Longtime Denver restaurant owners, Lee Goodfriend and David Racine, were honored by the city’s legislative branch for serving more than 30 million meals to the community over the past four decades. 

The Denver City Council issued a proclamation on Nov. 23 to commemorate the couple, who are heading into retirement with the recent closure and property sale of their last restaurant, Racines. The beloved eatery shut its doors for good with the city’s March 17 order that temporarily shut down restaurants due to COVID-19. 

CP20-1408 – signed.pdf

“Since opening their first restaurant in 1979, it didn’t matter who you were – whether a regular or there for the first time – it was a part of every visit to Goodfriends, Racines or Dixons that you were greeted and treated like part of the family,” said City Councilman Paul Kashmann, who said the restaurants became “regular stops” for four generations of his family.

The year 1979 marked the first time Councilwoman At Large Debbie Ortega was elected to the council.

“A lot of business took place in their restaurants,” she recalled with a smile. “I was a regular in all of their locations.”

Goodfriend and Racine met while working together at Zach’s, a local restaurant in the ’70s on East Colfax Avenue. Over the years, the two along with a few partners opened up a number of successful restaurants in Denver, the longest-running being Racines. 

“We’ve enjoyed a remarkable vantage point on this wonderful city of ours over the last 40 years,” Goodfriend said during the Nov. 23 council meeting. “We’ve served Colorado’s politicians from Gary Hart to Hank Brown to Roy Romer. From Bill Owens to Bill Ritter, Hick and Polis, plus all the Mile High City mayors and pretty much every Denver City Council member. At Racines we had the honor of serving activists, government officials, lobbyists, journalists, local media and TV personalities, doctors, nurses and EMTS.” 

Through Goodfriend’s eyes, her restaurant represented “a place of great human connection, a place for first dates, family get-togethers, business meetings, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and so much more,” she said. “We wanted Racines to be a place where everyone felt comfortable. That sounds almost silly today, but in the 1980s, diversity was not always embraced and not everyone felt comfortable everywhere. 

“At Racines, everybody had a place at the table.”

Before saying goodbye, Goodfriend acknowledged the “terribly hard time” restaurants and other small businesses are going through during the pandemic. To ensure they make it through, she urged the community to “continue to support all the independent restaurants.”

They “desperately need our help right now.”