Lechuga's Italian Restaurant & Lounge, a north Denver institution, is up for sale.
Owners Rachael Vigil and Chuck Lechuga are asking $3 million for the real estate and business at 3609 Tejon St. in Denver's Lower Highland neighborhood, where over the years diners have enjoyed spaghetti, salad and garlic bread for $4.99 -- and a dose of karaoke on Thursday nights.
Originally Carbone's Bakery in the in the 1940s, political powerhouses Sal Carpio and the late Paul Sandoval bought the business in the 1960s and it soon transformed into a meeting ground for state legislators.
Sandoval, a former Democratic state senator, influenced the careers of numerous politicians in his office at Tamales by Las Casita, the restaurant he owned across from what is now Lechuga's. Sandoval died last year.
Carpio served on the Denver City Council and as Executive Director of the
Denver Housing Authority.
Vigil and Lechuga purchased the business, known for its square pizzas, 22 years ago, but with development in LoHi booming, the business partners determined now is the time to sell, said Juanita Chacon, a broker with ReMax Alliance, who is listing the property.
"There are 2,400 residential units in a quarter-mile radius," Chacon said. "The ideal buyer would preserve the development. It is the last of the north Denver institutions."
The restaurant is in an area that was known as Denver's Little Italy until the 1980s.
Contact Confluence Denver Development News Editor Margaret Jackson with tips and leads for future stories at margaret@confluence-denver.com.
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