The city of Denver plans to hire a consultant to pin down specific issues facing local restaurants today and find ways to improve its existing permitting and regulatory processes.
The six-month contract role is a response to complaints from restaurant owners and chefs, many of whom have derided the city’s system of inspections and applications as lengthy and piecemeal. It will also help address a public outcry from downtown establishments over a perceived lack of support from Mayor Mike Johnston when it comes to crime, construction, permitting and rules.
The restaurant “liaison,” as the position is described, is being introduced at a pivotal time for the city’s dining industry, which has dwindled following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We want to do a little more of a comprehensive reach out to different kinds of restaurants,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver, which will help pay for the contractor. “What are the issues preventing some from being successful?”
One of the objectives is for the liaison to host focus groups and conduct interviews with food and beverage businesses in different areas of the city, according to the posted requirements. They would gather common sentiments and report back. The person would work with city agencies to craft policy ideas that could streamline and improve the steps to open and run a restaurant.
Outside of policy changes, the liaison would suggest promotional, mentorship and developmental opportunities that the city can present to new bars and restaurants.
“It’s going to be a person who understands the business, so we hope they have some potential solutions,” said Scharf. He declined to share how much the winning contractor will be paid, saying it depends on experience.
Applications are due May 23. Scharf said he expects the job to begin this summer.
Leading food-and-beverage companies and hospitality groups such as the Colorado Restaurant Association have argued for the need to accommodate business owners when it comes to the problems facing the restaurant industry, mainly the rising cost of food and labor.
Big Red F Restaurant Group founder Dave Query laid out many of these frustrations in a February letter to Johnston that was co-signed by 13 other major Denver restaurateurs. “How many more restaurants and small businesses need to close before your quota alarm is triggered?” Query asked the mayor in the letter.
That led to meetings between Johnston and Query to discuss, among other things, the liaison position, he said. Big Red F owns Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar and The Post Chicken & Beer, both in Denver, along with several other restaurants in Boulder and elsewhere on the Front Range.
“Communication is always good, no matter what the topic,” Query said in an e-mail to The Denver Post. “If someone could bridge the gap between the government agencies we in the hospitality industry are forced to deal with and clean up and clear up communication channels, that would be most excellent.”
Though he had an idea for who he’d like to see in the role, Query said whoever is hired needs to be a leader in a period of rapid change for the restaurant industry nationwide.
“[It] needs to be someone who is creative and thinks way, way outside the box,” he said.