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Of all the hard things we’ve done (and let’s be clear, we have done a lot of very freaking hard things), asking for help in this way might be the very hardest. But we’ve come to the understanding, at last, that this isn’t just about us. Hell’s Backbone Grill and Farm is also about you. It always has been. Our restaurant’s unlikely (ok: damned near impossible) success has had as much to do with your abiding support as with our commitment to the work. Nothing — not one thing — that we’ve accomplished over the decades could have happened without you. And so, as we try to see a path forward, we see that there is no path forward without you. Here’s why we know this is true: because something unexpected and kind of magical happened last month. Once we began the extremely painful process of letting go of HBG, and shared our challenges with you, things started to shift. Along with all of your notes of encouragement, we also received invaluable guidance, and some beautiful and exciting doors have begun opening. We’re now more optimistic than ever about a new chapter that’s brighter than we could have imagined. And we’re hopeful that you’ll walk through those doors with us, hand in hand. But for us to all get there, we need a whole lot of help. Areas of Critical Need:We’ve set a goal that addresses three specific areas of need: Critical need one: Debt payment
We’ll be direct: we need to address the pandemic-related debt load of more than $500K that the restaurant has taken on in the last three years to weather the pandemic. As with countless other restaurants, we received loans and various relief from the federal government, which enabled us to keep our doors open and pay our employees and vendors—but the hard truth is that the loan money wasn’t enough, and now those loans have come due. And after a shockingly slow summer visitation year, we’re using borrowed money to make payments on borrowed money—which every grown-up knows is a bad idea. Critical need two: A forever home for Helles
We need to move beyond renting. A down payment on the purchase of a permanent space for Helles here in Boulder would give us a much stronger positioning for a pathway forward. Having rented for 23 years, we need to find a more stable circumstance to feel good about growing older as we do this work. We’re exploring several options, our favorite being the possibility of buying the building that we currently rent on the grounds of the Boulder Mountain Lodge—the same beautiful space you know and love—the building that’s grown along with us. Critical need three: Infrastructure tune-ups
If you know us, you know we’ve always been scrappy and tenacious. We’re pros at making do and getting by on little (after all, we started HBG with $3,000 and a year’s free rent), but it’s not easy on our employees to work with marginal and broken equipment, and there’s much that needs fixing—we’re dealing with a hefty amount of deferred maintenance. We’ve outgrown our thrift-shop origins (and the fridges and pots and pans we’ve been using since we opened). Any additional revenue could go to much-needed updates to farm and kitchen infrastructure, so we can continue delivering the quality of hospitality that you’ve come to expect—and maybe even level up a bit.
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