That Stings! After Thirty Years, the Hornet Is Flying Off Broadway

For decades, the Hornet has amused patrons and passersby alike with the messages on the sign outside the restaurant at 76 Broadway. But the current sign is not so amusing: "Thanks Denver! Come & Say Bye."

The restaurant elaborates on its Instagram post: "After nearly 30 years, The Hornet will be closing after service on August 9th with the heaviest of hearts. While many things have changed and become more complicated over the years at 1st & Broadway, we would prefer to celebrate all of the amazing times that you shared with us. We are profoundly thankful for our incredible neighborhood and this city for supporting our local business over the years. Serving our guests was always our greatest privilege....

"We have been fortunate to have made lifetime friendships with guests and coworkers alike. We loved that guests wanted to work with us as they could see how much we truly enjoyed being here and working as a team. We are lucky that some team members even spanned decades. While we will miss our time together immensely, we want to send a heartfelt thank you to all of our staff, past and present, who have contributed to The Hornet legacy of wonderful memories and experiences. You made it all possible.

"If the proverb is indeed true, all good things must come to an end. Denver, we hope that you will stop by in our remaining days to say hello, share your favorite memories, and let us thank you for the many years of your loyalty and love.
Thanks for everything Denver! We are forever 29."

The message ends with the promise of an "epic sendoff," starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, August 9.

That the Hornet is going isn't totally surprising. There's a "for lease" on the upstairs of the building, which was sold for $3.3 million in May — when the Hornet still had two years on its lease. “I have had discussions with the new property owners but at this time, I am unable to comment any further,” Hornet owner Sean Workman said in an email last month to BusinessDen, which had found a brochure listing the restaurant itself for sale.

And now the writing is on the wall...or the sign out front.

The Hornet isn't the first restaurant to occupy this space. Until 1995, it was the home of the legendary Mary & Lou's, a 24/7 downhome diner whose green chile was legendary, and which drew a crew of night owls who patronized the independent clubs and bars that lined Broadway back then.

But the Baker neighborhood was changing, and thirty years ago a group of restaurateurs — David French, Lisa Quinn, Brewster Hanson and Paul Greaves — turned Mary & Lou's into the Hornet, a more upscale community gathering place.  Seven years later, Workman took it over, with Greaves and his wife as partners.

Here's Workman's account of that move, from an essay he wrote for Westword during the early days of the pandemic in 2020: "It all started for me on Labor Day weekend seventeen-plus years ago. I was a recent college grad who yearned for one last winter of skiing and sunshine. I interviewed at The Hornet and was looking to take a job as a bar manager, as the then-current manager was taking on a wine-rep position. When she ended up not leaving, I told the general manager that I was willing and eager to take on any position and work my way up. Back then, the Hornet was a different place, as was Broadway and the Baker District. When we opened in 1995, there were few restaurants on Broadway and the neighborhood was young and eclectic. The Hornet was bar-centric and beaming with energy. I would work my way from server and busser to bartender and assistant manager. The next summer, I was fortunate that the owners believed in a 24-year-old to take over the reins and run this place. More than seventeen years later, I am lucky to call myself one of the owners."

But not for much longer.

Although the Hornet's goodbye mentions things becoming more "complicated" — even before businesses on this stretch of Broadway started complaining about crime and urban campers, cars regularly crashed into the front of the Hornet — Workman isn't done as a restaurateur.

In 2016, he and his partners took on the century-old home of Patsy's at 3651 Navajo Street and transformed it into Acova, a neighborhood joint that opened in 2018 and is still going strong.

But the Hornet is flying off, and it stings.