Yardbird’s Sprawling RiNo in Denver Location Serves Upscale Southern Fare

“This is annoyingly good.” That was my reaction to the first bites of food I tried at Yardbird, which opened a massive, 14,950 square-foot location at 2763 Blake Street in July.

Annoying because it’s easy to make assumptions about a place like Yardbird. “Oh, it’s a chain, right?” one of my friends commented when I was recapping the meal. Technically, yes, and RiNo is now full of corporate concepts. The neighborhood that was once home to mom-and-pops and special, locally-owned spots such as the Populist, which closed in 2019, now houses chain outposts like Yardbird’s neighbor, Puttshack; fast-food giant Shake Shack; Barcelona, which has locations in twenty states; and Federales, which is backed by a Chicago-based real estate developers and mostly relies on its “throw your shot glass…