So Many Roads Brewery and Museum features 1,200 pieces of art and memorabilia, most of which are Grateful Dead-related. (Photos courtesy of Gary Sheer Photography)
So Many Roads, a Grateful Dead-themed brewery in the Baker neighborhood that had to close last November due to cocaine dealing, must now shut down for three months.
In a settlement agreement between it and the city that was signed Wednesday, So Many Roads agreed to close its doors for 90 days between Oct. 1 and Dec. 29.
So Many Roads, which is also a museum and music venue, occupies 7,500 square feet at 918 W. 1st Ave. It is one of two Denver Deadhead bars previously co-owned by Jay Bianchi and now owned by Tyler Bishop that has repeatedly run afoul of city liquor laws.
Last October, their bar Sancho’s Broken Arrow along East Colfax closed after 22 years rather than face a disciplinary hearing about alleged drug dealing there. A few days later, So Many Roads was closed for all of November after an undercover cop was sold cocaine.
Then, in February, an underage police cadet walked into So Many Roads with a driver’s license that had the words “Under 21” printed on it. An employee at the door let him in anyway and Bianchi, acting as a bartender, sold him two Coors Lights, according to police.
The City Attorney’s Office threatened to revoke the bar’s liquor and concert licenses, then reached a settlement with Bishop in August that would have closed So Many Roads for 90 non-consecutive days between November and April. But Molly Duplechian, head of the city’s Excise and Licenses Department, rejected that settlement early this month.
So Many Roads is also a live music venue for an array of jam bands.
Bishop and the City Attorney’s Office then negotiated a harsher settlement, which closes the bar for 90 consecutive days. Duplechian signed that deal on Wednesday.
“The goal is achieving compliance of state and city rules that protect public health, safety and welfare, which is why Denver settles, on average, about 94 percent of the business licensing discipline cases,” Excise and Licenses spokesman Eric Escudero said. “License revocation usually only occurs when the city sees no path towards compliance.”
So Many Roads opened in November 2020, taking Renegade Brewing’s former location.
Bishop and Robert Driscoll, a lawyer for the venue, did not answer requests for comment.
So Many Roads Brewery and Museum features 1,200 pieces of art and memorabilia, most of which are Grateful Dead-related. (Photos courtesy of Gary Sheer Photography)
So Many Roads, a Grateful Dead-themed brewery in the Baker neighborhood that had to close last November due to cocaine dealing, must now shut down for three months.
In a settlement agreement between it and the city that was signed Wednesday, So Many Roads agreed to close its doors for 90 days between Oct. 1 and Dec. 29.
So Many Roads, which is also a museum and music venue, occupies 7,500 square feet at 918 W. 1st Ave. It is one of two Denver Deadhead bars previously co-owned by Jay Bianchi and now owned by Tyler Bishop that has repeatedly run afoul of city liquor laws.
Last October, their bar Sancho’s Broken Arrow along East Colfax closed after 22 years rather than face a disciplinary hearing about alleged drug dealing there. A few days later, So Many Roads was closed for all of November after an undercover cop was sold cocaine.
Then, in February, an underage police cadet walked into So Many Roads with a driver’s license that had the words “Under 21” printed on it. An employee at the door let him in anyway and Bianchi, acting as a bartender, sold him two Coors Lights, according to police.
The City Attorney’s Office threatened to revoke the bar’s liquor and concert licenses, then reached a settlement with Bishop in August that would have closed So Many Roads for 90 non-consecutive days between November and April. But Molly Duplechian, head of the city’s Excise and Licenses Department, rejected that settlement early this month.
So Many Roads is also a live music venue for an array of jam bands.
Bishop and the City Attorney’s Office then negotiated a harsher settlement, which closes the bar for 90 consecutive days. Duplechian signed that deal on Wednesday.
“The goal is achieving compliance of state and city rules that protect public health, safety and welfare, which is why Denver settles, on average, about 94 percent of the business licensing discipline cases,” Excise and Licenses spokesman Eric Escudero said. “License revocation usually only occurs when the city sees no path towards compliance.”
So Many Roads opened in November 2020, taking Renegade Brewing’s former location.
Bishop and Robert Driscoll, a lawyer for the venue, did not answer requests for comment.
