Colorado restaurant company Vibe Concepts expands its partnership with local craft brewery

Vibe Concepts has been running restaurants in Colorado since 1991. In February it opened its 10^th operation, in the Denver suburb of Lone Tree, Colo., in partnership with another established local company, Great Divide Brewing.

Vibe, which operates restaurants including Tstreet Roadhouse, Roadhouse Boulder Depot, Spanky’s Roadhouse, and Reivers Bar and Grill, also runs the new Great Divide Brewing & Roadhouse, director of operations Justin Adrian said. 

“We just lease the name from Great Divide,” he said. “It lets us show off the great name and partner with them.”

The original location of Great Divide Brewery & Roadhouse opened in Castle Rock, Colo., in 2020.

Great Divide has been building its Colorado fan base since 1994 with popular craft beers including its Hazy IPA, HeyDay, Titan IPA, and Yeti imperial stout. The new restaurant doesn't have an actual brewery onsite, but the 8,200-square-foot space does offer 14 of Great Divide’s beers on tap, including pours exclusive to the Lone Tree location. Each pint ranges from $7.50 to $8.50.

On the food side, Vibe Concepts' restaurants serve American comfort fare with a touch of bar-food charm. Think chicken pot pie, fish tacos, pizza, 24-hour brined fried chicken, wings, steaks, and more. Prices range from $12 to $18 for appetizers, entrées are $17 to $34, burgers are $18, individual pizzas are $16 to $18, and the steak menu ranges from $42 to $48.

"I definitely think [the partnership] adds a lot of exposure for us," said Brian Dunn, founder of Great Divide. "I hear from a lot of people that have visited the Castle Rock location, and when they have a good experience there it bodes well for us and helps grow awareness for Great Divide."

The Castle Rock project, which does include a brewery, started with Great Divide and a developer looking to put a brewery in one of their buildings. Dunn said he liked the idea, but had no clue how to run a restaurant.

"It made more sense for us to partner with someone on the restaurant side while we run the brewery," said Dunn over the phone. "It's been great and worked great from our prospective, and Vibe has been happy too."

While the two concepts appear made for each other, the pairing wasn't just happenstance. Dunn has known Vibe Concept founders and brothers Dan, John and Mike Shipp for more than 20 years. For its part, Vibe Concepts had been a loyal customer of Great Divide, pouring its beers in all of its restaurants.

With the Lone Tree opening done, now both teams look forward to the next partnership. A new location in Lakewood, Colo., is planned for later this year. 

As for expansion outside of the state, it's not something either party is too interested in.

"We have a great name in Colorado and I don't see any reason to go out of the state," said Dunn.

Adrian mirrored the sentiment. "We are such a local staple, most of the restaurants are community oriented and we are definitely a neighborhood restaurant," he said.

With Great Divide Brewing & Roadhouse the team shows what can happen when local staples get together, and how well it can work out for both parties.