Real World's End

Next week marks the end of The Real Worldas Denver has known it. So Off Limits had to ask: What sort of lasting effect -- if any -- will this showcase of inanity have on our city? "I don't know if the business itself has been impacted, because we were busy before," says Paulina Szafranski, marketing president of Lotus Entertainment (which operates Monarck, a Real Worldmainstay), "but definitely there's a public knowledge of Monarck that wasn't there before. On New Year's Eve we received a lot of out-of-state reservations generated from The Real World. People visiting Denver come to check us out. We were extremely grateful for the opportunity."

Snooze, too, has enjoyed a slow but steady rise in business since the cast members made it one of their breakfast hangouts. "It wasn't immediate," notes owner/manager Jon Schlegel. "It was probably more of a cumulative increase. A lot of people learned about us, but I probably got more word of mouth when they were actually in here. Sometimes their presence became a buzz in the restaurant."

But that never happened at Two-Fisted Mario's, even though the pizza joint was a cast favorite. "Business is always good with us," says manager Mike Reilly.

And then there's the Carioca Cafe, better known as Bar Bar, shoved into the spotlight when Brooke got lost in the "ghetto" while trying to find a place to get her nails done and stopped to pout in front of the establishment. Did anyone but us even notice? No, according to the Carioca.