Walk east on Fourth Street past the Rialto Theater and you will pass a building that has been empty since 2006. It is a handsome brick structure, 6,720 square feet, built in 1893, and for two decades it has mostly served as a reminder that downtown Loveland's history runs deeper than its current storefronts. At one point the city considered tearing it down and turning the lot into a pass-through to parking, according to Loveland Downtown District executive director Sean Hawkins.
That building is finally getting a tenant. It just isn't getting one quickly.
In April, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant announced it will open a new concept called The Rio at 225 Fourth St., directly across from the Rialto. Owner Pat McGaughran said the company mapped out the move as part of a five-year plan drawn up back in 2024, with an opening now targeted for early 2027. Compare that to the corridor a few miles east, where Raising Cane's went from rumor to ribbon-cutting in about a year, opening its first Loveland location on March 23 at 4363 Opalite Drive with Mayor Patrick McFall on hand to help cut the ribbon.
That gap, a highway outparcel filling in within months while a century-old downtown storefront waits out a multi-year plan, is the real story of downtown Loveland's food scene right now. If you have been wondering why some new spots seem to appear overnight while Fourth Street itself still has gaps, this is why. Downtown redevelopment here moves at the speed of historic buildings and careful planning. The commercial corridors around it move at the speed of national chains with real estate teams and standardized construction timelines.
Two Speeds, Same Season
Here is what that looks like when you line the two timelines up side by side.
| Raising Cane's | The Rio (225 Fourth St.) | |
|---|---|---|
| Building status before announcement | Vacant outparcel lot | Vacant since 2006 |
| Time from announcement to opening | About a year | About 9 to 10 months, opening targeted for early 2027 |
| Opened | March 23, 2026 | Not yet |
| Location type | Highway-adjacent commercial pad near Loveland Sports Park | Historic downtown storefront across from the Rialto |
McGaughran put it simply when he described why the Loveland location took this long to materialize: "We've had interest and eyes on the region for years." The company had been watching downtown Loveland's momentum build before the right building, and the right timing, lined up. That is a different calculation than a fast-food chain filling a pad site near an interstate exit. It also means the reward for patience downtown tends to be bigger. A 133-year-old building with that kind of visibility does not turn over often.
What's Already Open, No Waiting Required
While The Rio finishes its long runway, downtown and its immediate surroundings have not been standing still.
Driven Steakhouse opened on May 29, 2025 at 5720 McWhinney Blvd, next door to Endless Garage's exotic car showroom. Chef Thomas Newsted, a Culinary Institute of America graduate with 23 years in Colorado kitchens, runs a menu built around dry-aged wagyu, fresh seafood, and a bourbon list with house barrels. It is a reservation-worthy night out, not a walk-in diner, and it is fully open now.
Closer to the historic core, Taste Local Café's evening spinoff, Taste at Night, launched on Cleveland Avenue in June 2025. The daytime café is known for locally sourced breakfast and lunch, but Taste at Night runs Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. with handcrafted cocktails, mocktails, and a rotating small-plates menu built for sharing. It fills a real gap in downtown's evening options, sitting somewhere between the casual pubs already on Fourth Street and the more formal dining rooms further out.
And Raising Cane's, for anyone who has been waiting since the company's first Colorado location opened in Fort Collins nearly a decade ago, is now open daily at 4363 Opalite Drive.
None of these required a five-year plan. They required an available building and a company ready to move.
The Calendar That Doesn't Wait On Any Restaurant
The useful thing about downtown Loveland's fall lineup is that it runs on its own schedule, independent of which storefronts are occupied. The Loveland Downtown District puts on the same signature events every year, and this year is no different.
The Downtown Pumpkin Festival returns this October, set up on Fifth Street in front of the Loveland Museum. Expect farmers market vendors, food trucks, live pumpkin sculptors, and the annual costume contest that draws families from across Loveland. Paired with it is downtown's scarecrow display, where local artists and businesses build entries along the district and the public votes on favorites, with prizes going to the best designs.
Later in the month, Find Your Fright, the haunted house at 333 E. Fourth St., runs its 16th season, a milestone that reflects two decades of the attraction pulling visitors into downtown after dark. Nightly hours run 6 to 11 p.m. through the end of October.
The last weekend of the month brings Downtown Loveland Trick-or-Treat Street, hosted by Loveland Aleworks, when families walk Fourth Street and side streets collecting candy from participating businesses, easy to spot by the flyers in their windows.
If you want a sense of how much the city is investing in downtown's look right now, the Visual Arts Commission's Transformations Project is also underway this year. It converts the utility cabinets along Fourth Street into individual art pieces, and this year's designs are meant to reflect the shops, restaurants, and public spaces that make downtown Loveland what it is. It is a small detail, but it is the kind of investment that happens on a city's own schedule, not tied to any single storefront's grand opening.
Why The Contrast Matters
None of this means downtown Loveland is behind. The Downtown Development Authority has put grant money into more than 70 downtown properties over the years, covering facades and fire lines, and has used tax increment financing to fund broader revitalization. That is steady, unglamorous work that does not generate a headline the way a new restaurant announcement does, but it is what makes a 133-year-old building attractive enough for a regional chain to bet on in the first place.
The lesson for anyone who lives here and tracks what is happening around them is this: don't judge downtown's momentum by how fast any one storefront fills. The corridors built for national chains will always move faster because they are built for exactly that. Downtown's own buildings answer to a different clock, shaped by their age, their ownership, and the kind of tenant willing to wait for the right fit. The Rio's early 2027 opening isn't a delay. It's the normal pace of turning over a building that has been closed since before most current downtown businesses existed.
In the meantime, the fall calendar gives you plenty of reasons to be downtown anyway. Grab dinner at Driven, catch a cocktail at Taste at Night, walk Fourth Street past the scarecrows on your way to the Pumpkin Festival, and keep an eye on that corner building across from the Rialto. When The Rio finally opens, it will be worth the wait, and worth remembering just how long downtown Loveland held that space for the right idea to come along.
If you're watching Loveland's neighborhoods the way we are, from the businesses filling in downtown to the streets around them, LiveInNoCo is a good place to keep tabs on what's changing and why it matters. Let's connect.
