Blue Sparrow Coffee Opening Third Location in Capitol Hill

Blue Sparrow Coffee, which originally opened in RiNo in 2017, is adding a third location to its lineup. Shortly before the pandemic hit in 2020, it debuted a second outpost on Platte Street, and now its newest spot is set to open in Capitol Hill at 1576 Sherman Street later this month.

The design and layout is a bit more open and modern than that of the other two locations, but Jeffrey Knott, who co-owns the business with Fiona Arnold of Mainspring, says customers will still know it’s a Blue Sparrow when they walk in. The shop is part of a bigger renovation project of the entire Sudler Building, which was designed by James Sudler and built in 1959.

“We kind of had to tweak our design to fit in with [the building]. We’re putting a mid-century modern twist on Blue Sparrow,” Knott notes. Instead of the brand's signature concrete tile floors, there will be poured terrazzo flooring. The Capitol Hill outpost is bigger than the original in RiNo and closer to the size of the Platte Street location.

Seating overflows from the shop itself into the lobby, with additional seating available outdoors. “The best part of both outdoor and sharing lobby seating is it allows us to stay in health code and still be dog-friendly,” says Knott.

Most recently, the building housed a co-working space, but it wasn’t well cared for. In addition to Blue Sparrow, two floors of offices and a full gym in the basement round out the renovation, which began about four years ago, after Arnold's company purchased it.
The menu will be identical to that of the other locations, highlighting coffee roasted by Strava while offering a changing selection of roasters from all over the world, including Germany, Norway and Canada, as well as across the United States — though Knott says that Blue Sparrow is looking to get into roasting in-house.

While Blue Sparrow is coffee-centric, one of its best-selling menu items is its matcha green tea. The shop also offers several types of cold brew on tap and limited pastries delivered daily from Hearth Bakery.

“Slow and steady is our approach," to growth, Knott says. "We’ve been super intentional to choose the right location in the right neighborhood. I think we’re really picky. I'll bet we looked at fifteen or twenty places for every one that we open —maybe more. We’re picky to make sure it fits the space itself and the community that we want to be a part of. We’re focused on slow and steady growth, and we do it on our terms — no outside investors.”
He adds, “I’ve seen a lot of business — in and out of coffee — that have some success early on and they want to replicate it. Why wouldn’t you want to? But it’s really, really easy to grow too quickly and lose the core of who you are. We want to grow slow enough to make sure we are still providing high-quality products and customer service."

Knott got his start in coffee as a barista at Fluid Coffee Bar in 2012. He also helped launch our 2024 Best of Denver pick for Best Coffee Shop for a Cause, Prodigy Coffee, developing its training program and running the shop when it debuted. Now Blue Sparrow hires baristas who graduate from Prodigy’s apprentice program.

Blue Sparrow was one of the first places to implement a $15 minimum wage before it was mandatory, and it openly shares annual insight into equity and sustainability on its website.

“You have to choose this lifestyle, because you work harder for less money than you could earn doing pretty much anything else,” Knott concludes.

Blue Sparrow's Capitol Hill location will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily starting in late July. For more information and updates, visit bluesparrowcoffee.com or follow it on Instagram @bluesparrowcoffee.