It was his first venture into the industry and he opened a swanky restaurant/bar called Swimclub 32 where El Camino now lives. Grant was a mortgage lender and real estate guy (still is) before getting into the restaurant business in 2003.

Grant grew up in Cali and moved to Colorado for college. Niya has worked as a host, barback, server, bartender, floor manager and then served as General Manager at Mead St Station for several years before opening Local 46. Her grandmother owned a bar and was a bartender for most of her life (Grandma Sylvia) and her mom was a server/ bartender for years as well. Niya moved to Colorado in 3rd grade and grew up in the restaurant industry. Local beer, local food, local spirits, local workers, local business, etc. We also knew from early on that our vision was to support all things Local. The Music Bar was an old Union worker hang out that offered early morning Happy Hour (7am-9am) to the night shift workers. The name Local 46- Grant came up with the name and it took some time for me to warm up to it but now I can’t imagine what else we could be called! When we opened there was nothing North of 44th and we wanted people to identify with the location itself (46/46th Ave) and we wanted to pay homage to the history of the building and the bar it was for so many years. both were short-lived and we decided to focus on what we do best… booze and music and basically throw an awesome party every day! We started doing food around our 2nd year and have tried on several hats over the years, at one point we tried to run a juice bar during the day called Juice Mon and the next year we tried to do a coffee shop during the day called Cafe 46…. I worked behind the bar a lot in the first couple of years. We quickly realized it was best for us to have clear roles in the company and set boundaries early on to protect our personal relationship. Grant is the master designer and vision guy and I was always the day to day operator and systems gal. Same went for the inside, we added on systems and updated as we could afford it, we never had any outside investors. We slowly added on piece by piece and my brother Ryan did most of the building out there including the fire pits and eventually the outside bar structure and the grill structure. On our one year anniversary, we debuted the “biergarten” but it looked a lot different then, we had all the folding tables and chairs we could find out there for seating and there was hardly any landscaping and no hardscapes. We pretty much lived there for a while! Where the biergarten is now, use to just be a dirt/trash lot. We took out a dropped ceiling that used to run all the way across to the South wall, ripped up three layers of moldy carpet, updated the lights, bathrooms, kitchen, stage and lots more, doing most of the work ourselves. We tried to tie in as much of the old school charm, the maroon upholstery behind the bar is original, the bar top and back bar is all original. We wanted to make sure that the old-time Northsiders still felt welcome along with the new young families and transplant incomers. We did not want to take away the charm and character of the retro dive feel but obviously needed to do some major updating. Grant (hubby) and I opened the bar with the vision of a true community gathering place for all. It uses to be called the Music Bar and it was an old dive bar/karaoke bar for 30 years. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far. Oh! Be sure to try their dessert buñuelos with chocolate dipping sauce.Today we’d like to introduce you to Niya Gingerich. The vibe is pretty eclectic and laid back. I highly recommend El Camino any time of the day. I must say El Camino's huevos rancheros were one of the most deliciously satisfying I have ever had (except for my momma's home made Mexican dishes of course).

I tend to order huevos rancheros every Mexican restaurant I go to. I had their huevos rancheros with mimosas and my husband had chilaquiles with margaritas. On our last day in Denver, we went back to El Camino for brunch. My husband had their nachos and margaritas as well. Their dishes are well portioned and authentic with a fusion twist. Delicious! None of that 'fill your plate with a HUGE portion of so called Mexican rice & beans' stuff. On our first night at El Camino, I had their Happy Hour margaritas and regular menu vegetarian tacos. One look at the menu and I was sold! The place is small and in a very charming area of Denver. While looking for a vegetarian friendly restaurant/bar in Denver, I came upon El Camino on a google search.

El camino denver happy hour