Benihana Express Planned for Downtown Denver’s 16M

1380 16th Street

Benihana Express is planned for downtown Denver. The fast-casual concept from The ONE Group has filed for a 3,005 SF build-out at 1380 16th St., inside 16M, the mixed-use building at the corner of 16th Street and Market Street. The 10-story building includes ground-floor retail, office space on floors 2-6, and apartments above. A notable office tenant includes Morgan Stanley.

The Denver filing is significant for the brand. Benihana Express launched in 2025 as the fast-casual spinoff of Benihana, the teppanyaki chain that The ONE Group acquired for $365 million in May 2024. Existing Benihana Express locations are operating in Miami, with the first opening in Brickell and a second at Bayside Marketplace, and an additional unit slated for San Francisco. The Denver build-out would mark one of the brand's earliest non-Florida openings and the first in The ONE Group's hometown market. The company is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker STKS and is headquartered in Denver.

The 3,005 SF footprint is notably larger than the brand's published prototype. Company filings have described the concept as a small-footprint format ranging from roughly 770 to 1,000 SF in other markets, with build-out budgets in the $500,000 to $600,000 range and projected unit volumes of $1.0 million to $1.5 million. The Denver project carries a listed grand total valuation of $692,810, including $654,210 in core permit valuation along with separate log-ins for fire alarm, access control, and fire protection work.

The space sits between Dragonfly Noodle and Mendocino Farms, placing Benihana Express directly within one of 16M's most active ground-floor retail stretches. Mendocino Farms opened in the building earlier this year, taking 1,900 SF that was formerly part of Panera Bread. The Los Angeles-based fast-casual chain entered Colorado in May 2025 with its Cherry Creek debut and is using 16M as its downtown anchor.

What makes the Benihana Express filing especially interesting is that The ONE Group already operates STK Steakhouse on the ground floor of the same building. Rather than converting or relocating STK, the company appears to be layering a second concept into 16M, adding a fast-casual price point alongside its upscale steakhouse format. Both concepts share the same retail block and the same building's foot traffic from Morgan Stanley and the other office tenants above. The strategy aligns with the company's stated 2026 plan to prioritize capital-efficient growth, focusing on new locations that cost $1.5 million or less to open and leveraging existing leases and operator infrastructure where possible.

Permit documents list the new business name as Benihana Express, the applicant as The ONE Group, and the current use as a full-service restaurant with outdoor seating. Plans describe the project as a conversion remodel of a former restaurant space into a new restaurant concept. The scope includes new kitchen equipment, single-use restrooms, interior finishes, millwork, lighting, walls, doors, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical systems, along with a new exterior raised patio with railing, stairs, ramp, and furniture. The submitted menu includes breakfast bowls and platters, hibachi platters, fried rice bowls, appetizers, sandwiches, sushi rolls, gyoza, and desserts.

The filing identifies a full project team. Apogee Architectural Partners, based in Addison, Texas, is the architect of record, with Marc Wills listed as the project contact. MEP engineering is being handled by Barrett, Woodyard & Associates, a Peachtree Corners, Georgia firm, with Joseph Crawford as the contact. Jones Lang LaSalle is the landlord representative, with Craig Foti as the contact on the leasing side. The ONE Group is listed as both the owner-tenant and construction manager, with Josh Cool serving as the tenant contact and Mark Cox managing construction in-house. The vertically integrated structure is consistent with how The ONE Group has approached recent Benihana and STK build-outs, keeping development control inside the company while contracting out architectural and MEP work.

The Benihana Express permit adds to growing food and beverage momentum at 16M and reinforces a shift in the ground-floor retail mix at one of downtown Denver's busiest intersections. With STK, Benihana Express, Mendocino Farms, and Dragonfly Noodle clustered within a single block, 16M is emerging as one of the more concentrated dining nodes on the revitalized 16th Street Mall, and the first market in which a single hospitality operator runs both an upscale steakhouse and a fast-casual concept under one roof.