Briar Common Brewery + Eatery to Close in Jefferson Park

Briar Common Brewery + Eatery to Close in Jefferson Park

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“Given the current economic climate, combined with the challenges of operating a full-service restaurant in Denver, we couldn’t justify signing a new lease,” Kent Dawson said.

After a decade operating in Jefferson Park, Briar Common Brewery + Eatery is closing its doors on November 22, The Denver Post reported.

The neighborhood fixture at 2298 Clay St. served in-house beers alongside a menu of salads, burgers, and sandwiches. The upcoming closure marks Dawson’s second restaurant shutdown in three months following a difficult stretch for the local hospitality industry.

In September, Dawson closed Briar Patch in Congress Park after 14 months in business, a venture meant to expand the brand before economic pressures forced an early exit. At the time of that closure, Dawson said that sales at the original Briar Common location were down 20% during certain weeks compared to performance figures from 2025.

“Other than a few solid weeks, which were centered around either a holiday or an event we were doing, there were only a few weeks where we hit breakeven numbers,” Dawson said in September regarding the short-lived Congress Park expansion.

Dawson described the current business environment as the worst he has seen in decades, marking a stark reversal from the banner sales years that followed the pandemic.

“When gas went over $4 a gallon, we saw a direct drop in sales that week,” Dawson said in September. “We had a stretch where gas was under four bucks and things were good. There seems to be a pretty direct correlation.”

The final day of operation for Briar Common Brewery + Eatery is scheduled for Nov. 22.

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