Latest Denver-area restaurant expanding to Colorado Springs wants to be your neighbor

Apr. 26—Colorado Springs is getting another new neighbor from Denver.

Mexican restaurant My Neighbor Félix will expand to the Promenade Shops at Briargate, east of Voyager and Briargate parkways on the Springs' north side, and has targeted a mid-June opening for what will be its fourth restaurant.

Operated by Denver-based hospitality group Lotus Concepts Management, My Neighbor Félix also has locations in Denver's Lower Highland — LoHi — area north of the city's downtown and in Centennial and Boulder.

Lotus Concepts also operates the ViewHouse sports bar and restaurant, which opened a Colorado Springs location east of Interstate 25 and Woodmen Road in February 2020.

The ViewHouse has done well, which helped spur Lotus Concepts' decision to bring My Neighbor Félix to the Springs, Maria Merlin, the restaurant's marketing manager, said via email.

"The neighborhood, the city and community couldn't have been more appreciative and supportive of the ViewHouse brand," she said.

"This made it a really easy decision when thinking of the fourth location for My Neighbor Félix."

Construction is underway on the restaurant's Promenade Shops at Briargate space, which at one time was occupied by California Pizza Kitchen. In addition to interior remodeling, a 22-square-foot patio is being added on the building's north side, Merlin said.

The Promenade Shops opened 20 years ago as an open-air, so-called lifestyle shopping center; its lineup includes several higher-end stores and restaurants that have only a single location in Colorado Springs, such as Apple, Banana Republic and Ted's Montana Grill.

A great mix of retailers and restaurants helped draw My Neighbor Félix to the Promenade Shops, Merlin said.

My Neighbor Félix describes itself as a Pan-American restaurant with food inspired by Mexico's seven regions, according to its website. The dinner menu for the traditional sit-down restaurant, as shown on its website, includes tacos, enchiladas, chicken, steaks, seafood and salads.

Recipes are "fresh, local and natural whenever possible," the My Neighbor Félix website says. "We proudly serve 'never ever' meat products with no antibiotics, no hormones and no by-products and carefully source Colorado produce."

Also, the restaurant says it uses "locally grown and responsibly sourced ingredients from dozens of Colorado farms and beverage companies to do our part in supporting local businesses and Colorado's economy."

My Neighbor Félix will employ 75 to 100 full- and part-time workers at the Springs location, Merlin said.

But the restaurant's namesake won't be among them.

An explanation about the restaurant's origin on its website spins a fanciful tale about a man named Félix, who fell in love with a Mayan goddess and won her heart with "offerings of food and libations from recipes passed down through generations of his Mexican ancestors."

Alas, Merlin conceded, Félix is only a fictional character who was created for the restaurant's "branding and storyline."

What's real, however, is that My Neighbor Félix will become the latest Denver-area and northern Colorado restaurant, bar, entertainment concept and retailer to expand to Colorado Springs in recent years, largely because of its population growth, healthy economy and quality of life.

Among familiar names from the north that have opened in Colorado Springs: White Pie Pizzeria, Atomic Cowboy, Denver Biscuit Co., Fat Sully's Pizza, Dos Santos Tacos, Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, Anthony's Pizza, Mici Handcrafted Italian, Parry's Pizzeria, Snarf's Sandwiches, the Tattered Cover bookstore and Applejack Wine & Spirits.

Mexican restaurant Illegal Pete's also is preparing to open on Tejon Street in downtown.