NFL Free Agency opens up on Wednesday, with the legal tampering period beginning on Monday. The top free agents usually all commit to a team during that period, so be ready to rock and roll to start next week.
Denver, CO
Are GLP-1 weight-loss drugs really rewriting Denver restaurant menus? | Opinion
Food, Honestly is a monthly column discussing how people actually eat right now – not through reviews or recipes, but through real talk about cost, convenience and everyday food decisions. We want you to participate in that discussion by telling us what matters to you. Email allysoneatsden@gmail.com to keep the conversation going.
GLP-1s, drugs designed to regulate blood sugar, weren’t supposed to disrupt how we eat. They were built for metabolic control, not cultural upheaval, but it’s their effect on appetite that’s been the plot twist.
David J. Phillip, Associated Press file
Drugs like Ozempic are changing the way we eat. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
Now, if you want to see how drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have reshaped how we eat, don’t look to a scale or a lab report. Look at a restaurant menu.
It was actually back in 2005 that the first GLP-1 drug was approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, but unless you were directly affected, you probably didn’t hear about these sorts of drugs until the more potent Ozempic entered our cultural lexicon. Over the past couple of years, as millions of Americans began taking these GLP-1s — and as appetites have shrunk — restaurants started to notice.
Some of the changes? Downsized portions, cocktails losing their alcohol and protein pushing its way into everything from our morning coffee to ice cream cones. What began as a medical intervention is now rewriting the menu.
I’ll admit, I thought last August’s New York Times story about restaurants shrinking portion sizes in response to Ozempic was just clickbait. Mostly, it was my own ignorance. I thought of the drugs as something only celebrities and rich people were taking for vanity, and I didn’t understand how they actually work.
The reality is that 18% of Americans have taken a GLP-1 drug for one reason or another, and those numbers are expected to grow substantially this year as new pills hit the market and as prices come down. Essentially, these drugs mimic a naturally occurring hormone that regulates blood sugar, slows digestion and signals fullness to the brain, erasing hunger long before that “personal” pizza is finished.
The result is not just weight loss, but also a reset of appetite itself. GLP-1 medications normalize smaller appetites — and restaurants are starting to respond.
“Before, if you didn’t have these gargantuan portions [on your menu], you were frowned upon,” said Brent Berkowitz, COO of Denver-based Olive & Finch restaurants. “The trend is flipping around. Now it’s about quality and flavor over quantity.”
At Olive & Finch, that looks like adding smaller, protein-dense plates to the menu and shedding some of those empty calories. Protein is a key part to all of this, the VIP on the plate to make sure weight comes off without taking all your muscles with it.
“It’s monstrous, the emphasis on protein,” Berkowitz said. “I’ve been on GLPs. You don’t feel like eating. Eating becomes a chore, not something you enjoy. You might have had 30 bites before, now you have 13 bites. So it’s got to entice you.”
Nationally, the GLP-1 era has made its way to the corporate test kitchen, with many chains getting in on the small-portion, high-protein action. Olive Garden added a “lighter portion” section to its menu in December 2025. Subway introduced $3.99 Protein Pockets in January, and Shake Shack is channeling the Atkins days with bun-less burgers on its “Good Fit” menu.
While most restaurants have been discreet about naming GLP-1s directly, Smoothie King wasn’t shy about calling its menu what it is. They created a dedicated GLP-1 Support Menu back in 2024, full of high-protein, no-added-sugar smoothies designed specifically for Ozempic users.

Carrie Baird, partner and culinary director of Culinary Creative Group, which runs restaurants like Tap & Burger, Mister Oso, Bar Dough and Fox and the Hen, gave a playful nod to the drugs on her most recent menu at Tap & Burger. The smaller-portion, higher-protein burgers are under a new section called Green Lean Protein. (GLP – get it?)
“I think the demand is there,” Baird said. “For me, writing menus, I want to make sure I’m making these things available to people who want to eat like that. I want to give them the options.”
Her next goal is to create sugar-free mocktails for her restaurants, as GLP-1s can make alcohol less appealing. So while the sober movement had already been picking up steam over the past decade, these meds might just give it a little extra fizz going forward.
Even after learning more about these drugs, their history and their implications, I’ll admit that my ignorance and stereotyping about who, exactly, is taking them persisted. (I blame ‘The Real Housewives.’) I asked Berkowitz — who has Olive & Finch locations in Cherry Creek, Uptown, Union Station and the Denver Performing Arts Complex, as well as Little Finch on 16th Street — if geography played a role in demand. Would Cherry Creekers, I hypothesized, be more likely to need an Ozempic-friendly menu because of their reputation for being, well, maybe a little more Housewife-y?
Berkowitz emphasized that demand for this type of eating is showing up at all of their locations, but it is strongest at the Cherry Creek and Arts Complex restaurants. Still, even in neighborhoods where image isn’t everything, the appetite shift is real.
These drugs may not have been designed to change how we eat, but here we are. Protein added to anything and everything, smoothies designed to play nice with your prescriptions and restaurants measuring portions by appetite, not tradition. Maybe GLP-1s have done what no menu ever could: They’re convincing insatiable Americans that less is more.
Allyson Reedy is a Denver-area freelance writer, cookbook author and novelist. She is also a former Denver Post food writer.
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Denver, CO
Ranking the Broncos free agent needs on offense
I figured now would be a good time to do a little discussion around the Denver Broncos and where we think their top priorities should be on offense when free agency kicks off.
Broncos top FA needs on offense
Tim Lynch: For free agency, I’d say running back and tight end are the highest on my wish list.
I’d say pay big for a top free agent running back and ensure you have a monster two-headed backfield next season. They need a superior run-blocking tight end and, if they move on from Evan Engram, a pass-catcher too.
Christopher Hart: I agree with Tim. Those are the biggest needs for the offense. Getting a top-notch running back and a tight end capable of playing inline to replace Adam Trautman is a must. The two players I advocated a few weeks ago were running back Travis Etienne and tight end Cade Otton. Both would be fantastic additions and help take Denver’s offense to the next level in 2026.
Scotty Payne: Playmaker is the top and biggest need. That includes a RB, TE, and/or WR in that order.
Need to improve the run game regardless, need some sort of production out of the TEs as well as improved blocking, and if they can get a true WR1, that would be great too.
Ross Allen: I think we’re all in agreement.
Getting someone who can be the dominant running back and have RJ Harvey serve that glamorous “joker” role would be huge for this offense. And given that they also don’t have a legitimate playmaker at the receiving position hurts them. A TE or WR can fill that role.
Sadaraine: The #1 need for the Broncos on offense is a top-notch running back. I will be blown away if the Broncos don’t sign a top-tier free agent running back to upgrade the offense (and no, J.K. Dobbins wouldn’t be that guy…not with his injury history).
There’s a significant gap in need after that until we start talking about tight ends and receivers. I think we’re more likely to see more money spent on a tight end than a receiver, but this offense could use both to be sure.
Ian St. Clair: Not to beat a dead horse, but running back is the biggest need and priority for this team when free agency starts. Having a consistent and effective running game will make Nix and the offense exponentially better. It will make the team better. After running back, the Broncos need to figure out their tight end.
Adam Malnati: Give Bo a weapon. I don’t care which position. Yes, RB is a need. Yes, TE is a need (thanks a lot Evan Engram). Still, a weapon would be nice.
Predictably, we’re all heavily keyed in on running back and tight end. That was a big part of our free agent profile coverage too and for good reason. There have been many rumors around Denver looking to target both positions next week and where there is smoke there is usually fire.
The question really becomes: go big or go affordable? With the championship window open, I’m leaning go big on premium play-maker positions this offseason.
Where do you stand on this discussion? Give us your top free agent needs on offense and how you hope the Broncos address them next week.
Denver, CO
Denver area events for March 5
Denver, CO
Report: Broncos expected to ‘make a splash’ at running back
The Denver Broncos are in the market for a running back.
Just two days after NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Denver wants to have the running back position addressed before the draft, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported that the Broncos are “poised to make a splash” at running back during NFL free agency.
“Denver is the reason why the Jets used the franchise tag on Breece Hall rather than the transition tag, according to sources, making sure Denver wouldn’t get the opportunity to put together an offer the Jets would refuse to match,” Jones wrote for CBS Sports.
Jones said the Broncos would be an obvious potential landing spot for Kenneth Walker, and he noted that Travis Etienne could be a cheaper alternative. The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider also reported this week that Denver is expected to “closely examine” the RB market, and he name-dropped Walker, Etienne and Rico Dowdle.
The Broncos also have an in-house free agent at RB in J.K. Dobbins, who has expressed his desire to remain in Denver. The Broncos can begin negotiating with pending free agents from other clubs on March 9, but no deals can become official until the new league year begins on March 11. In-house free agents can be re-signed at any time.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
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