Two Sushi Chefs Are Frying Catfish at The Source Until October

Hand-roll chefs do not usually pivot to deep-fried catfish. That is the part people miss about this one.

Kenta Kamo and Isaac Woo built their name in Denver on Temaki Den, the hand-roll spot where the fish is precise and the rice is a religion. So when word got around that the two of them were suddenly slinging Louisiana po'boys out of The Source in RiNo, a lot of folks did a double take. I get it. It sounds like a typo.

It is not a typo. It is called Poor Boys, and it opened as a surprise pop-up back in August 2026.

Why sushi guys are frying catfish

Here is the actual story. Temaki Den is going through a renovation project. When your main concept is torn up and under construction, you have two choices. You sit still and wait, or you go do something fun with the downtime. Kamo and Woo went with fun.

So the pair teamed up to bring Louisiana po'boys to Denver while the hand-roll shop gets its facelift. That is the whole origin. No grand five-year plan. Two chefs with time on their hands and clearly some love for the Gulf Coast.

And look, this is what I like about it. These are guys who already know how to fry things right and how to treat a piece of fish. Catfish is not a stretch for people with that kind of technique. It is a different accent, same skill set.

What to order

The one you want is the Catfish Denver po'boy, and it comes with a side of fries. That is the headliner. Dressed sandwich, fried fish, fries on the side, done.

I am not going to pretend I have a full menu breakdown for you, because this is a pop-up and pop-ups move fast. But the Catfish Denver is the thing people are talking about, and if you are only making one trip, that is your order.

The catch is the calendar

Now here is the part that actually matters, and the reason I am telling you about it instead of waiting around.

This is a short-term trial. Westword reports that if the pop-up goes well, the sandwich shop may find a permanent home after the run ends in October 2026. Read that again. May find a permanent home. Might. If it goes well.

Which means the window is narrow. You have got roughly until October before this either graduates into something permanent or just quietly disappears back into the ether the way pop-ups do. If you have been meaning to get to The Source anyway, this is your reason. Do not sit on it.

August was a wild month for Denver restaurants

Poor Boys did not open in a vacuum. It was one of more than 20 new Denver-area restaurants that debuted in August 2026. Twenty. In one month. That is a lot of new doors to walk through.

Same month, over at RiNo's Ramble Hotel, Soda Club opened up. That is the New York based spot with a Michelin Bib Gourmand honor to its name, and here they went all-vegan with an Italian menu. So on one side of the neighborhood you have got fried Gulf catfish, and a short walk away you have got vegan Italian from a Michelin-recognized crew. That is RiNo for you.

But it was not all ribbon cuttings. The August roll call brought, in the words of the write-up, "a mix of anticipation, surprises and sadness." Openings, sure. Also closings. That is the honest version of a restaurant scene that everybody wants to pretend only ever grows. Places open. Places close. Some months you feel both in the same breath.

Why The Source is the right home for this

If you do not spend much time in this pocket of RiNo, The Source is the food hall in an old brick building where a lineup of vendors share the roof. It is the kind of spot where a pop-up like Poor Boys can actually work. Low commitment for the chefs, easy walk-up for you, and a built-in crowd already there for everything else under that roof.

That format is exactly why the October question is so real. A stall inside a food hall is a test kitchen with a cash register. If the line forms, they have their answer. If it does not, they pack up. That is the deal with pop-ups, and honestly it is the fairest version of the restaurant business. You vote with your order.

RiNo has been the neighborhood doing this dance for years now, and the food scene is a big part of why people keep chasing addresses over here. When the restaurants get this good this fast, the blocks around them tend to follow. That is not a coincidence.

So the move is simple. Get to The Source, order the Catfish Denver with fries, and decide for yourself whether these two deserve to make it permanent. You have got until October. After that, this might just be a thing your friends remember and you missed.

Do not be the friend who missed it.