Lately, it seems like there’s news of another favorite restaurant closing every week. And while many new restaurants open in their place as part of the ever-running circle of life, rarely do you hear about a once-shuttered restaurant coming back to life.

That alone is reason enough to celebrate the quiet return of Chef Liu’s Kitchen on Aurora’s South Havana Street.

A Welcome Return

Chef Liu’s Kitchen is the rebirth of Chef Liu’s Authentic Chinese Cuisine, which for years won the hearts of both diners and critics alike for its traditional take on Szechuan cuisine.

In 2014, it was our Best of Denver pick for Best Chinese Restaurant. When it closed later that year, we lamented, “there are far too few top-quality regional Chinese restaurants in the metro area. This is a real loss to the diversity of the Denver dining scene.”

The reason for the closure was the retirement of owner Zeng Liu, who moved to Oregon after shuttering his namesake restaurant. But that move proved short-lived. Liu and his family returned to Denver in 2020, and he has been looking and waiting for the right spot to return ever since.

He’d been eying Havana Street in particular (the original location was five miles east on Chambers Road), so when the former Menya spot became available in Havana Plaza, Liu jumped at the opportunity and began the rebuilding process.

The doors opened on Saturday, September 20 in Hanava Plaza next to Coffee Story. While it’s been over a decade years since Liu manned a wok in Denver, opening night at the new restaurant felt as if he hadn’t missed a beat. The menu remains primarily focused on the Szechuan and Northern Chinese dishes he’s trained in, with a smattering of Cantonese fare.