Bryan Dayton is accustomed to taking risks in the restaurant business. In 2013, he and business partner Steven Redzikowski—owners of acclaimed Boulder eateries Oak at Fourteenth and Corrida—launched Acorn inside the Source, a former 19th century foundry turned hotel and market hall. Far from the trendy end of RiNo at the time, Acorn drew local and national praise for seven years before closing in September 2020, a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Elyria-Swansea, less than two miles northeast of the Source, Dayton stands ready to take another risk in what’s now the new frontier of development in the area (Brighton Boulevard having long since become enshadowed by towering apartments, office buildings, and hotels). In just a few months, he’ll throw open the doors to the Stockton, a Colorado-forward steak house inside what was once the National Western Center’s Livestock Exchange building, now simply called the Exchange after a more than $20 million overhaul from building owner EXDO Development Group and real estate developer Natural Object.

The livestock exchange bank building approximately 100 years ago. Photo courtesy of the Exchange
The Exchange’s bank vault will soon hold wine and beef. Photo by Mark Antonation

The Stockton, Dayton explains, will rely heavily on beef from his Corrida Cattle Co., a business he founded to partner with ranchers dedicated to regenerative practices (aimed at improving the soil, water, and biodiversity of farms and ranches) so he could have a steady supply of quality meat for his restaurants. “It will be like Corrida, but will hone in on a Colorado-specific menu,” he says.

To that end, he expects that about 75 to 80 percent of the beef will come from the Centennial State, with the remainder being sourced from regenerative ranches in nearby states. The restaurant itself will be a classic Western steak house reflecting the Exchange’s history and architectural style. “You think of the legacy places in Denver like the Buckhorn Exchange or My Brother’s Bar,” he says. “My goal is for the Stockton to be the next step in that legacy.”

The Exchange was certainly built to last. Founded in 1898, it served as the primary hub for Colorado’s livestock business for a century, where more than 40,000 cows, sheep, and pigs a day were sold from the surrounding stockyards and over $1 million in cash changed hands daily. Natural Object principal Justin Croft points out that much of the building’s original marble, woodwork, wrought iron, and windows have been restored, and the new tile, paint, terrazzo floors, and furnishings were selected to capture the elegance of the Exchange’s heyday. “Some of these crafts have been lost,” he explains. “It would probably be cheaper to do a new build, but it would be impossible to build something like this from the ground up.”

The trading board during the 1940s or ’50s. Photo courtesy of the National Archives
The trading board from the livestock exchange is now located in the second floor lobby. Photo by Mark Antonation

Guests of the Stockton will see those details in the Exchange’s lobby, which will contain the restaurant’s host station and coat check, and the original bank vault and towering pillars in the dining room. The bar will rest between four of those pillars, and the vault will serve as the wine cellar and beef dry-aging room. Service will match the opulent surroundings; Dayton says he’s planning some fun “theatrics” beyond tableside cocktail carts and a prime rib station. The menu will come from Dayton’s longtime collaborator, executive chef and partner Samuel McCandless.

The remainder of the first floor will house Western heritage retailers such as hat makers and jewelers. Upstairs, office spaces will be leased to ag-related businesses, and the third floor is already home to the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association headquarters.

EXDO Development’s Kevin Preblud points out that the group has been in RiNo since the early 2000s, with a focus mainly on land sales. But the entire National Western Center is in the midst of a $2 billion redevelopment effort, with the new CSU Spur campus, Legacy Building, and HW Hutchison Family Stockyards Events Center and soon-to-open Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Livestock Center all within a stone’s throw of the Exchange. “We made sure and got the building listed with the National Register of Historic Places before we began work,” he says.

Dayton hopes to open the Stockton in May or June 2026, initially serving dinner five nights a week. With the National Western Center’s recent surge in activity, he expects to see locals, members of Colorado’s agricultural community, and visitors from all over the country coming to the restaurant year-round, not just during January’s annual National Western Stock Show. 4701 Marion St., Denver