Capitol Hill restaurant Odyssey Italian will close for at least two weeks, and maybe longer, following a Monday fire that damaged the building, the owners said.
“Unfortunately, we have to cancel your reservation,” they wrote online. “While we work on the damage and set out on repairs, we would love to see you at our sister restaurant in Uptown; Ollie and Park’s.”
Ollie & Park’s, which opened in 2024, serves American-style tapas and cocktails.
The owners believe the Odyssey fire may have started in the alley, by the kitchen’s exhaust fan, and worked its way into the building. But they didn’t want to speculate or draw conclusions as they work through paperwork and insurance, they said.
“We have 35 to 40 employees who are now out of work,” said co-owner Jason Alfonso, who’s also a chef. “We hope to hire them all back, but it’s tough. We live paycheck to paycheck.”
Odyssey, which turns 14 this year, is located in at 603 E. 6th Ave. in Denver in a 111-year-old Victorian mansion. Chef Ignazio Mulei and his son Michele’s menu focuses on “rustic, old-world dining” and includes pasta dishes, seafood and other Italian and Sicilian cuisine.
Guests at Odyssey reported seeing smoke start to fill the front room of the restaurant mid-afternoon on Monday.
“We were just about to put our food order in when smoke started to filter into the dining room, and we were told to evacuate,” said Cory Schmitt, who was at the restaurant at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, by email. “Fortunately, everyone seemed to get out safely, and the damage appeared fairly minor, so hopefully it’s an easy road to reopening.”
Owners Alfonso and Hallie Thomas, who are married, on Wednesday also said all staff were evacuated safely. Images and photos shared online, verified by the owners, show a Denver Fire Department truck with its ladder extended to the red-brick building’s second story, and white-gray smoke billowing from the roof.
A plywood board covers a broken third-story window at Odyssey Italian Restaurant on Capitol Hill in Denver, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (John Wenzel / The Denver Post)
At least a half dozen firefighters showed up to battle the fire. Thomas said, breaking out a third-floor window that is now boarded up with plywood. Staff inside the restaurant also grabbed multiple fire extinguishers to fight the small blaze, Thomas said.
The Denver Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The owners praised their efforts in saving the building.
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