, who are self-described foodies who left corporate America and the Midwest for Fort Collins roughly a year ago, Andrew said.

"We love it here," Andrew said. "We kind of hand-picked it based on our business model."

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Fieldhouse at the Fort aspires to be an unfussy and versatile eatery fit for family dinner or watching the big game, according to Andrew. It will be outfitted with warm decor, over half a dozen TVs set to various sports games, a full cocktail bar and traditional table seating as well as a comfortable lounge seating area, he added.

Its menu will center around a range of hot and cold appetizers as well as burgers and Rhode Island-style pizza, with specialty and build-your-own options available for each. A trio of cookie skillets are planned for its dessert menu.

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"This is a business for families and where people can gather and support one another," Andrew said, adding that he wants its diners to feel as comfortable as he and Jodi have while moving to Fort Collins and joining its restaurant scene.

After working in corporate supply chain operations and sales across the Midwest for the past two decades, Andrew said he and Jodi wanted to fulfill their longtime dream of owning a restaurant as their two kids wrapped up school — their daughter recently graduated from college and their son is enrolling at Colorado State University next year.

Andrew also wanted to get back to his restaurant roots. Born and raised in Grand Junction, Colorado, he grew up working in his parents' pizza shops, which they ran for nearly 40 years, he said.

"There are 71 restaurants with liquor licenses within a mile of where we are, and during our (liquor licensing) survey process all 71 were so welcoming," he said. "Fort Collins is big enough that it has all the amenities of a major city, but it's small enough that it still feels like a small town. It's also so local business oriented."

Fieldhouse at the Fort is about a month into construction, and Andrew hopes to open the restaurant around late-October.

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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins restaurants: Pizza, burger bar opening in Old Town