USA, CO: Brewpub group C.B. & Potts closes down four of its Colorado locations

C.B. & Potts, which has been serving beer and burgers to generations of Coloradans, has permanently closed the doors to four of its five Colorado locations: two in Fort Collins, one in Westminster and one in Colorado Springs. The remaining location, a restaurant at the Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins, has been sold, though it will keep the C.B. & Potts name for the time being.

The brewpub group is one of the oldest in Colorado and has been a stalwart for Colorado State University students and teachers for decades, as well as a breeding ground for brewers and award-winning beers.

"C.B. & Potts began as a little college pub on West Elizabeth, two blocks from CSU, in 1974. The early days featured 'cook-your-own' burgers and steaks," emails Jeff Iverson, Jr., who heads the Washington-based RAM Restaurant Group, a family-run business that founded and owns C.B. & Potts.

"In 1995, the brand expanded south to Greenwood Village, where Potts began to brew its own award-winning craft beer," he adds. The brand later expanded to Cheyenne, Westminster, Highlands Ranch, Broomfield, Greenwood Village, Breckenridge and Colorado Springs, brewing beer at at least two of those locations.

Iverson declined to discuss the reason for the closures, but alluded to the coronavirus pandemic in his email to Westword. "The situation is emotionally difficult for me," he writes.

RAM owns at least a dozen breweries and restaurants in Washington State, Oregon and Idaho, several of which have reopened or are about to start the process of reopening after COVID-19 shutdowns.

The remaining location was sold to C.B. & Potts friend and "long-time partner" Kevin Sheesley, a Hall of Fame athlete at Colorado State and a former co-owner of Prost Brewing, Iverson says. "He will continue the Potts tradition of gracious hospitality, great food and frosty beer." The location is open for business.

Sheesley didn't return a call seeking comment.

Like C.B. & Potts, Colorado's other brewpub chain, Rock Bottom, also closed all of its locations in March after the pandemic shutdowns, but Rock Bottom has reopened at least two of those so far, under new ownership.

12 July, 2020