History

GROUP970 History

    
Group970, formerly Catskill Place Restaurants, officially began to take shape in 1995 upon the opening of Blue Moose Pizza in Beaver Creek. However, the restaurant company was in the making for many years before that time. Company owner and operator, Brian Nolan, has been in the restaurant industry in one way or another for most of his life. At an early age Nolan learned the basics by managing a variety of restaurants by working with his brother in both College Station and Austin, Texas. Starting to get a solid grasp for food and drink, it was time for adventure. In 1982, without much forethought or any true knowledge of the area, Brian said good-bye to life in Texas and moved to Aspen, Colorado; where he served as the Food and Beverage Director of the Snowmass Club. After seven years, and after gathering a great deal of both work and life experience, Brian decided to continue the adventure and open a restaurant of his own in a new, and again unexplored, locale - Beaver Creek, Colorado.

Nolan partnered with good friend Jeff Forbes and with great enthusiasm opened the Coyote Café in the Fall of 1989. Within just three years the location had nearly tripled their sales. The location became and remains today the favorite watering hole in Beaver Creek for locals and visitors alike. Brian sold his interest in 1997, opening the first Blue Moose Pizza on his own shortly before. With this opening GROUP970 Restaurants officially began to take shape and one of the company's signature concepts was born.

From the success of the Blue Moose Brian went on to open multiple locations thru out Colorado‚ including Steamboat Springs, Copper Mountain, Avon and Vail - looking to fill other niches in villages throughout the state. In 1999 another company signature concept was opened in the Beaver Creek Lodge, the Beaver Creek Chophouse. Created with the forethought of providing fine dining food featuring great steaks and fresh seafood in a casual, no nonsense atmosphere, the restaurant was a hit in the originally cozy hotel locale for its first five years. However, with a slopeside location becoming available in 2004, the Chophouse picked and moved to its current location, maintaining its reputation for great steaks and fresh seafood, but with a new, much improved locale.

In the Fall of 2005, the Blue Moose moved to its current location in the Poste Montane Lodge. Upon relocating, the concept shifted, becoming a full service restaurant and expanding its traditional menu of hand-tossed NY-Style pizzas to include appetizers, salads, hot Italian entrees and desserts.

In 2007 the Vail Blue Moose and Vail Chophouse opened as a part of a new Arrabelle development. The new locations seemed a perfect fit, both mirroring the locales of their Beaver Creek counterparts. The Vail Blue Moose is located just off the ice skating rink in the center of the Lionshead Village and the Vail Chophouse, is also slopeside, just steps from the gondola.

In 2012 the group transformed the former Foxnut Sushi restaurant space to C Bar, an extention of the Beaver Creek Chophouse.  C Bar is the newest Group970 concept and features a Chophouse-inspired menu with a new and delicious twist.  C Bar also provides a taverns/sports bar feel setting it apart from the Beaver Creek Chophouse.

Today Group970 Restaurant headquarters are based out of Beaver Creek Village. The group currently operates five restaurants, three unique concepts, throughout the Vail Valley and pride themselves on the company and Nolan's personal motto of Food.Drink.Adventure.