14 JUNE 5-11, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | A Place of One’s Own AS PRIDE MONTH GETS UNDERWAY, QUEER-OWNED HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. BY HELEN XU To be queer in America has never been simple, and that’s especially true right now. In a year marked by escalating political (and physical) attacks on the LGBTQ+ commu- nity — from book bans and drag restrictions to threats against trans health care — the hits keep coming: against queer bodies, against queer stories, against queer joy. “As recent as the raid on the gay bar in Pittsburgh and around the country they’re talking about putting it to vote to take away the right to marry and then also strip the legal rights to not be discriminated against,” says chef Elise Wiggins, who grew up in Louisiana and came out in college. “Even in this blue state of ours, there’s just a palpable amount of hate that’s out there…it’s just, it’s terrify- ing, you know?” As the national rhetoric becomes more hostile, queer business owners have to con- tend with far more than supply-chain issues, rising minimum wages and a softening econ- omy. They have to run businesses at a time when their identities are being debated on the national stage. What is their responsibility to themselves, their employees, their customers and their community? How do they navigate defending their right to exist and how it inter- sects with how they make a living? These are especially challenging ques- tions in the hospitality industry. Unlike industries that are more transactional, hos- pitality is inherently relational, where each business is a blend of personal vision and public service. Their businesses create and maintain space (literal and fi gurative) for the personal, the social and the community. And these are particularly important questions to ask during Pride Month. Talking to queer business owners in Den- ver, a consistent theme that emerges is the importance of gathering spaces. For any marginalized community, public spaces often come with scrutiny or risk. Dedicated safe spaces offer a rare environment where they can exist without being watched, ques- tioned or targeted. These places allow them to express themselves on their own terms through food, language, music, ritual and aesthetics. Often, their spaces build informal support networks where people exchange information, organize politically, and fi nd jobs, housing or just emotional support. Many were devastated as they saw their favorite gay club or lesbian bar close down dur- ing COVID. “I was reading the stories of all these important bars throughout history that were closing and thinking, ‘I don’t want that to be the case,’” explains Brandon Bishop, who started plant-based food retailer SRYBB along with co-founder Spencer Young. “We need those spaces. Those spaces have a purpose and, yeah, sometimes that purpose is like we just wanna party and enjoy ourselves in a place where people can experiment with their identity and pursue their identity and live in their truth.” We caught up with five queer-owned businesses to dis- cuss how they’re creating space for themselves, their commu- nity and their customers: Champagne Tiger: Keeping the Party Going “Queer celebration and joy has its own en- ergy and I fi nd it life-giving and affi rming and just fun,” says Chris Donato. “In Denver there’s so many great queer spaces, whether it be clubs and bars, but I didn’t see a queer restaurant per se [where there are] drag shows and cabaret performances and excel- lent food, just a place to showcase queer joy while enjoying the fi ner things.” So in late 2020, Donato, who spent thir- teen years at Frasca Hospitality, and his hus- band started Champagne Tiger as a pop-up before eventually settling into its current-day brick-and-mortar in the former home of Tom’s Diner at 601 East Colfax Avenue in September 2024. It’s always a party at the boozy, glam restaurant located in Lavender Hill, Denver’s fi rst designated Queer Cul- tural District. The music’s loud and fun, there are drag performances almost every week, and the food is low-high indulgences like a luscious custardy quiche, mustard roasted chicken that takes 45 minutes to cook, caviar service on an ashtray, and tater tot waffl es loaded with caviar, crème fraiche and chive. Champagne Tiger is well-known in the queer community for its brunch and drag shows; its owners, customers and vibe are unapologetically gay. There’s a fabric por- trait of Siegfried and Roy, “the most famous roommates of all time,” jokes Donato, that he placed right at the front as tribute. Recently, that unapologetic gayness has become a source of comfort for many. “I’ve never worked at a restaurant where so many people come cry,” Donato says. “It’s tears of release, tears of happiness, tears of joy. At least three or four times a week. They come in and they feel at ease and they feel taken care of, they feel seen for who they are… they kind of get overwhelmed with joy and comfort and feeling included.” Cattivella: Leading with Hospitality Unlike Champagne Tiger, Cativella’s interior has few indications of the queer identity of its owner, Wiggins. There’s a small Pride sticker in the front window along with a few displayed awards; since the election, Wiggins has thought about removing even those signals. When Cattivella opened in 2017 at 10195 East 29th Drive in the Eastbridge Town Cen- ter, “there weren’t really hate issues. So you didn’t have to say, ‘I’ve gotta create space for people that are gay or trans.’ We didn’t have to do that,” says Wiggins, who wanted custom- ers to know the restaurant for its wood-fi red pizzas and handmade pasta dishes like the rabbit gnocchi with tarragon, mushroom, leek, shallot, preserved tomato and gorgon- zola cream, or the Pasticcio — a rich casserole combining tortellini, meatballs, bolognese, herby pomodoro and béchamel. Wiggins is a fan of passive persuasion, let- ting people get to know her before they fi nd out she’s queer. It’s the same approach she’s taking with her restaurant and customers. “I feel like if you run your banner up too high, people who don’t believe and don’t support will not come in. Whereas if they come in and they’re like, ‘This is just a regular res- taurant that we’ve heard great things about with great food and great service,’ then lo and behold they have a gay server and they get amazing service,” Wiggins says. “That subtlety of having just great service and perhaps they glance up and they see different walks of life that are here.” SRYBB: A Strategic Retreat Brandon Bishop and Spencer Young had always envisioned growing SRYBB: open- ing a full-scale restaurant, expanding into wholesale, even mass-producing their vegan chorizo. But then Trump was elected. “Spencer and I talked about it, and we were really preparing for an extremely hos- tile environment and I do think it’s only going to get worse,” explains Bishop. “So a question we asked was, ‘How do we insulate ourselves?’” On March 1, SRYBB moved into X Bar, the LGBTQ+ bar right off East Colfax Avenue at 629 East Colfax, where they now run the kitchen six days a week, turning out plant- based, Mexican-inspired comfort foods like jackfruit quesabirria, vegan chorizo tacos and chile oil focaccia breadsticks. The move was both strategic and protec- tive. It gave the partners a secure, welcoming space to operate from, while also putting them directly in front of the community that’s been their biggest supporter. “It was a little bit of a protection mechanism to go in a space that we know we’ll be welcomed in,” Bishop says. “And each day that goes by, I just think, ‘Wow, I made the right decision.” Quince Coffee House: Call to Action Both Jenna Greenwood and Katharine Hilt- brand come from educator backgrounds, having met while working in the University of Colorado Boulder’s diversity programs. When they took over Quince Coffee House at 1447 Quince Street four years ago — along with Katharine’s husband, John Hiltbrand — they brought that same ethos to their business. They “run the business with a similar orientation to an education space or CAFE FIND MORE FOOD & DRINK COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/RESTAURANTS The brunch bunch at Champagne Tiger. CHAMPAGNE TIGER
