439 E. 17th Avenue
Park & Co, the Uptown bar and restaurant at the corner of East 17th Avenue and Pennsylvania Street, will close permanently after service on Monday, Oct. 19. Gastamo Group, the Denver hospitality company behind the restaurant, confirmed the closure in a statement this week after 16 years in business.
"Since opening in 2010, Park & Co has been Uptown's spot for happy hour, game day, a great cocktail and a late-night bite," the company said, thanking its staff and regulars and inviting guests back for one more round before the final night. The group is also pointing diners to its other Denver restaurants.
Park & Co opened in July 2010 in the space previously occupied by Bump & Grind, the Uptown coffeehouse and cafe known for its drag-queen servers. Jean-Philippe Failyau, who had opened the original Park Burger on South Pearl Street the year before, positioned the new spot as the grown-up sibling of that concept, pairing a selection of Park Burger's specialty burgers with salads, shareable appetizers and a full cocktail bar. Its black-framed corner patio under a large street tree became one of the more recognizable outdoor seating areas on 17th Avenue.
In the years since, Failyau's company grew into Gastamo Group, which operates 14 restaurants across metro Denver under five concepts: Park Burger, Homegrown Tap & Dough, Perdida, Lady Nomada and Park & Co. CEO Peter Newlin now leads the group alongside Failyau. The closure takes one concept out of the portfolio while expansion continues elsewhere, including a seventh Homegrown Tap & Dough location coming to Colorado Springs this fall.
Gastamo has not announced plans for the space. The building sits along 17th Avenue's restaurant row, a stretch of Uptown lined with neighborhood bars, brunch spots and independent shops a few blocks east of downtown.
For regulars, Monday night is the last chance to grab a seat on the patio before the doors close.