New ownership at Bogey's

Bogey’s Eatery and Spirits has spent the last few weeks under new owner Dan King, and things are looking good.

King purchased the restaurant on Dec. 19, and has been settling in while considering some changes.

“We’re giving ourselves a little time to meet our customers and get to know the staff,” King said. “We will ultimately change the name and do some tweaking around with the menu. We’ll put kind of our spin on it.”

King, who formerly owned the Boulder Outlook Hotel, said one of the changes he is planning on involves live entertainment.

At the hotel, there was a restaurant called Blues and Greens, where they hosted a lot of jazz and blues bands, winning several awards.He plans to bring a similar model to Bogey’s, likely starting in February.

“What we’re looking at here is that we won’t be as blues-focused,” King said. “We’ll do a lot of blues, but it won’t be the main part of the live entertainment. We’re working things out and getting them set up.”

As for other changes, King said he has been talking with customers about their likes and dislikes of the restaurant.

“We’re really going to involve the customers who come in,” King said. “We’ll have guest surveys out starting next week. Hopefully we’ll get some good feedback so we can keep what’s working and fix what isn’t.”

Patrons will still see familiar faces working there as well.

“The entire staff is staying with us,” King said. “I’ll tell you that I didn’t realize the level of talent we have in the kitchen until I got in here.”

King said that he was impressed by head chef and kitchen manager Brian DeWitt. “I didn’t know this, but everything is made from scratch here,” King said. “Brian has a top-notch team that really has talent and produces a great product.”

Some of the issues with the restaurant were subtle things like marketing and menu design, but King said those can easily be fixed.

“I think there’s really a great base here,” he said. “We’re keeping an open mind to what we’re looking at. I think that we can be a neighborhood bar and grill with some basic pub foods. Then we have some really exceptional entrees and specials that we can do with the staff that we have.”

The holidays have given King some time to hit the ground running.

“It’s exceeding our expectations,” King said. “This is a slow time of the year, but we knew that going in. That’s actually a blessing in disguise for us. We can get all of the paperwork done and the other office work to get set up.

“The quality of the product that is being prepared in this kitchen is way above my expectations. The feedback I’m getting from customers since we put up the sign has been great.”

King, who has been in Boulder since 1998, has worked on city commissions, with the Chamber of Commerce and with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, so he likes to stay active.

“Being involved in the community is important to me,” King said. “We’ll look for ways that this restaurant can do some of the things we used to do with the hotel. It’s important to give back and be an integral part of the community.”