Peyton Manning behind a new ‘Colorado-rooted’ restaurant coming to Littleton

I’d never go to a Tom Brady restaurant, that guy eats way to0 weird, but Peyton Manning seems like the type of guy who’d put together a heck of a menu…

The Hall of Fame quarterback is partnering with a Denver restaurant group on a proposed $30 million dining and entertainment complex in Littleton that would feature a 15,000-square-foot restaurant serving “Southern-inspired but Colorado-rooted” cuisine, city documents show.

The project, dubbed 1st Street Farms, was presented to the Littleton City Council on Monday evening by the Gastamo Group, the Denver-based restaurant company behind Park Burger, Perdida and Homegrown Tap & Dough. The development would occupy five vacant acres at the intersection of South Santa Fe Drive and Mineral Avenue, along the South Platte Park Open Space in the city’s RiverPark area.

Manning, the two-time Super Bowl champion who led the Denver Broncos to victory in Super Bowl 50 a decade ago, holds a minority equity stake in the project but is listed as its founder and will lend his name, image and likeness to the venture. Gastamo Group, founded by Jean-Philippe Failyau in 2009 and also led by CEO Peter Newlin, would serve as the majority owner and operator.

The proposed menu draws on Manning’s roots in New Orleans and his college years at the University of Tennessee, with dishes such as shrimp and grits, oysters and what developers described as “classic Americana dishes” that “balance comfort and tradition with the bounty of the Rockies, delivering food that feels both familiar and entirely new.” The restaurant would include five private dining rooms designed for group gatherings and community events.

Beyond the restaurant, the complex would include a 13,000-square-foot event space called the Field House, capable of hosting up to 450 guests for weddings, concerts and other gatherings. The plans also call for a community park with a turf football field, five acres of landscaped gardens and paths, and space for concerts, festivals and farmers’ markets.

The project is described as inspired by “the impact and legacy that Peyton Manning has had on the Colorado community, specifically in the Denver metro area.”

Gastamo Group is seeking a public-private partnership with the City of Littleton, including tax incentives and fee waivers, to make the project viable. An economic analysis commissioned by Gastamo argued that the incentive package would be repaid over 10 years through the project’s economic activity.

The venture marks Manning’s second foray into the Denver-area restaurant market. He previously owned 31 Papa John’s franchise locations in Colorado before selling all of them in 2018.

The project remains in the conceptual stage. Littleton City Council discussed the developers’ proposal and requested tax incentives for the first time Tuesday evening.