It’s been a heartbreaking week for Denver foodies who enjoy some of the city’s longest-tenured restaurants and bars.
The Pub on Pearl in Washington Park West and The Hornet along Broadway both announced they would close this weekend.
The Pub on Pearl, a dive bar known for its sports crowds, pool tables and Thursday night wing special, has been open for 35 years. The Hornet, which has full brunch, lunch and dinner menus and relatively cheap drinks, has been open for 29.
Neither gave a concrete reason for their pending closures. However, both their buildings have been put on the market in recent years. The Hornet’s building was sold for $3.3 million in May, and shortly after, a “for lease” sign appeared on the building it occupied.
The Hornet’s closure will leave a hole for the Broadway corridor, which is on the verge of forming a General Improvement District in an attempt to keep businesses in the area.
Meanwhile, two Colfax businesses are calling for help.
Two longstanding Colfax Avenue restaurants, Pete’s Kitchen and Tommy’s Thai, put up warning flags. Both said construction on Colfax’s new bus rapid transit system was choking business.
The years-long construction project is meant to turn the avenue into a more pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented corridor. Construction has drawn frustration from business owners along the corridor who blame it for deterring customers.
While the city and the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District have offered grants to businesses, some have said it isn’t enough.
This week, late-night diner Pete’s Kitchen said in an Instagram post that “construction on Colfax has impacted us far more than we could have imagined” and urged customers to visit. About a mile away, owners of Tommy’s Thai started a GoFundMe to help “keep our doors open during this tough time.” Both businesses have been open in their current forms since 1988.
Denver restaurants are having to fight more than just construction. A recent analysis by accounting giant KPMG found that as customers feel uncertainty about the U.S. economy, spending at restaurants this summer is likely to drop.
Some restaurant owners have also blamed the city’s minimum wage laws. State lawmakers have pressed Denver to lower the wages that must be paid to tipped workers, but the Denver City Council has shown little interest in doing that, with some members saying it would hurt workers who are already struggling.
