The owner of Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar sent an email to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston this month that was co-signed by other downtown restaurateurs. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)
Downtown Denver restaurateurs say the area is “completely falling apart.”
In an email sent to Mayor Mike Johnston this month, Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar owner Dave Query — in a message co-signed by others — asked “how many more restaurants and small businesses need to close before your quota alarm is triggered?”
“You ran your entire campaign platform on restoring our Downtown Denver business districts,” said Query, founder of Big Red F Restaurant Group. “It has gotten worse since you took the position of Mayor.”
Query cited unchecked fentanyl use enabled by soft policing legislation as reasons for a declining Mile High food scene, which has lost 22% of its restaurants since 2021.
Thirteen other downtown operators co-signed Query’s Feb. 6 message, including Walter Isenberg of Sage Hospitality, Pete Turner of Illegal Pete’s, Juan Padro of Culinary Creative Group, Lon Symensma of ChoLon, Troy Guard of TAG Restaurant Group and John-Mark Larter of City Street Investors.
“Between the out of control minimum wage increases, over the top property tax hikes and the complete loss and seeming care for our valuable and unique business districts — we are struggling for our lives to keep these local restaurants alive,” Query wrote.
Dave Query
Query also called downtown’s traffic situation a “catastrophic disaster.” In a separate email, he said that poor planning around where bike paths and food trucks are allowed has shrunk the number of parking spots on a block near Jax from 15 to six.
In an email to BusinessDen Tuesday, however, Query said the initial public response to his message — first reported last week by the Denver Gazette — was overly focused on his comments regarding the bike paths and food trucks.
“I’m a lifetime cyclist and it’s my main mode of transport when it’s possible. My point was the poor planning and construction of the bike paths,” Query said. “And my issues ain’t with food trucks — I own a food truck. And it’s a great way for folks who can’t get a restaurant opened in this economy.”
“Love bikes. Love food trucks. Hate fentanyl,” he added.
Query, who opened Jax at 1539 17th St. in the mid-1990s, told city leaders that while LoDo was dangerous at the time, the situation nearly 30 years later is more urgent.
He said he is losing customers to Cherry Creek, Golden and Northfield, where the “very clear and present dangers of LoDo and Larimer and Cap Hill don’t exist.”
He cited last month’s stabbings of four people downtown, two of whom died.
“No one got stabbed on the 16th Street Mall … in 1996. We were not cleaning human s*** off of our patios and from our front door vestibules every morning. We didn’t have fentanyl zombies walking around scaring and threatening our guests and tourists,” he wrote. “Business was growing. Momentum was swelling — the best of LoDo was ahead of us.”
Responding to the email, Councilman Chris Hinds, who represents Denver’s District 10, and Kourtny Garrett, president of the Downtown Denver Partnership, said a $570 million cash infusion through the Downtown Development Authority will help revitalize the area.
“While the ideal time to have these funds would have been at the onset of the pandemic we are now in the position to put this significant investment to work for our center city, revitalizing key areas and addressing critical needs,” Hinds wrote.
Johnston’s office also touted the funding, an increased police presence and ridding of encampments as reasons for optimism.
Johnston spokeswoman Jordan Fuja told BusinessDen that Johnston will meet with Query and other restaurant operators in the coming weeks to discuss solutions and next steps.
“Downtown should be a place where every Denverite can come to work, play and raise a family,” she said. “There’s more work to do, and Mayor Johnston will continue to partner with local businesses, restaurants and residents to ensure downtown is a safe and thriving part of our community.”
