If you are a northwest Denver resident of a certain ageor any age, for that matter — you likely have a passing familiarity with Billy’s Inn.
Which doesn’t mean you ever went there. Seedier than an old gym sock in recent years, the establishment at the corner of West 44th Avenue and Lowell Boulevard had devolved into the sort of place many locals visited only once, if at all.
And that was a shame, considering.
Upon opening in 1933 — original owners Billy and Judy Smith converted a former service station — Billy’s Inn became a fixture in the Berkeley neighborhood. Families came for Sunday dinner after church; workers swung by for a drink at quitting time.
Now after Billy’s long, slow slide, Christopher Mohaupt is leading a revival. Three weeks ago he and his three partners reopened Billy’s as a spiffy restaurant and bar — complete with the original sign.
“We wanted to bring it back to what it was, with great food and an atmosphere everyone would feel comfortable in,” Mohaupt told me recently.
Mohaupt, 42, has worked in the restaurant business since 1986. He moved here six years ago from Minneapolis and fell in love with north Denver.
“As far as the neighborhood goes, you couldn’t ask for a better group of folks,” Mohaupt said. “They just needed another place to gather.”
Billy’s sits in a neighborhood that is a mix of stability and change. It’s within walking distance of bungalows built in the 1920s. Three blocks south stands the venerable Mount St. Vincent Children’s Home. But a newish Safeway sits across from Billy’s, and on the other side of Lowell, Cafe Brazil occupies the building where an Italian family once ran a restaurant.
Amid all this, the new Billy’s is turning heads.
At the bar, Bill Rivali nursed a brew. He’s come here off and on for 30 years, and recalls the previous incarnation as convenient, but little else.
“It got really rundown, and the smoke was incredibly heavy,” he said. “When you came in, you didn’t have to light up. It was that thick.”
That made sense. Former owner James Von Feldt helped lead the fight against the smoking ban. He lost, selling Billy’s to Mohaupt and company in February.
I asked Rivali what he thought of the resuscitated watering hole. He grinned. “Well, this is my third beer.”
That’s the reaction the new owners sought when they launched a wholesale gutting of the space this spring.
The kitchen, shuttered in the 1960s, was reopened and refurbished.
“It was a total makeover,” Mohaupt said. “We took up 13 layers of flooring. And I swear, twice we pulled up layers where tile had been laid right on top of the old carpet.”
Local chef Troy Guard was hired as a consultant to create a snappy menu and train the kitchen staff. While you can buy Pabst Blue Ribbon draft for $2.50, the long list of fuels also features 75 tequilas.
Last time I stopped by, Billy’s still bustled, 2 1/2 hours after the lunch rush. At the bar a fresh-faced kid filled out a job application. Beside him a liquor rep scrolled her laptop.
An old-timer from the neighborhood hoisted himself onto a bar stool. He ordered a Budweiser and idly picked up the cocktail menu. He whistled.
“I haven’t been in here in years, ever since it went downhill,” he said. “That’s quite a list of tequila. I hear they have some that don’t even burn going down.
“God, this place has changed.”
William Porter’s column runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1877 or wporter@denverpost.com.
