Capriotti's Sandwich Shop is reopening two of its three shuttered Colorado Springs locations under direct corporate control, with the Barnes Road store set to reopen September 15 and the Cheyenne Road shop following in October. The Las Vegas-based sandwich chain's third local location, on Interquest Parkway, will remain permanently closed.
All three Colorado Springs Capriotti's locations closed suddenly in Spring 2026, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. The Barnes Road and Cheyenne Road stores had previously been operated by a husband-and-wife franchise team, and both locations will now operate under new corporate ownership rather than an independent franchisee. Maria Pereda, speaking for the brand, said Capriotti's chose to focus its revitalization efforts and resources on the Barnes Road and Cheyenne Road spaces.
“Colorado Springs has always been a fiercely loyal market,” Pereda said, per the Gazette's reporting. The company has no immediate plans to expand elsewhere in Colorado Springs beyond the two reopening stores, and leadership is evaluating future opportunities to grow as the brand works to revitalize the market.
Who Brought Capriotti's To The Springs In The First Place
Capriotti's first arrived in Colorado Springs in December 2021, when franchisees Ron and Christen Sanders opened the Creekwalk location on Cheyenne Road, according to the Denver Gazette. That opening set an opening-day sales record for the franchise chain, and the Sanders team expanded to a total of three Colorado Springs stores before all of them closed abruptly this past spring.
The sudden shutdown wasn't an isolated event. It landed amid a broader wave of restaurant and retail closures across Colorado Springs in early 2026, including Rock Bottom Brewery and Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, as inflation and rising operating costs squeezed consumer spending across the city, the Denver Gazette reported.
What's On The Menu When The Doors Reopen
The reopened Barnes Road location, at 5856 Barnes Road, spans 1,433 square feet and will offer Capriotti's Classic Cheesesteak alongside The Bobbie, the brand's signature Thanksgiving-style sandwich built with slow-roasted turkey, house-made stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mayonnaise. The Barnes Road store will also carry Snake River Farms American Wagyu beef subs. Over at the Cheyenne Road location, at 140 E. Cheyenne Road, Suite 110 in the Creekwalk retail center, the reopening menu is adding fries.
Both Colorado Springs restaurants will offer dine-in, pickup, delivery, and catering, along with made-to-order salads, soups, and sides. Capriotti's specializes in cold or grilled submarine sandwiches, and each restaurant roasts whole turkeys nightly while making coleslaw and meatballs fresh daily.
A Corporate Rescue Fits A Pattern
This isn't the first time Capriotti's corporate leadership has stepped in after a franchisee relationship fell apart. In September 2015, the company ended its relationship with a franchisee operating six locations across California and Nevada after four Orange County stores closed abruptly, with CEO Ashley Morris reaffirming corporate commitment to brand continuity at the time, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Morris and President Jason Smylie purchased the Capriotti's chain in 2008 from founders Lois and Alan Margolet, after previously running three Las Vegas franchises themselves, per the brand's history detailed on Wikipedia. Morris had been a Wells Fargo portfolio manager and Smylie a software engineer before they became Capriotti's franchisees in 2005. The company also owns the fast-casual wing brand Wing Zone, which it acquired in January 2021, uniting the two multi-unit franchise systems and expanding corporate off-premise ordering technology, according to Restaurant Dive.
A National Growth Push Amid Local Turbulence
The Colorado Springs rescue comes as Capriotti's marks its 50th anniversary — the brand was founded in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1976 — with an aggressive nationwide expansion campaign. As part of the milestone, the company launched a “50-50-50” initiative offering $50,000 in incentives in discounted franchise fees and royalties to accelerate store openings, working toward a corporate goal of 500 locations by 2032, according to the International Franchise Association. The chain opened 16 new restaurants in 2025 and targeted 20 additional openings across priority regional markets this year.
During the first half of 2026 alone, Capriotti's opened 12 new restaurants and signed development agreements for 30 more locations as it pushed into new markets across Illinois, Texas, Arizona, and Utah. The chain now operates 157 restaurants across more than 20 states. In June, Capriotti's landed at No. 12 on Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers & Shakers List, marking its sixth consecutive year receiving the industry recognition.
Colorado already has an established Capriotti's footprint outside the Springs, with locations in Castle Rock, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, and Parker, according to Mile High on the Cheap. That gives the chain seven total operating locations statewide as of mid-2026, even as it worked through the franchisee turnover in Colorado Springs. The brand's reputation precedes the reopening, too — The Bobbie was previously named “Greatest Sandwich in America” in a national poll, and Capriotti's Classic Cheesesteak has been inducted into the Cheesesteak Hall of Fame.
For now, Colorado Springs sandwich fans have a firm date to circle: September 15 for Barnes Road, with Cheyenne Road to follow next month. Whether corporate management eventually hands the stores back to a franchisee or keeps them as company-owned locations long-term remains an open question as Capriotti's continues its national growth push.
