Ivywild School now unlocks at 7 a.m. That is the first change most regulars at 1604 S. Cascade Ave. will notice. Mike Bristol told The Gazette that the breakfast program was scheduled to start Oct. 5, with the building opening early for the morning crowd. The coffee bar opens earlier, there are hot breakfast plates and a bakery case, and the building is set up for people who want to settle in with a laptop.
Later in the day, things are less settled. Decent Pizza is paused, and the new concept replacing it isn't due until January. Ivywild Kitchen is due to move to another part of the building. Across South Tejon, The Blue Star is finishing a remodel without an announced opening date. The bakery that used to sit inside the school now hands off its pies from a restaurant that hasn't opened yet. So this winter, mornings at Ivywild are finished and everything after lunch is still being built. Plan your visits around that.
Mornings Came First
The handoff took effect Sept. 21, 2026. That's when the Principal's Office, Ivywild Kitchen and Decent Pizza passed from Joseph Coleman to Mike and Amanda Bristol. All three were original partners when Ivywild School opened in 2013. Talking to The Gazette, Bristol said bringing back the morning program was "one of the first big changes that people will see." He added that until COVID, the Principal's Office "was a place to come and get coffee, get pastries, get breakfast."
Here's what the new morning lineup includes, per Ivywild's own announcement and the Gazette:
- Coffee at the Principal's Office, now served morning and evening, with a program built alongside Loyal Coffee
- Bluebird Breakfast, a new Bristol concept serving a short hot-breakfast menu
- Yellow Brick Bake Shop, a Bristol brand handling breakfast pastries, desserts and fresh bread
- A new fall cocktail menu for later in the day, developed by Front of House Manager Alyssa Mather with Montana Horsfall of Craft Cocktail
Bristol pitched the space to remote workers directly. "You can get your breakfast and go hide out in a corner and work," he told The Gazette. "Or if you want to be in a more social atmosphere, you can work at the bar at the Principal's Office in the morning."
The morning program was the easiest piece to launch. It runs out of an existing bar and adds no new kitchen space. That explains why it went first while the bigger moves wait.
Lunch and Dinner Are Waiting on Construction
Ivywild says construction at the north end of the building will run through the end of 2026. That's where most of the food rebuild happens. The Gazette describes two hallway "kitchen encounters." One is a new home for Ivywild Kitchen. The other is an indoor counter for Spark BBQ, which now cooks out of a shipping container in the outdoor gathering space at the front of the school.
Here's where each lunch and dinner piece stood as of mid-October 2026:
| Spot | What's happening | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Decent Pizza | Paused | No reopening; being replaced |
| The Restless Chef | New lunch and dinner concept, menu changes quarterly | January 2027 |
| Ivywild Kitchen | Refreshed menu from new Executive Chef Paul Ryan; moving to the north end | Move tied to construction through end of 2026 |
| Spark BBQ indoor counter | New hallway counter next to Ivywild Kitchen | No opening date announced |
| One-tab ordering | Single tab across most of the building, QR ordering with table delivery | Announced; counter service continues |
The Restless Chef is the biggest addition. Bristol told The Gazette the menu will be "designed around different culinary regions in the world. And every three months it will change." Chef Ryan's own pitch, in Springsmag, was to "blow people's minds with a kaleidoscope of flavor."
Until January, an evening at Ivywild School means fewer food counters than a year ago. Ivywild Kitchen is still serving and Spark BBQ is still out front. A pizza run, though, is off the list until the new spot replaces it.
The one-tab system is the change that affects every visit. Bristol described it to The Gazette as one central tab "rather than going around to each counter and having a different transaction every time." Ivywild's announcement says it will cover "most of the building." Counter service stays for anyone who prefers it.
Gold Star Pickups Moved to The Blue Star Before It Reopened
The other half of the split sits at 1645 S. Tejon St. The Blue Star has been there since 1998. Coleman opened the original in Old Colorado City in 1995, partnered with Bristol and moved to South Tejon three years later. He closed it in 2017. According to The Gazette, the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department issued permits in March for a $1.7 million remodel.
The restaurant's own site says "Fall 2026." The Gazette's September report said no grand reopening date had been announced. It put opening day at "as soon as late fall or early winter, if all goes as hoped." Coleman's statement to the paper said the extra time let the team "slow down, do things right and make sure that when we open our doors this fall, we're firing on all cylinders."
If you remember the old layout, the inside will look different. Lindsey Hafemeister, a marketing consultant for The Blue Star Group, told The Gazette the old space was "divided up before into kind of like two different restaurants." The new one is a single restaurant with a bar and lounge on one side and a dining room on the other, "with the same menu throughout."
The building is already in use in one way. Gold Star Bakery is owned by Blue Star, and in September its new location was still listed as TBD. Now Gold Star's order page says it has left Ivywild School and has no storefront for same-day purchases. All regular preorders are picked up at The Blue Star, Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Further up, the same page still gives pickup directions to the school's back door. The notice at the bottom about The Blue Star is the current one.
That affects your Thanksgiving pie. Gold Star's holiday preorders will be picked up at The Blue Star on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you've always parked behind the school for pie pickup, this year you'll cross the street. You'll be walking into a restaurant that may not be serving dinner yet.
What Stays Put
Several tenants aren't part of the ownership change. Bristol told The Gazette the split doesn't affect them.
- The Bristol Pub, still the anchor of the building
- Axe and the Oak, the distillery and tasting room
- Salad or Bust
- Odds & Ends Emporium
The Art O'Mat is still inside too. It's a converted cigarette machine that sells original art from the Millibo Art Theatre. Ivywild lists weekend brunch, more live music, art openings and private events as "on the horizon," with no start dates yet.
The Next Few Weeks on the Block
The calendar from now until the new kitchens open still uses the building as a gathering spot, even with lunch and dinner limited:
- Saturday, Oct. 31: Halloween at Ivywild. Daytime trick-or-treating and crafts, a screening of "Hocus Pocus" at 6:30 p.m. as part of Bristol's Movies Under the Stars series, then a 21-and-over party at 9 p.m. with a DJ, "Halloween" showing in the gym and a costume contest, per the PeakRadar listing.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Puzzle Palooza. Starts at 6 p.m. A $22 ticket covers a two-person team, two beers and a puzzle to take home, per PeakRadar.
- Nov. 24 and 25: Gold Star Thanksgiving pickups at The Blue Star, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Check Bristol Brewing's events page before you go, since times can shift.
Ivywild expects the north-end construction to run through the end of 2026, and The Restless Chef is slated for January 2027.
If you own near the Cascade and Tejon corner and want to know how a reopened Blue Star and a rebuilt Ivywild School could figure into your home's value or a future rental plan, Garrett Newell can put the numbers together. Get a free valuation & investment plan.