The Board of Trustees approved the license for a new hotel and restaurant Monday for a venue that will also serve as a major destination for pool players.
Pharaoh’s American Grill, a subsidiary of Memphis Cue Bar LLC, has applied for a license to locate at 404 Marshall Road.
Hamid David Mutargimi, an experienced restaurateur, is the business owner. He renovated and operated several entertainment venues in Denver and Evergreen.
Motargimi told the council that the May shooting near a North Broadway building in Denver, which he had recently sold, prompted him to find a location out of town, and to settle at the site of Marshall Road.
“They threw the murder pistol in my trash in front of my door,” he said. “It got to the point where at my age I needed to make some changes, so here I am.”
With a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Northeastern University, Mutarjimi worked on supercomputers and developed cockpit instruments for Boeing Aircraft, and later owned a semiconductor testing company, which led him to move to Colorado in 1995.
A career lull in 2000 turned into an opportunity for Motarjemi to purchase and renovate a building in downtown Denver at 2101 Champa Street.
“I had a wild idea to redesign it, and then I said ‘OK, what am I going to do with it? “So, I turned it into an events center, where we hosted wedding and dance classes, and that was a very interesting project,” he told the board.
In 2011, Motarjemi bought and reopened the former Dick’s Hickory Dock landmark in Kittredge.
Emphasizing his commitment to a superior community, Mutargimi informed the Board of Directors of his pending purchase of two residential properties, one of which will be his primary residence and the other he intends to use as a guest house for visiting pool players.
Mutarjimi told the board that he plans to serve American fare and traditional bar food, as well as gluten-free vegetarian dishes cooked in cholesterol-free oil, and plans to keep the kitchen open until midnight. Locally recruited staff will be certified in Training in Intervention Procedures (TIPS).
Eva Garretson, owner of take-out company Liquor Pros, presented the results of a needs and wants survey of 331 businesses and neighborhood residents with the board. Garretson obtained unanimous consent from respondents for the restaurant and liquor licensing.
“Most people were excited that this building was filling up with something new, and with classic American fare, they were looking forward to it,” Garritson said. “Although there are other outlets of a similar nature, we feel this still meets the neighbourhood’s desire.”
“Thank you for choosing to invest here in Superior,” Mayor Clint Folsom said before the council unanimously approved the request. “You have an impressive history of past endeavors, and we are impressed by your desire to acquire and improve real estate. I am looking forward to learning how to play pool properly because I experienced it myself.”