Kiva Restaurant Closes down

Well, what has at times seemed the inevitable for over two years, Kiva Restaurant has closed. I rode my bike by the other Monday--Usually their busiest day of the week other than Drunk Kiva Sundays due to their quite inventive "parents night out" (where they provided free child care for parents dining out)--and was shocked to see no cars on the street or in the parking lot. On the front door, a brief note awaited: "Kiva has closed. Please see website for more information."

So, of course I headed home to learn more about what finally did them in. Here is the eloquently written notice I found:


"KIVA HAS CLOSED

Dear Guests,We would like to thank you for your ongoing support, unfortunatly we have made the decision to close the restaurant. If you have any questions regarding the buisness, tetentitive events, or are a vendor, please use the information page on this site or leave a message at the restaurant directly at 303-832-5482 and we will get back to you as soon as possible."

This message is so "Kiva." Just not right, like the way they terribly mis-managed their business the entire time their doors were open.

Don't get me wrong--I went there frequently and supported them in any way I could, as that building is such a blessing to the neighborhood, and we need an "anchor" business. And they were friendly enough; I truly wanted them to succeed--But they just never seemed to get it.

The food was uneven, largely unremarkable and occasionally substandard. The service even worse--the only consistent thing about their tenure in Cole Whittier. Again, friendly service, but it took forever to get service pretty much any time you were there.

They were running a new promotion every week it seemed--Free breakfast, fliering local bars, partnering with local organizations--But never seemed to understand that it didn't matter how many people you put in the restaurant for their first visit--You needed them to come back. And their service, consistently frustrating and slow, didn't do them any favors in this regard.

And their limitless discounting to put people in the door--$2 Kivaritas and free taco bar? $2 drinks on Sundays? How do you expect to stay in business when the only times you have a busy restaurant are during happy hour when you have cheap parasites sucking down drinks you don't make a dime on?

It always amused me when I'd walk in and see the "Best of Denver" signs claiming someone nominated them for "best happy hour" or "best tacos" in Denver, asking you to vote to help them win. I understand trying to promote your business to get some traction, but come on--No one but an employee would ever vote for Kiva for best anything.

We all went there because we wanted to love it, we wanted to love it so damned much, and wanted to help them become to be the neighborhood hangout they thought they were, and we wanted them to be. But if they weren't close, and weren't cheap, we wouldn't have gone as much as we did. Heck, even that wasn't often enough to get us to brave the imminent horrid, inattentive service and uneven food quality.

I need to let it go. No use worrying about why Kiva seems hell bent on shooting themselves in the foot now. So my last meal at Kiva will have been lunch on Tuesday of last week--When my wife and I waited 25 minutes for a couple of sandwiches, and then had to chase down our server to pay our bill in order to complete our dining experience in a timely manner. Farewell, Kiva.

What will happen to the building? Who knows. I can't imagine it will remain vacant, with how much potential it possesses, and how far the neighborhood has come in even the two years Kiva occupied it. I'm sorry to see them go, but hopefully someone that actually understands how to run a successful restaurant will replace Kiva as our neighborhood gathering place.