Flash in the Fire: New Steakhouse in Colorado Decides to Shut Down

Just as steak lovers were getting set to sink their teeth into some ribeye and prime rib, Chef Clay in Loveland, Colorado, has turned the table again.

Playing Monday Morning Quarterback on the project, some can look and say, "I saw that coming a mile away."

Did the citizens of Loveland point Chef Clay in the direction he's taken, or was it never his plan at all to shut down one of Loveland's favorite spots?

It was in late July 2023 that Chef Clay announced that his Loveland location of Betta Gumbo would be turning into The People's Steakhouse.  He urged folks that were going to miss Betta Gumbo to try out their Windsor location.

Some say I'm crazy, which I am... but I'm also crazy like a fox.

He did say that this steakhouse was a pop-up concept, but he also said that "the market has changed, and [the steakhouse] was the right decision."

Chef Clay later explained to the followers of Betta Gumbo on Facebook how a "pop-up" concept may last six to eight weeks to see what does and doesn't work to establish a hard business plan.

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Chef Clay said that he took the input from the people who loved Betta Gumbo and people who don't like him, and "grabbed hold of the truth" out of that input, and decided to change.

The People's Steakhouse opened for business on Aug. 1, 2023. One week later, on Aug. 8, 2023, Chef Clay announced that The People's Steakhouse would be shutting down on Aug. 10, 2023, and that the space would go back to being the original Betta Gumbo.

Chef Clay has every right to do whatever he sees "fit" when it comes to the direction of his restaurants; nobody's arguing that.

RELATED: TEX-MEX CHAIN OPENS FIRST COLORADO LOCATION IN LOVELAND

It does feel like a flashback to the '80s when Coca-Cola made a really big deal about New Coke. Just a few months later, Coca-Cola announced that, after public pushback, they'd be bringing back the Original Coke.

It did seem highly unlikely that Betta Gumbo would be disappearing from downtown Loveland. Chef Clay opening up a steakhouse at a different location is not out of the question.

Maybe he could put it where Crow Hop used to have a taproom. He could call it The Taproom Steakhouse, with great beers and great steaks.