For much of the past year, the newest names around West 32nd Avenue and Tennyson Street existed in the future tense. A record shop was coming. An Austin brunch favorite was on its way. A familiar Tennyson restaurant owner was preparing a return.
Those doors are open now.
That makes the story of Highlands Denver summer 2026 less about another batch of openings and more about how the neighborhood’s daily rhythm has changed. West 32nd Avenue has developed a fuller daytime loop built around breakfast, the farmers market and independent retail. Tennyson has added businesses designed around longer visits, from custom hat-making with a drink in hand to brunch, dinner and happy hour within a compact stretch.
A quick geography note helps here. Highland Square sits around West 32nd Avenue and Lowell Boulevard in West Highland. Tennyson Street’s commercial district runs through Berkeley. They are distinct neighborhood centers, even if Denver residents often place both under the broader Highlands umbrella.
West 32nd Avenue now works as a complete daytime plan
Paperboy is the clearest example of an opening that moved from repeated anticipation to an actual neighborhood routine.
The Austin daytime restaurant announced its Denver expansion in October 2025 and opened at 3940 W. 32nd Ave. on March 24, 2026. This is Paperboy’s third location and its first outside Texas. It serves breakfast, lunch, coffee and cocktails from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 3 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
The menu includes cinnamon toast, ricotta toast and avocado tostada alongside brunch plates, bowls and sandwiches. Reservations are available, but the restaurant also keeps room for walk-ins.
Paperboy matters to the corridor because of its daypart. It gives Highland Square another place that makes sense before the errands begin, after a morning walk or during a Sunday built around the market. Its first full summer also means the patio and extended weekend hours can settle into the neighborhood’s warm-weather routine.
That routine no longer has to end when brunch does.
GoodKid gives the block a reason to browse
At 3460 W. 32nd Ave., GoodKid sells vintage and secondhand clothing, rare T-shirts, accessories and décor. Founder Gabby Smith started the business in 2020, and the four-owner group opened its permanent West Highland store in November 2025.
The shop leans into a clear 1990s point of view. Vintage video displays, a Nintendo 64 setup and merchandise sourced through estate sales, flea markets and secondhand sellers give it more personality than a standard resale rack.
GoodKid also hosts its Secret Market on Sundays through October 25, 2026. That timing pairs naturally with the neighborhood’s larger farmers market and gives residents another stop that changes from week to week.
Wax Trax adds a familiar Denver name
A few doors away, Wax Trax opened at 3641 W. 32nd Ave. on October 11, 2025. The store replaced Candelaria and carries new and used records, including 45s.
The expansion brought a Denver record-store institution with roots in the 1970s to West Highland for the first time. When owner Pete Stidman discussed the move with Denverite, he pointed to the area’s walkability and its established group of independent businesses, including West Side Books, St. Kilian’s Cheese Shop and Mondo Vino.
That context gets to the heart of the change on 32nd. Paperboy, GoodKid and Wax Trax are not trying to create a district by themselves. They fill gaps within a corridor that already has locally known places worth visiting.
The useful shift on West 32nd is the ability to turn one stop into a morning: breakfast, market shopping, vintage browsing and a record hunt without forcing a tightly planned schedule.
Tennyson is leaning into businesses that ask you to stay
The recent additions on Tennyson tell a different story. The strongest openings combine food, drinks, retail or an activity under one roof. That gives the corridor more places suited to an unhurried afternoon or evening.
Cenizas brings a familiar operator back to 3900 Tennyson
Cenizas Restaurant & Cantina is new, but the person behind it has a long connection to the address.
Owner Nicolas Medina ran Tres Chiles at 3900 Tennyson St. from 2018 through 2023. He later leased the building to Santo Remedio. In spring 2026, Medina returned to the space with Cenizas, a name that translates to “ashes.”
That history makes Cenizas more interesting than a standard restaurant replacement. This is a local operator returning to his own building with a revised concept after the storefront passed through another restaurant.
Cenizas centers Mexican family recipes and a fire-forward cantina menu. Current offerings include enchiladas, flautas, pozole, carnitas, ceviche, chilaquiles and fajita-style ember skillets. Breakfast and brunch choices expand the restaurant beyond dinner, while its listed Sunday hours make it useful earlier in the day.
The return also restores some continuity to an address that has changed identities several times in a short period. Longtime Tres Chiles customers may recognize parts of the approach, but Cenizas is presented as its own restaurant rather than a reopening under the old name.
American Lore turns shopping into an occasion
A few addresses north, American Lore opened at 3965 Tennyson St. in January 2026. The concept pairs a custom cowboy-hat studio with a saloon-inspired bar through a partnership involving Hats by Parker Thomas and the team behind Number Thirty Eight.
Guests can choose a hat’s material, color, crown shape, brim style and accessories such as bands and feathers. The process takes at least 30 minutes, and reservations are recommended for hat-making. The bar welcomes walk-ins and serves whiskey, beer, wine, cocktails and nonalcoholic drinks.
The interior follows the same modern Western theme, with warm wood, vintage Americana, family pieces and objects sourced from barns and antique stores. Denverite’s July look inside American Lore captures why it fits the current direction of Tennyson: the business gives people something to do while they drink, shop and spend time together.
That hybrid model also creates flexibility. One person can book a custom fitting, while someone else can stop at the bar without committing to the full experience.
Bao settles into its first complete summer
At 3973 Tennyson St., Bao Tennyson belongs in the conversation with one qualification. It opened in late summer 2025, not 2026. This is its first complete summer on the street.
The restaurant is a more casual expansion of downtown’s Bao Brewhouse. Its current menu includes dumplings, noodles, fried rice, ramen, skewers and cocktails. Weekday happy hour runs from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
Together, Cenizas at 3900, American Lore at 3965 and Bao at 3973 create a useful sequence rather than three disconnected openings. There are options for brunch and lunch, an activity built around drinks and retail, then dinner or happy hour nearby.
Two simple ways to use the corridors this summer
The new mix works best when it is treated as part of an existing neighborhood routine, not a checklist to complete in one day.
A Sunday on West 32nd
- Start at the Highlands Farmers Market, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays through October 25, 2026, between Julian and Newton streets.
- Choose Paperboy for a full brunch, or save it for a quieter weekday morning if the Sunday crowd is substantial.
- Browse GoodKid and its Sunday Secret Market.
- Finish at Wax Trax, then continue to established stops such as West Side Books, St. Kilian’s Cheese Shop or Mondo Vino.
The 43rd Highlands Street Fair already filled West 32nd Avenue on June 20. The farmers market now carries the corridor’s recurring summer schedule through October.
A Tennyson afternoon that can become dinner
- Begin with brunch or lunch at Cenizas.
- Reserve a hat-making session at American Lore, or stop at the bar without an appointment.
- Move to Bao for weekday happy hour or dinner.
The Tennyson Street Fair adds a timely reason to visit this week. It runs Friday, July 17, from 4 to 9 p.m. between 41st and 43rd avenues, then Saturday, July 18, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. between 39th and 43rd avenues. The event includes more than 200 local artisans, with the Berkeley Beer Festival incorporated into the weekend.
New doors do not erase the turnover
A credible neighborhood update should make room for both sides of the storefront story.
West Highland has also seen meaningful closures in 2026. Happy Bakeshop closed after nearly 20 years. Dumplin’ closed in the same building. Little India announced that its five-year run on West 32nd Avenue would end as restaurant economics became harder to sustain.
That context keeps the new openings in perspective. Paperboy, GoodKid and Wax Trax strengthen the daytime mix, but they do not prove that every concept will work on the corridor. Cenizas brings an experienced operator back to Tennyson, yet its return also follows two prior identities at the same address.
The better reading is fresh arrivals amid active neighborhood churn. The businesses with the clearest fit give residents a specific reason to return, connect naturally with nearby independents and work across more than one season or daypart.
For summer 2026, the practical change is already visible. A farmers-market morning on 32nd has more places to continue. A casual afternoon on Tennyson has more ways to stretch into dinner. The anticipated openings have become usable parts of the week, which matters more than the initial opening-day attention.
Colin & Company follows Denver neighborhoods at this level because the small changes shape how a place feels long before they appear in a market report. If you want a neighborhood-savvy perspective on West Highland, Berkeley or another part of the Denver metro, let’s connect.
