Sandwich Shop Open at Goosetown Shutters December 15

"I'm tired of the bar business," admits Jake Riederer, owner of sandwich concept Open, which has been operating out of Goosetown Tavern, at 3242 East Colfax Avenue, since January. Now, though, it's set to close after service on December 15 — but Riederer isn't entirely done with the sandwich business.

Open was his first venture as a business owner, though he started working in restaurants when he was fourteen, with a gig at Boulder Country Club. Now, 26 years later, Riederer is ready for a change. "I can't do the late-night hours anymore. It's a combination of that and realizing that to really flourish, Open needs to own space," he says.

Riederer initially launched Open out of the kitchen inside RiNo bar American Bonded in March 2021, then moved to Goosetown. "We did it for two years, which is pretty awesome for a pandemic startup," he notes. "But we sort of got lost in both the spaces we were in."

Unlike a typical deli-style sandwich shop, Open "was about taking restaurant-style recipes and putting those between bread," Riederer explains. To do that, he partnered with a number of big-name chefs in town, including Jeff Osaka of Osaka Ramen and Sushi Rama, Amos Watts of the Fifth String, Tommy Lee of Uncle and Hop Alley, and more. "I have so much gratitude for all the chefs who lent us their names and recipes. I'm really proud of what we did," Riederer says.

But he also admits that the offerings "might have been a little too highbrow" for the patrons of Goosetown, where he's also been a manager, a role he'll continue through the end of the year. The kitchen at Goosetown will not be bringing in another food brand, but will instead begin serving typical bar fare such as burgers and nachos.

When Open launched, giving back a portion of sales to nonprofit Project Angel Heart was also central to the concept. "My plans were bigger than my wallet," Riederer admits. "In the end, we donated over $3,000 to Project Angel Heart. But the realities of the business are that if you take 8 to 10 percent of sales and give it to charity, there's not a whole lot of money left."
But, he adds, "There are so many other ways to contribute to a community." And that's exactly what he's planning to do next, when he and his wife, Cecelia Jones, open a market with a deli counter in the Elyria-Swansea neighborhood next year. "It's such a food desert over there," Reiderer notes. "There's a need for healthy, affordable food."

The market and deli will allow him and Jones to use their experience in "connecting people and communities through food" in a way that will also allow them to "have a life outside our jobs," Riederer explains. "It's an evolution more than an extinction."

Six months ago, he and his wife moved to the Park Hill neighborhood. After leaving a job at Sunday Vinyl, Jones, who is a sommelier, began working at Spinelli's Beer, Wine & Spirits at 4615 East 23rd Avenue, next door to Spinelli's Market, a move that sparked the idea to open a market of their own.

Now Jones works three days a week at the bottle shop while Riederer does the same at the market and deli "to learn the ins and outs of the grocery business," he says, with guidance from Spinelli's owner John Moutzouris. "It's fortified our decision."

Riederer is focused on preparing for the next move, and may even bring a recipe from Open to Spinelli's in order to test it in a deli counter setting.

But when it does debut, don't expect Riederer's new deli to be a re-creation of Open. "In order to really effectively serve people looking to come in to get a quick sandwich, it will be a combination of a classic deli and Open," he says. "I might modify some recipes or bring over a couple that can be done fast."

For now, though, he and Jones are focused on learning as much as they can at Spinelli's. "There's a lot of stuff that's different about running a grocery store than a restaurant, but at the end of the day, it's about making sure people can get good food at great prices," Riederer concludes.