Denver’s Bump & Grind offers delicious drag fun

“Hello, I’m Nasty and I’ll be your bitch today” is the kind of greeting you can expect at Bump & Grind Café in Denver. A group of women came in shortly after my party was seated and Secretia Pheromones, another member of the colorful staff, yelled out “Hello lesbians!”  Needless to say, my guests and I could not wipe the smiles from our faces.

Saturday and Sunday at Bump & Grind means Petticoat Brunch, so all the wait staff are in over-the-top drag and ready to sashay breakfast to your table. You’ll be hit by a myriad of delightful sensations: the music blasting, the platform shoes stomping, and the smell of unbelievable potatoes cooking. Upon arriving to your seat, you receive a small plate of muffins and, as you taste them, you know the breakfast will be just as good. Then you kick back and enjoy as you and your friends eat, take pictures, and exchange sexual innuendo with the wait staff.

Cliff Trubowitz is the owner of this unique establishment, which began years ago as Hyper Space Aerobics Studios (hence the mirrored walls) and evolved to selling coffee and breakfast goodies before the dawn of the weekend Petticoat Brunch.  The origin of the restaurant also explains how it got its name, as Trubowitz says, “The ‘Bump’ was from the fitness classes and the ‘Grind’ was from the coffee.” Two years into having fitness classes and coffee, he revamped the fitness room into a dining area and shortly thereafter added the idea of drag wait staff for the brunch. Trubowitz doesn’t take credit for the originality of the place, joking that “no one has an original idea these days,” and confessing that some of his ideas, like putting the menus on the back of old album covers, were just things he saw when living in New York.

[singlepic id=177 w=320 h=240 float=left] Bump and Grind is open Tuesday for coffee and muffins from 7:00AM to 11:30AM. Wednesday through Friday they serve breakfast (not in drag) from 7:00AM to 11:00AM and lunch from 11:00AM to 2:30PM. Petticoat Brunch begins at 10:00AM to 2:00PM Saturday and Sunday, you can expect a short wait, but it’s worth it.  Trubowitz expressed interest in expanding to serve dinner a couple nights a week and get a liquor license, but for now his schedule keeps him pretty busy as he is the main guy in the kitchen slinging those pots and pans!

Bump & Grind, located at the corner 17^th and Pennsylvania, is a great place to take out-of-town company, but is always crowded with locals as well.  It’s no surprise that the restaurant is such a destination; the food is wonderful, the atmosphere is fun, and the staff is friendly and entertaining. The clientele is more diverse than you might expect and the long line outside lets you know, it’s far from being Denver’s best kept secret.

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