New Restaurant Comes to Pueblo, Colo., Historic District.

Byline: Gail Pitts

Feb. 1--One of the regal buildings on Union Avenue has new occupants with an aim to reflect the area.

Jason Archuleta and Ken Navarro call their restaurant venture The District.

At 224 S. Union, in the heart of the Union Avenue Historic District, they're ensconced in the former home of the Rogue's Gallery and SoHo Bar. For the last 18 months, it has housed La Mela di Angelo, an Italian restaurant that's moving to Second and Main streets.

The new partners want to make one thing clear: The District is lots of things, an espresso bar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. upstairs, a minimum-menu restaurant from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., but first and foremost it's a bar with a nightclub atmosphere.

On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays there's live DJ music upstairs, where overstuffed couches and chairs have replaced formal tables. That's where Navarro's wife Callie oversees the espresso bar with a selection of Danish and rolls. Archuleta's wife Angela helps, too.

It's also where folks may settle in for a business meeting, Navarro points out, somewhere quiet away from phones. They plan to add Internet connections so busy professionals can sip cappuccino and work on their computers.

Both downstairs and upstairs are available for light food service -- hamburgers, wraps, salads, cold sandwiches and appetizers.

"We stop serving food at 7, but we're open until 2 a.m.," Archuleta said. The District is closed Sundays, except for Super Bowl Sunday and other special occasions.

The men, both Pueblo natives and South High graduates, say they want The District to have the feel of a LoDo bar in Denver, but with a Pueblo flavor. They both had been away from Pueblo for eight years, but wanted to come home. (Archuleta is a graduate of Colorado State University and Navarro graduated from the University of Northern Colorado.)

Phone is 545-3485.

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(c) 2002, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.