Kevin and Karen Christakos were looking for a lifestyle change and they believe they have found what they are looking for after purchasing The Golden Taps in a deal that was finalized on Oct. 1. Kevin had been working as a full-time heli-skiing guide, a gig which didn’t allow him to spend any time at home with Karen and their children.
“Winters were kind of like, Kevin was away more than he was home. I was like a single mom for that time,”
Kevin plans to continue guiding, but on a more limited basis, now that the couple has purchased Taps.
Karen has loved working in the service and hospitality industry since she started Sips n Giggles, a mobile bartending service that has been in business since May of last year.
“I realized how much I really enjoy serving people in that kind of atmosphere,” she said.
As longtime friends of former Taps owners Adam McCullough and Kent Zalaski, Kevin and Karen asked them to see their purchase advertisement “just for fun”.
“I took it home, thinking nothing would ever come of it…and then the more we read about it and learned about it, we realized that this was a really great thing,” Karen said. The couple has been working with McCullough and Zalaski since the beginning of September as a sort of transition period, but didn’t officially take over as owners until last week.
Both Kevin and Karen agree that not much, if anything, needs to be changed with the current operations of the bar that has become one of Golden’s most frequented night life destinations.
“We’ve basically stepped into a really well-oiled machine,” Karen said.
“It’s really popular with its crowd. People really like it, they like the food, they like the atmosphere. We don’t want to break that,” Kevin said.
All of the staff under the previous ownership has remained on board and the couple is thankful to have kept them in place.
“The customers really appreciate the staff because they are good to them. It feels like you are walking into a really familiar place,” Karen said.
“Between Adam and Kent and the staff, they have really built the culture here. We really recognize that,” Kevin said.
The front patio is one thing that the couple might look to change in the spring. Karen would like to see it “jazzed up a little” in order to make it more aesthetically pleasing for customers. Kevin also hinted that the interior decor could be changing within the next couple of weeks as well.
Other than that, the couple plans to stay true to the bar’s roots as a welcoming place for people to grab some food and drinks and take in live music.
