Covid-19 has hit Boulder’s restaurant scene hard, and continues to. Mandates keep restaurants at half-capacity, many wary diners more often opt to stay at home, and some save.
However, DAIKON, the banh mi restaurant owned by Boulder-based business incubator Canard, has chosen to expand. The restaurant opened its 29th Street Mall location in November 2019.
With acres of commercial square footage going vacant as Covid-19 ravages local businesses and reshapes workforces, the company has jumped in to secure an attractive lease at a spot on Pearl Street’s West End (near 9th Street) vacated by Chipotle during the pandemic.
The fast-casual shop has a take-out model, which helped it hit the ground running after it shuttered its doors for weeks in response to Covid-19, says Jim Heekin, who runs marketing for the company.
The restaurant has a one-year lease at its 29th Street location. It envisions operating both locations, which thanks to investment in its quirky, off-beat local marketing it feels it can do.
Jim estimates the West Pearl location will start slinging banh mi starting in November.
