A First Look at the Massive Winery and Restaurant That Just Replaced Govnr’s Park

About nine months after Govnr’s Park closed its doors after 42 years, the space that housed the iconic Denver bar is again abuzz with eating and drinking thanks to the opening of Carboy Winery and its accompanying Logan Street restaurant.

The new 11,000-square-foot facility, which includes includes a tap room, tasting room and retail shop, and wine production facilities as well as Logan Street, is the third winery location for Carboy.

According to Carboy’s website, the winery was founded in Littleton in 2014 by a group of Colorado winemakers and restaurateurs that wanted to use grapes from smaller growers located across the country to produce wine in an urban environment.

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Carboy, which has grown steadily since, opened a new winery inside the Gold Pan Saloon in Breckenridge in 2018. That move was then followed earlier this year by an expansion of the winery’s original Littleton facility by 6,500 square feet.

However, it is the new Logan Street facility that is in many ways Carboy’s most ambitious move to date. That ambition begins with the space itself. Carboy partner Craig Jones said he and the other partners were seeking an iconic location near Capitol Hill and ultimately found themselves choosing between the old Govnr’s Park and the former Hamburger Mary’s on 17th Avenue.

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The main entrance from the corner of Logan Street and 7th Avenue will bring customers into the tap room, which is actually located inside the former home of a dry cleaners that once neighbored Govnr’s Park. In there, guests will be able to order from Carboy’s regularly-expanding range of wines, which are offered from taps, as well as a menu of charcuterie and cheese boards, bruschetta, and other snacks, such as ceviche and creme brûlée.

Next to the tap room is the tasting room, which offers a second bar, where customers can sample any five wines for $12—and get that tasting fee waived if they buy any of the bottles that will also be sold in the space. Craig Jones, a partner in Carboy, said he is hoping the store will become a frequent stop for those who shop at the Trader Joe’s located across the street, which does not sell wine.

The last customer space in the facility is the Logan Street restaurant, which features a Meditteranean-focused menu crafted by Rebecca Weitzman. Weitzman, who returned to Denver earlier this year after over a decade in New York, got her start at Mizuna and worked at former Colfax spot City Star for a decade. She has competed on Iron Chef and Chopped and now also serves as the executive chef at Ivy on 7th, the daytime spot the Carboy team opened on the same block as the new winery earlier this year.

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Logan Street offers a varied menu consisting of pastas, meat entrees, mini pitas, and several appetizers as well as seafood. However, one of the restaurant’s main focuses is affordability, Jones said.

“We wanted seafood so we have lobster for $13, swordfish for $10, shrimp for $9, scallops for $12, and then you have a lot of cool Mediterranean inspired-stuff,” said Jones. “But it’s all at a really good price point.”

The facility also includes a large patio that extends the length of the building. Downstairs is a space for blending the wines that will be made on-site, which include sparkling wines that will also be riddled in another room dedicated to that purpose.

Among the wines that will be made and sold on-site are varieties such as the Cabernet Franc and BlanCo. White Blend, which are produced from grapes grown near Palisade (the Co. in BlanCo. is a reference to Colorado). Jones said Carboy’s three wineries will crush about 130 tons of Colorado grapes this year, though the winery also sells wines produced from grapes in California, Washington and Oregon.

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The facility also has a focus on sustainability. Jones said the facility’s wine kegs hold as much wine as 26-and-a-half bottles, allowing it to reduce its carbon footprint, while it will also sell refillable carboys (growlers for wine).

The tap room is open from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. The tasting room is open from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Logan Street is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

• All previous Eater coverage of Govnr’s Park [EDEN]
• All previous Eater coverage of Carboy Winery [EDEN]

Carboy Winery and Logan Square

400 East 7th Avenue, Denver , CO 80203