DENVER — Welton Street Cafe has been synonymous with soul food in Denver for nearly 40 years.
That is, until the Five Points restaurant temporarily closed last March. More than a year later, the restaurant will begin serving fried chicken, catfish sandwiches, pates, fried okra and other Southern and Caribbean favorites once again this summer.
> The video below aired in November 2021.
Fathima Dickerson, co-owner of the Welton Street Cafe, said they plan to reopen in their new location in June.
The new building at 2883 Welton St. is about a block northeast from their former location, where they had been for 22 years.
In January 2022, Chereka Dickerson said the move was because rent had skyrocketed and they weren't able to come to a new lease agreement with their building's owner.
"To me, it was always kind of like a second home," she said at the time. "We grew up in this area, went to school in this area and always had a business in this area, so to see the changes, especially to see the loss of a lot of Black businesses, has been devastating."
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They found a new location but asked the community for help raising money to cover the costs to build out the new spot. They raised more than $100,000 on GoFundMe.
According to that campaign, the new location is bigger than the old building and the family is excited to move into their new space.
The first iteration of the restaurant was opened by Chereka and Fathima's parents, Flynn and Mona Dickerson, in 1985. It moved to its first Welton Street location in 1999.
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