It’s lunchtime at Bourbon Grill, the Cajun barbecue hole-in-the-wall at Colfax Avenue and Pearl Street.
Known for piling massive portions of saucy, grilled chicken, mac-and-cheese and rice into styrofoam boxes, Bourbon Grill often has a line at the door.
But on a cold Monday, Bourbon Grill’s workers were uncharacteristically idle. In fact, it had been slow for a few days now.
“We had a record low. The lowest [sales] we ever did was two days ago,” said Mac Vo, who is part of the family that owns the restaurant. Their sales for that day: “$165.”
To stay optimistic, Vo and the rest of the workers initially chalked it up to the cold weather. But they thought there was a bigger cause. Ever since construction on the $300 million Colfax Bus Rapid Transit project started in October, business has been trending downward for Bourbon Grill and its neighbors.
“How could we prepare for it?” Vo asked.
‘Now it’s even more dead’
The Colfax BRT project aims to transform one of Denver’s busiest roads into a public transit paradise. New trees, better lighting, dedicated bus lanes, nicer stops and reliable service are meant to get more people on the 15 and 15L bus routes.
Construction on BRT is scheduled through 2027, with sections of the project under construction for over a year at a time. The city has identified five construction segments; some of the segments will be under construction at the same time.
This year, construction will stretch along three segments — from Broadway to approximately Monaco Street Parkway.
Construction started near Colfax and Grant, where Obeid Kaifo saw cones and heavy machinery block the sidewalks near his family’s Shish Kabob Grill.
Kaifo, who has worked at the Eastern Mediterranean restaurant since he was 14, said foot traffic in the area has been slow since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. He said it hasn’t recovered yet, as customers have been eating at home and saving money.
“There's not much activity and on top of it, the construction, it just makes it a hundredfold worse,” Kaifo said. “If you thought we were dead before, well now you're annoying everybody, and now it's even more dead.”
For a mile-long stretch of Colfax — between the Colorado State Capitol and the diagonal Park Avenue — orange cones plaster the street. Concrete barriers stand in front of some businesses as crews tear up the street — occasionally digging up ghosts of Denver’s public transit past.
Drivers aren’t the only ones dealing with closures. To get from Shish Kabob Grill to Capitol Hill Books — just across the street — pedestrians have to navigate fences and sidewalk closures.
In the bookstore, Holly Brooks sat alone at the counter, eagerly waiting for customers. Like Kaifo and Vo, the longtime owner of the bookstore hasn’t had much luck lately. Brooks, who said she already works for free, said she’s not sure how much longer they can survive with the BRT project’s impact on foot traffic.
“We had to let one guy go because that payroll was just too much,” Brooks said.
Parking for customers, already a rare luxury along Colfax, has decreased, with construction blocking off curb spots — something that’s annoying takeout customers.
“They're mostly complaining it takes some 15, 20 minutes to find parking,” Vo said.
Will the BRT project change the Colfax vibe?
BRT has been in the works for over a decade. It’s the first project of its kind in the region.
Planners envision it as part of a network of speedy buses that connects the Front Range. Besides benefiting commuters, supporters believe BRT will bring foot traffic to Colfax businesses.
Many business owners and workers Denverite spoke to weren’t entirely sold on that vision. While some are more optimistic, almost all shared a question: Will the project be worth the pain of construction?
“At the end of the day, if this thing is built and it's a great big thing and we get all this business, but we lost 25 businesses in the process, it wasn't worth it,” said Alex Barakos, who runs Pete’s Kitchen.
Denon Moore, the business support director for the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District, said major construction has hurt businesses in other parts of town, too.
“If we look at the impacts that construction had on Broadway, there were losses,” Moore said. “And so I think some of it is inevitable.”
City officials have defended the BRT vision — they say it will help Denver reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving road safety and mobility.
“This is something that needs to happen," Councilmember Amanda Sawyer said in 2022.
Some parts of Colfax are more prepared than others
About two miles away from the construction zone, businesses in a starkly different side of Colfax watch intently to see how the BRT is going for their western counterparts. The project will be coming to their blocks imminently, with traffic cones already approaching Josephine.
Bookended by the Sie FilmCenter and Tattered Cover on one end and National Jewish Health on the other, this section of Colfax boasts nationally recognized restaurants, a summer farmer’s market, salons and a handful of independent thrift stores.
Some businesses in the area hope the makeup of these blocks will help them survive construction.
“I think we have probably a better chance of making it out alive during this just because of the residential area and the nature of what these businesses are,” said Holli Turner, owner of salon Big Hairy Monster.
Chip Litherland, owner of punk rock-themed antiques shop Scavenged Goods, said he’s planning to grow his social media presence to counter any foot traffic declines.
“My customers are fiercely loyal,” he said. “I have customers that come in every day. I have customers that travel from all over.”
Some on this side of Colfax, however, are not as prepared.
Phil Cardenas, who moved freeze-dried candy shop Mile High Sweets and Treats to Colfax from Central Park in late November, said he expects he’ll have to rely on event sales more than ever to make up for lost business from BRT.
“Had I known, I would've never set up shop here,” he said.
Will customers step up again?
City officials have promised federal funds to support small businesses through a grant program. The Denver Economic Development and Opportunity office plans to open applications in March.
About $2.8 million was set aside in the city’s 2025 budget for grants, a figure that drew criticism from some city officials for being too low.
The grants will compare at least 90 days of pre-construction revenue to revenue from the first 90 days of construction and could award the difference between the two. Businesses that sell cannabis are ineligible due to federal constraints.
The Colfax Avenue Business Improvement District is also fundraising for a micro-grant program.
“This isn't going to keep someone in business, but maybe it's going to help, maybe $1,000 is going to help them cover their grocery costs for the week or some of their payroll, or it pays part of the rent to just hopefully ease something for a small moment,” Moore said.
Still, some business owners are worried the grants aren’t adequate, especially compared to the substantial money given during the pandemic.
“I'd rather go through Covid again just because of those two relief packages,” said Barakos of Pete’s Kitchen.
Kaifo, of Shish Kabob Grill, believes survival depends on whether businesses can rouse customers to support them — like they did in the pandemic. In 2020, customers would call them just to throw money at them.
“People were thinking that because they didn't want to lose the places that they appreciate,” he said. “They were worried about them being lost in the pandemic.”
For Kaifo and others, COVID and BRT construction are a brutal set of blows in a relatively short period. And only time will tell if it’s a knockout.
