PRAGMATIC ISSUES

By now, the social media flood of nostalgia has you convinced that if Pete’s Kitchen folds, Denver’s soul will crumble. A reader recently wrote to me about an article they saw regarding Pete’s Kitchen and the BRT.

Chuck writes:

“Every time a Denver institution sneezes, people act like the city’s cultural lungs are collapsing. Enter Pete’s Kitchen on Colfax, suddenly branded as the “soul of Denver” because construction cut into sales. Both Pete’s and the Satire are a complete joke of what they used to be and that happened when Pete died, They changed staff, management then Covid came along, the regulars stopped going. They own the property both are on so if they sell, the family will walk away loaded so don’t let them lie to everyone. Let’s be honest maybe it’s not the end of the world if Pete’s closes. In fact, maybe it’s overdue.”

I was somewhat taken aback when I read what Chuck wrote, I also struggled to remember who he might have been from back in the day. Back in the day both were a cool place, a place many regulars called a second home so it kind of hurt to read the words that “maybe it’s overdue….” Since Covid, I think I have only stopped into Pete’s twice for breakfast. To be even more honest, the entire area has felt unsafe since Covid. The homeless these days would rather shank you if you don’t give them a smoke than regale you with tales of the good old days.

Drug use and violence have increased, so people in neighborhoods around any establishment on the Fax are less likely to head out for a meal or some drinks. It’s too unsafe to walk, add the construction of the BRT and you have the perfect recipe for businesses closing up shop. It would be a mistake to think- much less believe that the BRT is going to make it greener and safer.

The Empty Tables at Pete’s Kitchen: A Citywide Warning

For decades, Pete’s Kitchen and the Satire were more than a diner and a bar, they were a promise. Under the glow of neon signs, you could always find a hot plate, a warm welcome, and old Pete Contos himself making the rounds.

He had that rare gift: he made strangers feel like regulars and regulars feel like family. For night-shift workers, late-night revelers, and generations of Denverites, Pete’s wasn’t just where you ate, it was where you belonged. The Satire felt the same. Friendships were made, people looked out for each other and everyone had a good time whilst Joey yelled, “Plates are hot,” it was safe. As a woman you felt safe and at home and you still make it home okay because of the regulars and Pete himself.

Both were a community.

We could leave our cars in the parking lot behind the Satire and Pete’s overnight and get a ride home if we drank too much. Little Joey always watched out for the regular’s cars if we left them overnight.

But times have changed. Since Pete’s passing, the kitchen and the Satire have struggled to hold onto their identity. In subtle and not-so-subtle ways, the soul of both has shifted. The food is still served, drinks are still poured, the neon still glows, but the atmosphere that drew generations has dimmed. Regulars who once anchored the diner and the Satire have drifted away, feeling that the heart went with Pete himself. For many, the change was enough to break a ritual that had spanned decades.

And now, Colfax itself feels broken. The city’s Bus Rapid Transit project has turned Denver’s main artery into a construction zone. Dust, barricades, lane closures, Colfax looks less like a boulevard and more like a battlefield. The vision of faster, greener transit may one day benefit the city, but in the meantime, businesses along the corridor are bleeding out. Customers avoid the mess. Parking is a nightmare. Deliveries are disrupted. And foot traffic, no one wants to walk through the construction, the homeless, drug dealers or drugged out zombies for a meal or a drink.

Both the Satire and Pete’s Kitchen have felt the squeeze, according to Pete’s grandson Alex Barakos who runs both the Satire and Pete’s Kitchen, business has been down by at least 11%, maybe even more as of today, but they are not alone. From corner bars to donut shops, liquor stores to tattoo parlors, small businesses across Colfax are gasping for air. The difference, however, is that Pete’s and the Satire sit on property owned by the Contos family.

And, that distinction matters. Other businesses along Colfax without the security of property ownership, face far greater existential threats. Rent doesn’t pause for construction, and for many, it’s not just about losing revenue but about losing their very leaseholds. Pete’s, even in its struggles, has a safety net many of its neighbors do not.

Landlords don’t forgive leases because traffic cones choke the street. For many, survival isn’t about outlasting the dust but rather it’s about whether they’ll have a business to return to at all.

This isn’t just about one diner or one bar. It’s about a pattern that Denver knows too well, progress at the expense of memory. We tell ourselves the sacrifice is worth it, that once the BRT is complete, the street will be reborn. But who will be left to serve the riders when the dust clears? What culture will survive if we let our institutions die in the name of “modernization?”

Pete’s Kitchen is at a crossroads, as is Denver itself. A city that forgets its institutions, that shrugs off its mom-and-pop shops as casualties of progress, loses more than commerce, it loses its character.

Colfax without Pete’s or the Satire, without its scrappy independents, would be just another corridor lined with empty storefronts waiting for chain logos to move in. What’s more is that recent studies have been showing that for all of this growth, still overpriced apartments sit empty and the shop’s, restaurants and bars that move into these multi-residential buildings, don’t make it for long which leaves many wondering if it’s even worth putting up a huge, boxy, hideous building in the name of growth or a rapid transit system that takes out crucial parking for all of the businesses and lets not forget that no one asked for the BRT, We asked for Safety on RTD Busses, Trains and at Bus Stops, for fucks sake, Denver, get it together.

That begs the question whether Denver still values the places and the people that gave it soul or whether we’ll pave over memory in the name of efficiency.

One thing is for certain, Pete Contos gave his heart and his soul to this city.