Uptown’s high-traffic corner at 1740 E. 17th Ave is set for a quiet but boozy transformation, as Denver couple Shelby and Scott Ruggiero prepare to open Yoshi, a compact cocktail bar aiming for an early 2027 debut. The plan: spirit-forward cocktails alongside vegetable-forward small plates, built with regular neighborhood service squarely in mind.
Shelby and Scott, who met in 2018 and walked away from their day jobs in October 2025, are budgeting roughly $300,000 to $350,000 for the build-out and say most of the project is being financed with Small Business Administration loans. Drinks are expected to land in the $15 to $18 range, with a tight program featuring about a half-dozen highballs and a half-dozen martinis, plus a short beer-and-wine list and house-made snacks such as potato and cucumber salads, egg sandwiches, and tuna melts, according to BusinessDen.
Small footprint, full kitchen
The corner space at 1740 E. 17th Ave measures about 1,640 square feet and was marketed as a turnkey restaurant with a full kitchen in place, according to commercial listing materials. The address most recently housed Sullivan Scrap Kitchen, which has curtailed regular service there and is no longer listing the spot for normal dinner service. Both the property details and the tenant history are reflected on LoopNet and OpenTable.
Experienced bar team
Scott brings cocktail-room credentials from Death & Co., where he most recently worked, according to local coverage. Shelby’s resume includes time at Stellar Jay atop the Populus Hotel. The Ruggieros say buying the Uptown space is part of a strategy to run a small, tightly managed cocktail counter instead of a full-service restaurant, per BusinessDen and bar-scene reporting from Westword.
What it means for Uptown
Along 17th Avenue and across the Uptown corridor, concepts have come and gone in rapid succession, with smaller, idea-driven bars and cafes increasingly stepping into spaces once held by full-service restaurants as landlords look for tenants with leaner staffing models. A focused cocktail bar with a compact food menu could tweak evening foot traffic and offer another late-night option for nearby residents, mirroring patterns seen across local neighborhood dining guides. Eater Denver tracks how that landscape has been shifting.
The Ruggieros say they are still aiming to have Yoshi open in early 2027 and expect visible build-out work to start appearing on the corner storefront in the coming months. Neighbors should keep an eye out for permitting notices and word of a soft opening timeline as construction moves ahead.
