Venezuelan restaurant opens in Greenwood Village

After moving back from Boston, Clare Sucre is getting back to a familiar business – and she’s bringing her husband, too.

Clare and Manuel Sucre opened Venezuelan restaurant Catira, whose name means “blondie” in Spanish slang, at 5370 Greenwood Plaza Blvd. in the Landmark retail center last week. It keeps a pared down menu of empanadas, arepas and cocktails. The most expensive item is a $17 plate of meat, rice, plantains and beans.

“My family is in the restaurant business … during the pandemic we were closed. Their business was closed, and so we were doing a lot of family time at home, just trying to distract ourselves. Manuel was making arepas and empanadas, making Venezuelan food for my family,” Clare said. “And I think we kind of all had this ‘aha’ moment of: why is this not more common? How come they’re not more Venezuelan restaurants?”

The duo had a mentor in Clare’s father, Mark Berzins. He’s the founder of the Little Pub Co., which owns more than a dozen Denver bars, like the British Bulldog in Five Points and The College Inn just off Colorado Boulevard along 8th Avenue.

Manuel said the couple took out three loans from different family members to finance the business.

“We’re a Venezuelan-American couple. I’m taking the American mentorship, the American way of doing business, to my cuisine,” Manuel said.

The kitchen is staffed mostly by Venezuelans, some of whom recently arrived in the states. The couple hired two employees from a local program that helps migrants obtain work while they navigate the immigration process.

“That really tells you what my team is like. It’s amazing that we’ve built something like that in a week,” Manuel said,

But Catira was almost born elsewhere. The couple first considered signing a lease next to the Blue Pan Pizza in the Highlands at 32nd Avenue and Perry Street. The plan then was to stick to Denver’s urban core. They toured other spots, like the old Pizzeria Locale at 6th Avenue and Broadway, which has since leased to Cava.

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Eventually, they looked at the spot near the Denver Tech Center.

“My dad’s business partner is big in commercial real estate here,” Clare said. “He was like: offices, residential, parking. This is a dynamite location, given all those factors, disposable income obviously being part of it too.”

JLL broker Lorenzo Harris represented the couple in the lease.

“Good restaurant space is hard to come by and it’s very competitive to get a deal done. One thing we loved about the DTC is it has a strong daytime lunch crowd and an evening crowd as well,” Harris said.

Clare believes its suburban location at a lower price point will attract people who otherwise would have to drive downtown to have a similar meal.

The two met in Boston, first as coworkers in the corporate world. Clare is a Denver native and Manuel immigrated to America from Venezuela in 2013. The idea to open an eatery was hatched during the pandemic but became more of a focus upon moving to Denver in 2023.

And now, two years later, the couple have a restaurant that pulls from his Venezuelan heart and her American mind.

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