Arvada Staple Has New Owner Who’s Cooking Up Southern Fare

In late 2024, chef Jeremy Wolgamott stepped away from his role as executive chef at Bistro Vendôme to pursue his dream of opening his own spot that focused on Southern cuisine. A year and a half later, he’s back in the kitchen, this time as a chef/owner, after taking over the Grandview Tavern & Grill, which is housed in a historic building at 7427 Grandview Avenue in Olde Town Arvada.

The new iteration of the longtime eatery quietly opened last week, with a grand reopening set to take place on Saturday, April 18, with an all-you-can-eat crawfish boil for $30 from noon until it sells out (which should take a while — Wolgamott’s bringing in 150 pounds of the mudbugs from Louisiana for the occasion).

“After looking everywhere between Littleton and Boulder, I found something about a ten-minute walk from my house,” he jokes. The Grandview had been open since 2004, and Wolgamott connected with its previous owner just as he was ready for retirement.

While the chef had been testing out his new concept under the name Argot during a series of pop-ups hosted at Create inside Stanley Marketplace, “I decided to keep the name, but we’ve kind of changed everything else,” he says of the Grandview.

That includes cleaning up the space to let the historic bones shine, including original brick walls and a tin roof. “It was kind of a sports bar, kind of a dive bar. I just want it to be more of a neighborhood bar and grill, but serving Southern food all made from scratch,” he notes.

Originally from Denver, Wolgamott spent his high school years and much of his professional career living and working in Louisiana, including a stint at High Hat Cafe and Coquette in New Orleans. He always had his eye on returning to the Mile High, though, and when he did, he saw a gap in the local Southern food scene. “Most of the Southern places I’ve been to in the Denver area stick to fried foods, which is all delicious,” he says. “But I want to show that there’s another side to Southern food that’s more vegetable-centric. It’s more grilled and roasted meats with some vegetable sides meant to be shared with the table.”

Along with hosting pop-ups, Wolgamott spent the last year not only searching for space, but also working as a server for the first time in his nearly three-decade-long career — and he got a hell of a crash course from a group known for its top-notch hospitality, Frasca. “I worked at Osteria Alberico,” he says. “They were great. They knew up front who I was and what I was doing and that I was gonna leave pretty quickly when I found a spot. I learned a lot about great service; it was a fun opportunity.”

His biggest takeaway: “I learned that talking to people is important. I was always a stay-in-the-kitchen type of chef, but I wanted to open up a smaller space and I wanted to be able to walk out and talk to the guests and have people get to know me. As a neighborhood place, I want to be the face of the restaurant and get to know the locals.”

What’s on the menu?

From open until 3 p.m., guests can order a hot plate special for $20. “It’s a very normal, casual lunch style in the South,” he says. “You go to any kind of bar and grill, and they’ll have a hot plate lunch. For a set price, you pick a protein and a couple of sides.” Right now, those proteins include fried rainbow trout, smoked chicken with Alabama-style white barbecue sauce, and a pickled shrimp salad; they’re served with sides like potato salad, coleslaw, hushpuppies and cornbread.

For dinner, “it’s more family-style,” Wolgamott says, with a selection of small plates and appetizers plus larger entrees meant for sharing. One dish he’s particularly excited about is the gumbo. “My gumbo was named top ten in New Orleans,” he notes. “I’m doing that same gumbo here, so it’s as authentic as you can possibly get — super dark roux, chicken and sausage gumbo, kind of Cajun-style, with potato salad instead of rice.”

Beer and cocktails will be the focus of the drink menu, which was designed by front-of-house manager Tim Smith, who is from Louisiana and met Wolgamott in college before bartending in Los Angeles and later relocating to Denver. Options include Louisiana favorites like a Hurricane and such classics as a Manhattan and an Old Fashioned.

A happy hour menu will also be rolling out in the coming weeks.

Ultimately, Wolgamott wants the Grandview 2.0 to be a place to “come in, hang out with friends, eat with friends, drink with friends, and get to know who you’re dining with,” he says.

It’s a fresh start for an old favorite in an area that maintains a small-town feel while being close to the city, and we’re excited to get a taste of Wolgamott’s take on Southern fare. With any luck, next year we’ll be marking next year’s annual Olde Town Mardi Gras festivities with a visit to the Grandview.

The Grandview Tavern and Grill is located at 7427 Grandview Avenue in Arvada and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit thegrandviewtavern.com or follow @grandview_tavern on Instagram.