Trick or Treat Street comes back to the 1000 block of South Gaylord Street this Saturday, October 31, from 3 to 6 p.m. This year the building at the block's south end is open. For most of the past two years, 1096 S. Gaylord St. sat closed. It reopened this spring as Wash Park Social, and the owners are not outside investors. One runs a coworking space a few doors north. The other keeps an office on the same street. The comeback of Old South Gaylord's biggest corner was paid for and planned from inside the block, and Saturday is its first Halloween with the lights on.
How the Corner Went Dark
Wash Park Grille opened at 1096 S. Gaylord in 1997 and ran for 28 years, according to BusinessDen's reporting in The Denver Post. The restaurant and its neighbor, Agave Taco Bar, closed for good in February 2025, and the property went on the market later that year.
Here is the stretch in order:
- 1997: Wash Park Grille opens at 1096 S. Gaylord St.
- February 2025: The Grille and Agave Taco Bar close for good.
- The following October: Aaron Grant and Kris Johnson buy the building for $6 million.
- Spring 2026: Wash Park Social opens in the old Grille space.
- October 31, 2026: Trick or Treat Street returns to the 1000 block.
By that timeline, the corner was closed last Halloween. The sale had just gone through, and the build-out was still ahead. This Saturday's trick-or-treaters reach the end of the block and find a working restaurant there.
The Buyers Already Worked Here
The Denver Post reported that Grant lives in Wash Park and owns Park Coworking on the same block. Johnson lives in Hilltop and has an office on South Gaylord. Park Coworking sits at 1040 South Gaylord Street, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. So one of the people who bought the corner walks past it on his way to his own business a few doors up.
The $6 million price compares with the Grille's own purchase. In 1998, the Grille's original owners bought the same real estate for $1 million. On top of the purchase, the new team spent between $1 million and $1.5 million on the interior: new floors, ceilings, walls, furniture and equipment. That's a big bet on a single block of a neighborhood retail street, and the people making it have their own businesses next door.
To run the restaurant, Grant called someone he knew from the other side of the bar. Bart Hickey spent seven years as managing partner at the Capital Grille in Larimer Square and 24 years with that company overall. Grant had been a customer of his at the LoDo location. Hickey co-owns Wash Park Social with Grant, Johnson and Justin Martinez.
"It will be dramatically different."
That was Hickey's description of the new room in The Denver Post's March preview.
What Changed Inside 1096 S. Gaylord
If you remember the Grille, the floor plan will feel different. The same Denver Post story said Wash Park Social has more booths than the mostly table seating it replaced, and a horseshoe bar right at the entrance. Hickey said much of the money went into "the things you see right when you walk in the door."
The menu is planned as about 75% "traditional crowd-pleasers," such as a chicken sandwich or a salmon entree. The other 25% is for more adventurous diners, with dishes like grilled octopus. Many of the suppliers are close by. Grains come from Rebel Bread in West Wash Park, and Laws Whiskey House in Platt Park shows up on the cocktail list.
The restaurant opened this spring. Westword counted it among the week's new openings in a May 2 roundup, and in August it got a lunch visit on CBS Colorado's "Your Local Dish". Its own site now reads "Now Open" at 1096 S. Gaylord Street.
The Second Storefront Is Still Coming
The deal included more than the main dining room. Hickey also planned to reopen the roughly 700-square-foot former Agave Taco Bar space next door as Provecho's, a spot focused on street tacos and margaritas. The Denver Post reported it would open about two months after Wash Park Social. The Old South Gaylord business directory now lists it as Provecho, without the apostrophe, at 2217 E. Mississippi Ave. No opening date or hours have been published. If you pass the Mississippi side of the corner on Saturday, check the windows.
Once Provecho opens, both halves of the old Grille and Agave property will be back in use. Before the sale, both had been closed.
The Rest of the 1000 Block
The corner isn't the only recent change on the block. Here's what sits between Wash Park Social and the north end, by address:
| Address | Business | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 1000 S. Gaylord St. | Hawthorne | Furniture, antiques, art and found objects |
| 1040 S. Gaylord St. | Park Coworking | Coworking space, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| 1080 S. Gaylord St. | Broderick | Cocktail bar with small bites, coffee and pastries |
| 1096 S. Gaylord St. | Wash Park Social | Restaurant in the former Wash Park Grille |
| 2217 E. Mississippi Ave. | Provecho | Planned taco and margarita spot |
According to 9NEWS, Broderick opened on Aug. 15 of last year, so it has now been on the block for more than a year. The district association added Hawthorne to its merchant pages in September, describing a shop of furniture, antiques, art and found objects at the block's north end.
Read north to south, the 1000 block now has a reason to stop at nearly every address: coffee and cocktails at 1080, a dining room at 1096, an antiques shop at 1000, and a weekday workspace at 1040.
Saturday on the Block
Trick or Treat Street is the Old South Gaylord Street association's annual Halloween event. This year it falls on a Saturday afternoon.
- When: Saturday, October 31, 3 to 6 p.m.
- Where: The 1000 block of South Gaylord Street
- What happens: Businesses along the block hand out treats to trick-or-treaters of all ages
- New this year: A red carpet and a photographer, plus a costume contest
- Setting: The association promises string lights overhead and jack-o'-lanterns along the sidewalks
The 3 p.m. start leaves time to work the block in daylight and still get home before neighborhood trick-or-treating starts after dark. The association's materials mention costumes like Dorothy and her friends from Oz, which suggests the red carpet is meant for families who coordinate.
The same block hosted the association's Labor Day Weekend Block Party from September 5 to 7, with live music, food trucks, artisan vendors and a kids' zone. Trick or Treat Street is its second big gathering this fall.
After Halloween
As of late September, Halloween was the only upcoming event on the association's events calendar. The Firefly Handmade Holiday Market entries on that page are from 2023 and 2024, and no 2026 date has been posted yet. That leaves two open questions on the block heading into the holidays: when Provecho opens, and whether the holiday market comes back. The corner restaurant has already posted its plans. Wash Park Social's site lists live music on Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Thanksgiving Day service from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a $45-per-person holiday meal.
If you'd like to hear about new openings on Old South Gaylord before they show up in the roundups, Kelli Barton keeps close track of the 1000 block. Receive Exclusive Listings in Your Inbox, along with news from the Washington Park streets you already walk.
