Denver has shut down the Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple bar for violating city coronavirus guidelines. The city cited the Grateful Dead-inspired barroom/music venue for allowing patrons to consume food and drink on the premises.
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News of the bar’s closure comes less than one month after Denver closed owner Jay Bianchi‘s other Dead-inspired establishment, Sancho’s Broken Arrow, for the exact same violation.
In a statement to Fox 31 Denver, Bianchi noted, “Once [my customers] got their food or drink they would want to hang out and we would tell them to go away or find some other place but they still would want to hang out.”
When asked by reporter Rob Low if he had disregarded the city’s guidelines for retail food establishments because he needed the money, Bianchi explained, “That could be part of it, yeah.”
Bianchi went on to tell the Problem Solvers, Fox 31 Denver‘s investigative department, that he will reopen on June 5th, though a spokesperson for the City of Denver noted that he’ll need written approval from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment due to his history of citations.
An anonymous neighbor alerted city officials to the violations with a video showing customers consuming beverages outside of the Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple bar.
The 32-year-old tipster told the Problem Solvers, “I’m all for companies out there working and making money if they’re doing it the right way but if you’re not doing that, in my opinion, that’s akin to murder.”
Click here to watch the local news report on the closing of Be on Key Psychedelic Ripple, provided exclusively to Fox 31 Denver.