Bart Hickey is whipping up something new at 1096 S. Gaylord St.
The former home of Wash Park Grille will soon become Wash Park Social, which is set to open at the end of April.
“It will be dramatically different,” said Hickey, who owns the concept alongside Aaron Grant, Kris Johnson and Justin Martinez.
Grant, who lives in Wash Park and owns Park Coworking on the same block, and Johnson, a Hilltop resident who works in oil and gas and has an office on South Gaylord, bought the formerly embattled real estate for $6 million in October.
Hickey said the subsequent interior build-out cost between $1 million and $1.5 million, which included new floors, ceilings, walls, furniture and equipment. That number, Hickey said, was “a little bit bigger than what we planned, but we still kept it reasonable.”
Wash Park Social will feature more booths than the mostly tables that inhabited the Grille before it closed for good in February 2025. Hickey said the horseshoe bar is a jewel right when customers walk in.
“A lot of our investment went into the things you see right when you walk in the door,” he said.
Social’s menu will feature 75% “traditional crowd-pleasers” like a chicken sandwich or a salmon entree. The remaining 25% will be dedicated to Hickey’s more “adventurous” diners. They can enjoy items like grilled octopus.
The food list will be mostly locally sourced, Hickey said, including grains from nearby West Wash Park bakery Rebel Bread. Platt Park distiller Laws Whiskey House will also be featured on the cocktail list, he noted.
“We’re just trying to find as many Colorado connections as possible while also doing something seasonal and conscious,” he said. “The energy of our staff will give you a certain vibe, but our food will also energize you.”
Two months after Social opens, Hickey also will revitalize the former Agave Taco Bar space adjacent to it. That 700 square feet will be a similar styled street taco- and margarita-focused spot called Provecho’s.
Hickey comes to Wash Park after a seven-year stint as managing partner at the Capital Grille in Larimer Square. He was with the national chain for 24 years across various locations and said he plans to institute the processes, systems and culture he learned there.
“Itap not sexy, but it allows you to be consistent, which is huge for restaurants,” he said, noting that itap especially crucial in a time when Denver’s dining scene is underwater.
Hickey met Grant when he was a customer at the LoDo Capital Grille. When Grant was exploring buying the Wash Park building, he reached out to Hickey to see if he would run the restaurant, which had recently closed after a 28-year run.
Jeff Estey and Greg Sauber opened Wash Park Grille in 1997 and purchased the restaurantap real estate for $1 million a year later. Sauber died in 2022.
The Italian restaurant and neighboring Agave, which they also ran, struggled after that. The restaurants were seized by the city for back taxes in December 2024, briefly reopened, closed for good in February 2025, and went on the market a year ago.
“I’m just done, I can’t do it anymore,” Estey said last March. “I have to liquidate everything.”
Estey also battled in court with Sauber’s estate. That litigation was settled in June.
Hickey said he hasn’t had to deal with any fallout from that drama. Everything with the build-out has gone fairly smoothly, in part because the project got into Denver’s express permitting program.
“It hasn’t been as painful as you might expect,” he said.
