Two Hands, the Australian-inspired restaurant chain known for its brunch, is opening its second Denver location in Cherry Creek, with plans to welcome guests by spring 2027. The new spot will occupy the ground floor of BMC Investments' The Oasis apartment building at 221 N. Milwaukee St., bringing a more upscale spin on the brand's menu than its original Denver outpost on Tennyson Street.
Founder and CEO Henry Roberts told The Denver Post that he signed a 10-year lease for the Cherry Creek space, which spans 3,400 square feet of interior seating plus a 900-square-foot patio. Roberts, a Sydney, Australia, native, founded Two Hands in 2014 after opening his first café in New York City, and the brand has since expanded into Texas, Tennessee, and Colorado, with additional locations still operating in New York City.
The Cherry Creek restaurant will largely mirror the menu at Two Hands' Tennyson Street location, which opened in Denver's Berkeley neighborhood in 2024 and includes dishes like piri piri chicken, peach scramble and a cold smoked salmon appetizer. The new location will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, and will add touches not found at the Tennyson spot: an outside-facing coffee window, a small courtyard and a fireplace.
A Building Built for Foot Traffic
The Oasis, developed by BMC Investments and Rockpoint, broke ground in December 2024 as a 177-unit luxury mixed-use project featuring 28,000 square feet of retail and a 6,000-square-foot public park with fountains, according to CCD Magazine. The development spans nearly an entire block in Cherry Creek North, positioning Two Hands amid a dense mix of residents and daytime office workers.
BMC Investments has emerged as one of the dominant landlords shaping Cherry Creek North's dining and retail scene, having developed a dozen projects in the district including the Moxy and Clayton hotels, per Bisnow. The firm sold the nearby 100,000-square-foot office and retail building at 255 Fillmore St. for $92.5 million in June, one of the largest single-property commercial transactions in Denver that year. BMC Investments' Matt Joblon described Two Hands' food as outstanding and said the Cherry Creek restaurant will function as an affordable neighborhood option, according to the same report from The Denver Post.
Strong Numbers Despite Denver's Wage Pressure
Two Hands' Tennyson Street location generated $2 million in revenue in 2025 and is tracking toward $4 million in 2026, making it the fastest-growing venue in Roberts' portfolio, he said. Across its eight-location portfolio, Two Hands projects $25 million in sales for 2026 and hopes to reach $30 million by the end of 2027. The Denver location was profitable from day one, with margins near 10% in its first year that have since climbed to about 20%.
Roberts identified Denver's high minimum wage as the biggest operating challenge for the brand locally. Denver's municipal minimum wage rose to $19.29 per hour for non-tipped employees and $16.27 per hour for tipped workers on January 1, following annual Consumer Price Index adjustments, per Colorado Politics — among the highest municipal wage floors in the country. State legislation passed in late 2025 preserved Colorado's $3.02 tip credit offset while giving municipalities room to expand tip credits where local minimum wages exceed the state baseline, a shift that keeps wage compliance central to how expanding restaurant operators like Two Hands plan their budgets.
Betting Against Cherry Creek's Turnover
Two Hands is entering a submarket that looks nothing like struggling downtown Denver, where office vacancy has ranged between 29% and 38.6%. Cherry Creek North, by contrast, has held office and retail vacancy under 2% through mid-2026, a gap that helps explain why national concepts keep pushing into the 16-block district despite the broader commercial real estate downturn.
That demand hasn't spared every longtime tenant. Cherry Creek lost two established restaurants this summer alone: 15-year brunch staple Syrup closed its Josephine Street location in August, and SOL Mexican Cocina vanished from its Columbine Street corner in July, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of Syrup's final pour and in a separate piece on the Sol Mexican Cocina closure. Those exits underscore that even in one of Denver's most expensive dining submarkets, high rents and thin margins can push out established names — the same conditions Two Hands is now betting it can navigate with a fireplace, a coffee window and a decade-long lease.
Roberts' Farm-to-Table Roots
Roberts and his family also operate Stockwood Farms, a 65-acre farm in New York's Hudson Valley where they raise grass-fed beef, lamb and heritage pork that supply the restaurant group's menu, according to VoyageDenver. Two Hands made its first expansion outside New York City in October 2020 with an Austin, Texas outpost during the pandemic, later growing into Dallas, Nashville, Franklin and Denver, with a Kansas City signing by mid-2026. The company aims to have at least three stores in each market it enters, though Roberts has not yet signed a lease for a third Denver-area location.
Roberts said the company hopes to maintain its margins and apply lessons learned in Denver to the new Cherry Creek restaurant. BusinessDen, a partner of The Denver Post, and Denver Post reporter Thomas Gounley also contributed reporting on the expansion.
