Courtesy of Big Red F Restaurant Group
Audio By Carbonatix
Jax Fish House has been a staple on the dining scene since it debuted in Boulder in 1994, and has since expanded to five locations in the state — but soon, that number will shrink to four.
On November 15, Jax will serve its last oysters at 650 South Colorado Boulevard, an outpost that opened thirteen years ago in Glendale’s CitySet complex that, at the time, was dubbed “the state’s first blended ‘urban gastronomic urban village’ and hotel district.”
But while CitySet is still home to some hits, including a Cuba Cuba location and Las Tortas, it never became the hopping entertainment hot spot that was envisioned. And now there will be a big vacancy to fill, a space that includes the only rooftop patio in the area.
Courtesy of Big Red F Restaurant Group
Will you step up to support Westword this year?
We’re aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community. If Westword matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
“The current economic challenges facing the hospitality industry, which many have read about and experienced firsthand, have caught up to us in Glendale,” Jax shares in an announcment of the closure. “In addition, the proximity of our LoDo location has always presented challenges for sustaining both restaurants in the Denver market.”
Jax’s parent company is the Big Red F Restaurant Group, which includes multiple locations of The Post as well as Boulder spots West End Tavern, Centro Mexican Kitchen, Wonder Press Juice and Velvet Elk Lodge. Last year, the group ended a twenty-year run in LoHi when it shuttered that location of the Post, which had replaced another longtime Big Red F concept, Lola Coastal Mexican.
“We have truly enjoyed our guests, the many friends we’ve made, and our incredible staff over the years,” says Big Red F chef/founder Dave Query. “We’re also deeply grateful to our landlords at CitySet — and proud that this location housed the most functional, successful,and sparkling clean kitchen in our company’s history. We’ll really miss this one.”
We’ll miss Jax and its oyster-fueled happy hour in Glendale, too, but are happy that the almost thirty-year-old LoDo location is sticking around, along with the original in Boulder and the outposts in Fort Collins and Colorado Springs.
