5 Great Park Hill Businesses

This post was originally published by Erik Carman in June, 2016.
View the original article here.

Park Hill is home to a variety of unique small businesses. Here are a few of them, in no particular order. If you haven’t tried one, I encourage you to visit!

Nuggs Ice Cream

From the owners of Brothers BBQ, Nuggs Ice Cream provides a large variety of unique flavors, all made in house. You can usually find the manager DeAndre’ Dowell there- the hardest working ice cream shop manager you’ll ever meet. Their signature flavor is Cookies & Cream, made with real bits of Oreos, mmmmm.

7 Leguas Mexican Grille

Located at Cherry St. and Colorado Blvd, this Pancho Villa themed Mexican restaurant serves tasteful and authentic food from south of the border. While technically just across the street from Park Hill, 7 Leguas is a short walk and popular destination for many South Park Hill residents.

Owned and operated by Bernardo and Gema Villa, 7 Leagues offers a variety of traditional Mexican dishes, with tasteful options for vegetarians. In fact, it’s the #1 destination for my vegetarian family when they come into town. Due to the success of their authentic flavors and friendly atmosphere, a second location was opened just 10 minutes east, to serve the Aurora community.

Try their breakfast burrito for $2.50, either with bacon or vegetarian. You won’t find a better tasting breakfast burrito in Denver at that price, I guarantee it.

Up Gym Functional Training Center

Owned and operated by Tamba Mbawa, what Up Gym lacks in size it makes up for in every other way. Having done crossfit, my experience with functional training gyms is that they can be competitive, sometimes causing participants to injure themselves trying to keep up. What’s nice about Up Gym is that it focuses on the success of the individual, rather than having people compete against one another.

Tamba is a dedicated fitness entrepreneur who grew up near the Park Hill area. The trainers at Up Gym are very friendly. It’s a welcoming place that is also affordable. Tamba is everything you could want in a personal trainer and a friend.

Try their classes out for a free week, tell them Erik sent you!

Cake Crumbs Bakery

A Park Hill family owned and operated business, Cake Crumbs is known for their cupcakes, pastries and custom cakes. This year they changed their cupcake recipe to reduce the price a bit, without reducing the best part, frosting! Cake Crumbs is the official sponsor of Open Houses by Park Hill Pro and a beloved part of the Park Hill community.

Try their chocolate croissant for breakfast, my French Mother approves!

Spinelli’s Market

No list would be complete without Spinelli’s. A Park Hill staple for several decades, this old-school Italian grocery store has excellent sandwiches as well as pre-made items like lasagna, and a nice choice of meats and cheeses. Across the street, they also have a cafe & bakery, which has some tasty Italian desserts like gelato and cannoli.

Date night idea: try picking up some of their dough, tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients to create a home-made pizza.