Over the past few days, Denver foodies have been sounding the alarm — the longstanding Columbine Steakhouse and Lounge at 3rd Avenue and Federal Boulevard had been burglarized.
The unpretentious steakhouse has been in business since 1961. Restaurant owner Irene Apergis said people like it because “it's nothing fancy. It's a down-to-earth, hole-in-the-wall steakhouse. But it's very good steaks, very good prices.”
And over the past few years, Columbine has been the victim of not one, not two, but three break-ins.
The most peculiar part? The thieves only took steaks. No beer, no booze, no money. Just steaks.
“They took a couple of trays of T-bone,” Apergis said, “They took New Yorks, they took filets. They took a tray of the sirloins, and I think they took four bags of porterhouse…I would say at least 250 pieces.”
The back of the Columbine Steak House & Lounge, where burglars apparently used a car to break inside and steal a tray of steaks. July 24, 2024. Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
A sign on the Columbine Steak House & Lounge states a burglarly forced them to close. July 24, 2024. Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Apergis said burglars broke in around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday and she became aware of the situation around 7:30 a.m. when an employee arrived for their opening shift.
“The whole wall in the kitchen was completely demolished,” Apergis told Denverite. “The door was demolished and water was all over the place.”
Apergis says this is the third time steaks have been stolen. But this burglary was different.
“This time they caused a big disaster,” she said. “They broke the pipes. We had a leak in the gas line, the whole wall is down.”
She suspects that all three burglaries have been carried out by the same perpetrators. She also thinks she may have angered whoever is behind these crimes.
“The first few times they did it, they came through the door with a crowbar,” Apergis explained. She said to stop this, she put a metal seam on the crease as a safety precaution.
“I think because I put that safety precaution and they couldn't get in as easy as they did last time,” Apergis said, “they just tore the whole wall down.” She said she thinks they did it out of spite.
She said she and her brother, who runs the restaurant with her, are thinking about installing balusters. She knows balusters won’t prevent burglaries, but hopes they’ll at least prevent a truck from busting into the restaurant.
These burglaries are taking their toll.
“Our Budweiser man told us that there was like four breakages in the restaurants in our area,” Apergis said.
After a lifetime of working in her family restaurant, things like this make her tired of the grind.
“All my life, I've been here,” she explained. She said her daughter and her niece also work at the restaurant. “But I don't want them to do it. I really don't. It owns you. The business owns you. You don't own it. You know what I mean?”
Steak service will be back as soon as possible.
Apergis said she’s going to have all of her employees give the restaurant a good cleanup on Thursday, with the hope that the Columbine Steakhouse and Lounge can reopen on Friday or Saturday.
“The walls are not going to be fixed yet,” Apergis warns. “I just have the temporary wood that the restoration company fixed for me so we could close it up.”
For all who love the Columbine Steakhouse and Lounge, you’re what keeps Apergis going.
“It's really nice that we got the support,” she said.
