Cinq à Sept: A New French Bistro in North Boulder

The French bistro at 4580 Broadway comes from the same restaurant group that ran Bellota in that space for four years. Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality, Bryan Dayton's group behind Oak at Fourteenth and Corrida, closed Bellota on January 31, 2026. Five months later, on July 7, the group opened Cinq à Sept in the same address in the NoBo Art District.

That matters if you're deciding whether to go. A team that already ran this room had a second chance at this corner, and it chose something smaller and simpler. The menu, the hours and the chef's stated goal all point to a place built for regular weeknight dinners rather than big nights out.

Same address, same owners, second concept

The building has a longer run of restaurants than most of North Broadway. Boulder Reporting Lab lists the order as Restaurant 4580, then The North End at 4580, then Bellota, and now Cinq à Sept. The last two steps came from the same owner.

When Bellota opened, the Denver Post described a 2,900-square-foot restaurant with 100 seats counting the patio, decorated to reflect Barella's home country, Mexico. Its closing note, quoted by Westword, thanked "Boulder and NoBo for the past 4 years" and said "there is something brewing so stay tuned!!" Westword reported no reason for the closure.

The new concept answers a question Dayton framed citywide. "There hasn't really been a French restaurant here since Mateo and L'Atelier closed," he told DiningOut. Dayton told Boulder Reporting Lab the aim was a restaurant that would appeal to North Boulder residents while also drawing diners from elsewhere in the city.

A shorter menu for a regular table

Chef Samuel McCandless described his goal in one line to DiningOut: "I've always wanted a casual, straightforward little French spot. To me, it's just simple and fun, an easy place to come twice a week."

The menu is short on purpose. In Boulder Reporting Lab's account, the tight menu reflects the restaurant's smaller space and kitchen, and it's about the size of Oak at Fourteenth's. "If you're doing good classic pieces, you don't have to overdo the menu," Dayton said. When it opened in July, DiningOut counted six appetizers and about six entrees.

• Appetizers include oysters on the half shell, grilled artichokes with mustard aioli, and a tuna crudo based on salade Niçoise.
• Entrees include sole meunière, steak au poivre and roast chicken.
• Sides and dessert include pommes raclette and crème brûlée.
• Bread service is the chef's favorite. McCandless was assistant baker at L2O in Chicago, where he learned baguettes from Alen Ramos, whom DiningOut identifies with Poulette Bakeshop in Parker. He's "really into the baguette with Brie or butter."

McCandless's French training goes back about 30 years to Bistro Enzo in Billings, Montana. French-born owner Laurent Zirotti and chef James Honaker taught him the basics there. That background explains the kitchen's limit on complexity. "Four or five flavors with good ingredients is maxing out for me," he said.

Boulder Reporting Lab names the produce and meat suppliers. Esoterra Farms supplies the greens, carrots, squash and zucchini, and Buckner Family Ranch supplies the beef and lamb. Dayton said the menu will keep "the staples that never change" while seasonal dishes rotate "fairly regularly." A menu that changes with what local suppliers bring in gives you something new to try if you go back often.

The bar is built around early evening

Cinq à sept means "five to seven," a reference to after-work drinks. DiningOut notes the phrase can also mean a romantic rendezvous. The drinks list follows the same simple approach as the kitchen. Cocktails stick to classics like martinis, French 75s, Boulevardiers and Kir Royales. Dayton told DiningOut he wasn't sure anyone still ordered Kir Royales until they started selling "a lot of them."

Pastis, the anise-flavored French aperitif, has sold faster than he expected. "We've actually gone through a few bottles, which is crazy," Dayton said, adding that the pastis at the group's other restaurants "just sits there." The all-French wine list has about a dozen choices by the glass and the bottle. It runs from Chablis and Sancerre to Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley, plus a couple of less common picks: an Alsatian Pinot Noir and a Gros Manseng from Jurançon.

Happy hour runs from 4 to 5 p.m. every day. Boulder Reporting Lab describes it as bread and cheese, fresh oysters, jambon de Bayonne and cold drinks. Dayton also told the outlet that customers come in all evening, not only during happy hour.

The room was designed to match. Dayton told DiningOut they considered a "Parisian punk underground kind of thing" because of the Art District location, but McCandless wanted a classic bistro. They ended up with a modern farmhouse look in "a soft, Belgian waffle kind of yellow" and a lighter blue than planned.

What to order first

Dayton gave Boulder Reporting Lab his picks for a first visit, roughly in the order he'd put them on the table:

1. The bread, which he called "amazing," with oysters from Prince Edward Island
2. The zucchini, which he called "next-level"
3. The simple salad made with Esoterra greens
4. The chicken
5. The sole with brown butter and capers

The steak isn't on his list. He joked that "for me not to say 'beef' is probably a big statement." That stands out from an owner whose group runs Corrida Cattle Company and built C Burger around its regeneratively raised beef. The vegetable and fish picks fit the light, simple style the kitchen describes.

Hours, and the lunch that hasn't been posted

According to the restaurant's website, Cinq à Sept is open 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with happy hour from 4 to 5 p.m. daily.

In late July, DiningOut reported that Friday and Saturday lunch would start in September. As of October 12, 2026, neither the restaurant's own hours nor the Boulder Reporting Lab story published that day lists lunch. Both show evening service only. If you're thinking about a weekend lunch, check the website before you go.

Dayton has noticed who's coming in. According to Boulder Reporting Lab, he is seeing a lot of familiar faces along with plenty he doesn't recognize, which he called "pretty interesting for somebody that's owned a business in Boulder for 16 years." In July, DiningOut reported the restaurant was "already attracting a neighborhood crowd." The address is 4580 Broadway, Boulder.

If you'd like to talk through what's changing near your own corner of North Boulder, Manzanita Fine is happy to set up a one-on-one neighborhood consult, over a happy-hour plate of oysters if that suits you.