COVID-19 July 20, 2021 9:45:28 pm

Northern Colorado, Boulder Valley eateries, bars received $100M+ in COVID-19 relief

The Med upscale restaurant at 1002 Walnut St. in Boulder has closed permanently, along with two sister eateries. Christopher Wood/BizWest

By Lucas High

Of the nearly $500 million in Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants issued to Colorado restaurants, bars and food trucks during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than one-fifth went to establishments in Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley.

Eateries and watering holes in Boulder, Broomfield, Weld and Larimer counties accounted for more than $111 million in funding, according to an analysis of data provided by U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s office.

“Restaurants are the heart of our communities and many in Colorado were in dire straits during the pandemic,” the freshman Democratic lawmaker said in a prepared statement. “These grants will help keep many doors open and restaurant workers on the job.”

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The largest single recipients of funding, which came from the American Rescue Plan, in the region were Mission Yogurt Inc., a Westminster KFC franchisor and The Kitchen Cafe LLC, a Boulder-based restaurant chain co-owned by Kimball Musk. Each received $10 million.

A total of 15 companies received more than $1 million. The groups include the operators of well known establishments such as Frasca Food and Wine (nearly $2 million), Larkburger ($2.8 million) and the Walnut Restaurant Group Inc. (nearly $3.1 million), owner of a trio of shuttered Boulder eateries The Med, Brasserie Ten Ten and Via Perla.

Of the cities with more than a few establishments that received grants, Boulder got the most funding with roughly $47 million. Fort Collins restaurants got about $20.4 million, followed by roughly $12.4 million in Westminster, $4.6 million in Loveland, $3.7 million in Longmont, $3.6 million in Broomfield, $2.55 million in Estes Park, $2.4 million in Louisville, $1.8 million in Lafayette and $1.7 million in Greeley.

In total 1,762 Colorado restaurants, bars, breweries, caterers, food trucks, and others received $481,075,609 in grant funding. More than 400 of those establishments are in the Boulder Valley or Northern Colorado.

Unlike the Paycheck Protection Program, grants issued as part of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund program do not need to be paid back. The program made up to $5 million in grants available per restaurant location, or $10 million per restaurant group, based on total loss in revenue between 2019 and 2020, according to Hickenlooper’s office.