City of Aspen selects 520 Grill for 455 Rio Grande Place
City staff to enter negotiations before council considers a lease
Feb 11, 2026 | Colin Suszynski
On Tuesday evening, Aspen City Council awarded the lease to the subsidized restaurant location at 455 Rio Grande Place to 520 Grill.
“I personally like all these restaurants pretty much equally, I’ve really tried to think about which would best serve this space at this time,” said Councilor Christine Benedetti during discussion on Tuesday evening. “I would like to support 520 Grill for that reason. I think they’re ready to serve Aspen now, and they’ve proven that they can successfully do it after 15 years of being in business.”
The lease on the subsidized space is proposed at a monthly cost of $5,200 per month, with the possibility of some type of profit share. Final details, however, were open to negotiation by the lessee.
The space became available after the previous tenant, Yogi’s, was asked to leave due to a failure to pay rent. The city put out a “request for proposal” at the beginning of December 2025 and began a public process for getting candidates, selecting finalists, and ultimately awarding the lease on Tuesday.
Councilors initially narrowed the list of 12 applicants down to four finalists — 520 Grill, Bamboo Bear, Jaffa, and Masala and Curry — but Masala and Curry dropped out of the running before the council’s Feb. 2 meeting.
Councilor Bill Guth did not participate in Tuesday’s discussion and vote due to a conflict of interest with one of the applicants, 520 Grill, that was stated at the Feb. 2 meeting.
The meeting did not offer public comment, though Mayor Rachael Richards acknowledged the community offered a plethora of input via emails and newspaper articles.
Councilors reached the decision by reading their top choice one at a time. All four remaining councilors supported 520 Grill for the 455 Rio Grande Place location.
Councilor Sam Rose spoke first, acknowledging that the three finalists brought great presentations to the council and all had a lot of upside. But for Rose, the decision came down to which restaurant had the least risk.
“I do think of the applicants we got in, the three that we were down to, I think 520 has the best chance to succeed, and I truly hope that they do,” Rose said.
Councilor Christine Benedetti spoke next, echoing comments from Rose that she’d like to see menu prices come down. 520 Grill’s proposed prices were in line with their current offerings at their non-subsidized location, with some items even increasing in price.
Councilors had raised similar concerns at their Feb. 2 meeting, while acknowledging that they will not be able to control menu prices.
Councilor John Doyle echoed earlier comments that he saw 520 Grill as the most kid-friendly.
Richards spoke last, offering a final vote for 520 Grill and acknowledging that the field was tight with three strong finalists.
Next, city staff will enter contract negotiations with 520 Grill. At the Feb. 2 meeting, all three finalists said they would want to amend portions of the lease before signing. Richards acknowledged that there may be items that change per request from 520 Grill or from the city.
After a lease is negotiated with city staff, councilors will need to approve the lease at a future meeting.