Boulder Restaurant News
The secret is in the sauce By Bob Yates
Jun 1st
The Boulder Bulletin/June 2026 My father was a raconteur, a storyteller. After he’d finish serving a particularly delicious
tale, he’d give you a knowing Irish wink and offer an epilogue for dessert: “It’s mostly true. And
the parts that aren’t make it more interesting.”
That’s how it is with Jay Elowsky, who everyone calls Pasta Jay after the name of the
Italian restaurant he’s operated on Pearl Street for nearly 40 years. He tells story after story, and
that every good story—like every good sauce—needs a little seasoning
you’re not entirely sure which parts are true. But it doesn’t matter. As a chef, Pasta Jay knows
that every good story—like every good sauce—needs a little seasoning.
How does a Polish kid from Bay City, Michigan, end up running the most successful
Italian restaurant in Boulder, with a second operation in Utah and jars of rich, red sauce sold in
supermarkets across the country?
After a brief and incomplete stint as a student at CU-Boulder in the early 1980s, Jay
headed to California to work in his Uncle Sonny’s pizzeria. There Jay learned Italian recipes
handed down from Sonny’s great, great grandmother, “Mama Genovese,” who was the cook for
King Victor Emmanuel of Italy in the 19th century.
Absorbing everything Sonny could teach him, Jay convinced his parents to loan him
$50,000 so he could return to Boulder and open his own Italian restaurant, which he called Pasta
Jay’s. The Mall on Pearl Street had recently opened, but Jay chose a spot for his restaurant a
couple of blocks west of the Mall, in an old house at 925 Pearl.
“Everyone told me not to open on the West End,” Pasta Jay recounts now about his 1988
decision. “They said it was off the bricks, and no one would come there. Well, it was an instant
success. From the first day, there was a line out the door. We could barely keep up.”
The first day for the new restaurant was September 16, 1988. That afternoon, before
opening the new place, Jay and his parents hurriedly painted bright red some old chairs they had
procured from CU to use in the restaurant. When they opened that evening, the second customer
through the door was George Karakehian, the proprietor of Art Source on the Pearl Street Mall.
“After George finished his meal in the newly opened restaurant,” Pasta Jay recollects, “he got up
to leave. But the chair stuck to him. The red paint hadn’t dried yet. George and I have been
friends ever since.”
In 1989, the year after opening Pasta Jay’s Restaurant, the Boulder City Clerk observed to
Jay that the CU football team was looking for a meal sponsor, someone who could feed them
before games. Jay volunteered but was told that university rules required that the school pay
something for the food. So, Pasta Jay charged the team $1 per player for dinners.
Feeding the football team lasted more than 30 years. Along the way, Pasta Jay started the
Buffalo Stampede, a Pearl Street tradition on the night before every home game, which continues
to this day. There is Buffs paraphernalia throughout his restaurant. Jay estimates that he serves
5,000 meals every CU graduation weekend.
Jay estimates that about ten percent of his diners are CU students. Another 20 percent are
tourists, and the rest are locals. “We are very family-oriented,” Jay explains. “I judge our success
by how many highchairs we’re using. I want families to be able to afford to feed their kids.” A
long-time leader in Downtown Boulder, Pasta Jay understands that Boulder residents are the key
to continued success. “We have to get families downtown. We need to keep the locals coming
in.”
Now at the corner of Pearl and 10th Street, a few yards east of the original Pasta Jay’s
location, Jay figures he has served between 200,000 and 250,000 meals each year since 1988.
That’s nearly 10 million pizzas and plates of pasta over the course of four decades.
“Through the years, we’ve added more sauces,” Pasta Jay explains. “We now have
something for everyone.” Jay says his favorite item on the menu is stuffed shells. That and the
chicken parm are the two most popular items in the restaurant. If you look closely at the menu,
you’ll notice that some dishes are named after regular diners and local luminaries. “Even my dad
has a dish on the menu, and there’s a drink named after my mom. It’s kind of cute.”
The same age as me and approaching retirement, Pasta Jay has been gradually handing
over the reins of his Boulder and Moab restaurants to his daughter Josie and his son Jay Wyatt.
“Jay Wyatt started bussing tables in the restaurant when he was 11. The other day, Josie was in
here at 2 am, learning recipes.”
Like Nicole Hurdle at Hurdle’s Jewelry, Zoe Polk at Pedestrian Shops, and Chase
Kraegel at Peppercorn, Jay’s kids have had to earn their place as next generation inheritors of a
long-time downtown family business. “I am harder on them than I am on my own employees,”
he says of Josie and Jay Wyatt. “They can stay here in the restaurant, or they can start their own
businesses. It’s up to them. But I am always asking them, ‘What are you doing to build your own
empire?’ They have worked for where they’re at. They’re doing a good job.”
The millions of plates of pasta and pizzas that Pasta Jay has served over the decades have
included meals for visiting luminaries to Boulder, including the Grateful Dead and the Dali
L
Lama. And Jay says he’s proud that the Sundance Film Festival is coming to Boulder next year.
“While Sundance will give us a big boost in January, what it really does is puts us on the map.
Overall, it gives Boulder more of a national presence.”
As proud as he is of his kids and the restaurant he has built up over the decades, Pasta Jay
says he reminds himself to be humble, to help those who are less fortunate. “We have served
homeless people meals out of the back door of the restaurant,” he says. “We have to be actively
involved in the community. I keep learning. I try to give others a helping hand. I keep reminding
myself: It’s about how you treat other people.”
Lunch at French Quarter Brasserie Boulder
Sep 19th
by Karen Dinnel Boulder Channel 1
We went o French Quarter Brasserie at 1207 Pearl Street in Boulder today for lunch and had the Cajun Shrimp Salad off the new menu out today. The Shrimp was cooked Cajun style, with cucumber, balsamic based dressing , onions and crotons and was reasonably priced at $10.00. The wait staff was friendly.
There is a new awning up out front. This is the old Potters restaurant and is huge. It has a downstairs and upstairs bar plus a VIP room for evening fun For lunch it suited us fine.
See our Facebook Post:
We went o French Quarter Brasserie at 1207 Pearl Street in Boulder today for lunch and had the Cajun Shrimp Salad off the new menu out today. The Shrimp was cooked Cajun style, with cucumber, balsamic based dressing , onions and crotons and was reasonably priced at $10.00. The wait staff was friendly.
There is a new awning up out front. This is the old Potters restaurant and is huge. It has a downstairs and upstairs bar plus a VIP room for evening fun For lunch it suited us fine.
See our Facebook Post:
New Boulder restaurant section on Boulder Channel 1
Jul 5th
Boulder Restaurants and Food on Boulder channel 1 is a search engine. We list every restaurant in Boulder from A to Z and 
by category. We put up Boulder Restaurant website, phone number, address, food categories, a map and review section . Sponsors get more including top listing. We also list Movies and weather for you when you go out . To get your restaurant listed write: List me:
by category. We put up Boulder Restaurant website, phone number, address, food categories, a map and review section . Sponsors get more including top listing. We also list Movies and weather for you when you go out . To get your restaurant listed write: List me:
We update Boulder restaurants daily. We are locally produced by people not computers. Some listings have a TV icon. We shoot TV segments you can visit the restaurant before you go. You can scroll down the More videos and click on any restaurant you want to see. Each video is 3 minutes .
Our polling and focus groups show people in Boulder go out to dinner and then a movie so if you click on Dinner and a Movie, it will take you to this weeks movie listing. Our weather link on each page takes you NOAA Boulder weather. We also provide a restaurant coupon section for free dinners and two for one special. You’ll notice on the left cooking video blogs by Boulder chefs. These are 3 minute TV shows about favorite recipes. We have restaurant sponsors listed in our banner ads in each category and at the bottom of each page.
We pretty much get to know all of our sponsored restaurants and since Boulder is a small city. We consider them friends.Our Boulder restaurant section actually started back in 1975 when Jann Scoitt wrote the Book of Boulder Bar and Restaurant Hopping. We expanded to The Boulder Restaurant Show which appeared on Channel 54 and more recently on channel 22 with host Jann Scott.
This new restaurant section and search on Boulder channel 1 began in 2008 on FoodChannel1.com and then on a separate on Boulder Channel 1. After all we are local. We have polled you to find out what is important to you. We are a 7 day a week 24 hours a day company. Please tell your friends and send this link to everyone in Boulder. For comments, feedback advertising, web work, video and show production Email us here: Boulder Channel 1 Restaurants or call us at (720) 646-6131
Services we provide to local Boulder restaurants include: Website development and management, social media management including twitter, Face book , Pintrest and more; Video segments, Banner ads; Management of review sites, PR stories Live TV shows with one of our talent at your restaurant. We manage reviews and seo. We do it all. We are the oldest and biggest restaurant ad agency and pr firm in Boulder We are a TV channel and News paper too. wow. So do yourself a favor, don’t hire some guy or girl one of your cooks know. You will regret it. It is a Boulder nightmare story. Hire us to begin with and be happy. Don’t worry. 🙂
http://c1n.tv/boulderchannel1/wp-admin/post.php?post=23334&action=edit
About the Boulder Restaurant Channel
CEO Jann Scott started in newspapers, talk radio and TV in the 1970’s, He has been in the restaurant scene since 1975 when he wrote the Book of Boulder Bar and Restaurant Hopping. Jann wrote that “classic”. On TV Jann began Best restaurants in Boulder in 1992, the Boulder restaurant Show on Tv and radio in ’91. We have been on the restaurant media scene longer than anybody in Boulder. Then we started this Internet TV site in 1999. We polled you to find out what is important to you. We are a 7 day a week 24 hrs a day company. Our staff of 7 consists of designers, writers, SM professionals, web experts, video pros and reps. We are not new to this and we are not a one person operation. We’ll be here when you need us. In boulder that is important.
We list every restaurant in Boulder from A to Z and by category. It puts up their website, phone number, address, food categories, a map and review section from Google. Plus we list weather and Boulder movies all in one site. It is updated daily and we are locally produced by people not computers. Some listings have a TV icon.
Our Category and Tag section is designed for the on the run diner to find exactly what you are looking for. No one has a search like ours. So if you search for pizza or French food, you will find find everyone in Boulder.
Dinner and a Movie Our polling and focus groups show people in Boulder go out to dinner and then a movie so if you click on Dinner and a Movie, it will take you to this week’s movie listing.
Weather Our weather link on each page takes you NOAA Boulder weather. We also provide a restaurant coupon section for free dinners and two for one special.
Videos We shoot TV segments you can visit the restaurant before you go. The videos actually play on the Boulder Restaurant Channel Homepage 24/7 streaming. You can scroll down the more videos and click on any restaurant you want to see. Each video is 3 minutes.
Sponsors At the top of each page there are sponsored links. We pretty much get to know all of our sponsored restaurants and since Boulder is a small city. We have polled you to find out what is important to you. We provide a targeted platform for you to showcase your restaurant We provide banner ads, video, sm, websites, pages, top position, TV, reviews and PR. We handle everything.
We still produce the Boulder Restaurant TV show hosted by local Celeb Jann Scott. You can see it here and on Cable. ( this is a good one to get your restaurant into.
Our unique “Dinner and a Movie” option lets you see what movies are playing so you can plan the perfect evening of, well.. dinner and a movie. We have also provided the “local weather” (straight from NOAA) so you can plan accordingly.
The Restaurant Videos have been produced by us and take an in-dept look at the owners, staff, chiefs, and of of course the food! Each video is about 3 minutes long, just long enough to give you the information you need.
Cooking Video Blogs show some local chiefs doing what they do best, updated weekly showing their favorite recipes or how to cooking instruction pieces for your pleasure.
Our Sponsors are local cheifs and business owners that live for what they do and know just how much you value the ability to see them doing what they do best, and most importantly the fact that you are able to search for them in one place or Boulder Restaurants. Our sponsors are our friends and sometimes our friends want to hook you up, so we provided a “Coupons section for them to pass on some savings and free stuff, not too bad huh?
Please tell your friends and send this link to everyone in Boulder. For comments, feedback advertising, web work, video and show production please email:jannscottlive@gmail.com
