Jax Fish House in Denver closes Jan. 1 for two-week remodeling

Jax Fish House in Denver closes New Years Day for a two-week remodel. But staffers such as star bartender Tim Harris, in photo, return. (File photo)

Jax Fish House in Denver is taking New Years Eve to heart, ringing out the old and ringing in the new with a two-week remodeling that will close the restaurant starting Jan. 1. Of course, theyll still do their annual Dec. 31 blowout, complete with bubbly and noisemakers.

This is just a matter of continuing to evolve, says owner Dave Query, who opened Jaxs LoDo room in November 1996, refurbishing the old Terminal Bar memorialized in a Tom Waits song. The bar will expand and it will have a new look and menu, but with the same staff, which is a team crucial to our success, says Query, who has been an area restarateur for more than 20 years.

Jax, which opened its first restaurant in Boulder, is arguably responsible for bringing super-fresh seafood to Denver at least in a way that stuck. More than a few Colorado residents had their first bites of Kumamoto and Fanny Bay oysters at the raw bar, thanks to Jax and air couriers. Query, who heads the Big Red F Restaurant Group, promises a re-tooled, streamlined and updated Jax that will be bigger, badder and fresher than anything you could ever imagine.

OK, there might be some caffeine-driven hyperbole in there, but Query details an expanded raw bar, three times as many tap beers, an expanded housemade-soda program, and more fresh-off-the-jet seafood.

Jax has won numerous awards for its food and beverage programs, including a 2012 citation from Travel & Leisure magazine.

And yes, bartender Tim Harris will still be working his magic behind the pine. The man is still Brooks Robinson with a martini shaker.

A firm re-opening date hasnt been set, Query says, but theyre shooting for mid-January.

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Jax Fish House in Denver closes Jan. 1 for two-week remodeling