Proud Dad and His Gay Son Open Queer Bar & Restaurant Together in Denver, Colorado

A gay man and his straight dad are launching a new LGBTQ+ venue in Denver, Colorado. Building upon their earlier experiences in the hospitality business, Trey Stewart and dad Tyler announced their plans to open a gay bar and restaurant named SIR this November. According to a report in GayCities, this will be the second venture between the father-son duo following the success of their previous joint venture, Mr. Misster in Dallas, Texas.

“We opened Mr. Misster in Dallas’ infamous “Gayborhood” in June 2019 with a whole lot of faith and a passion to bring something new to the Dallas LGBTQ+ community,” Trey explained to GayCities.

Not long after they opened Mr. Misster, though, Trey and Tyler were forced to close the doors due to the pandemic. The quarantine and economic shutdown gave Trey time to consider how important these spaces are to the LGBTQ+ community and incentivized the father-son duo to launch additional ventures together.

“Taking a step back for a moment during the closure, I was able to see the impact that we had on the community in those short few months as they rallied around our business and our bartenders to make sure that we were able to re-open our doors as quickly as possible,” Trey told GayCities. “Through that, I knew I wanted to do more and I wanted to replicate the same impact that we were able to have on the city that I call home, in other great cities with a community that I love so much."

Trey and Tyler were on a trip together to Denver when they decided the Mile High City would make the perfect location for their second LGBTQ+ venue.

“For me, SIR is going to be Mr. Misster’s bigger, cooler older brother,” Trey said, adding they will be bringing “a lot of the same values and concepts” that brought them success in Dallas, albeit with a few improvements.

The pair have hired a chef and plan on offering a dinner and brunch menu, along with happy hour eats. Trey said he is “excited” about the menu, but described the food side of SIR as “an entirely new challenge for us” despite his dad’s previous experience owning restaurants while his son was growing up.

They have enlisted Shike Designs in Denver to design SIR, which will occupy a 4,500-square-foot space previously occupied by restaurant Vesta, which permanently closed last year due to the pandemic.

Denver is a popular destination for gay travelers, and the city is also currently home to one of only a handful of lesbian bars remaining open in the country. In fact, Blush & Blu is also the only lesbian bar in the state of Colorado.

Trey said he is “very grateful to have such an incredibly supportive father and business partner” who is willing to listen to his son about the importance of creating a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. He said his father often stops by Mr. Misster with his girlfriend, something he welcomes but also admits took a while getting used to.

“Through our years at Mr. Misster, watching my dad become a father figure to some of our customers that don’t get to share the same relationship with their own father is really special to me and something I am very proud of!” Trey said. “What I wasn’t ready for was someone explaining to him what a ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ were. I’m also pretty sure someone gave him poppers one day…”