Denver Department of Excise and Licenses

We'll Drink to That

KJ's Coffee Bar going for its bar exam

KJ's Coffee Bar opened last summer at 1710 East 25th Avenue, but it finally held its grand opening celebration on May 23. And KJ's could soon have more reason to celebrate. This community gathering place for the Whittier neighborhood is going for a beer/wine liquor license, with a hearing slated f ... More >>

All Wet

Colorado's liquor laws have restaurants corkscrewed.

Mezcal cabaret application decision due soon

After dueling meetings with business and neighborhood groups last week, Mezcal's application for a cabaret license went before a hearing officer with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses on Monday. Supporters of the application -- which would allow owner Jesse Morreale to regularly feature ... More >>

Backwash

The Flying Dog Brewery throws local musicians a bone.

Backwash

Will the city’s new policy on all-ages clubs turn Denver into a teenage wasteland?

Backwash

The city's new all-ages policy draws jeers -- but no beers.

Backwash

A couple of city councilwomen stick up for all-ages shows in Denver. But who will save the rave?

The Bite

Liquor-license woes affect a large venue and a small establishment.

Cheba Hut finds itself in a sticky situation

Cheba Hut hopes Denver liquor-license employees will turn out to be kind buds

Backwash

The City of Denver puts a cork in the outdoor-concert alcohol policy at the Botanic Gardens.

Backwash

South Broadway bound, the Skylark Lounge fights for its nest.

The Beatdown

Return of the living Dead: What would Jerry do?

What's wrong with mariachi music at Mezcal?

Return of the living Dead: What would Jerry do?

15th St. Tavern

The search for a home continues.

Thirst Fridays

You don’t need liquor to appreciate art — but it helps.

Pour It On

Art goes dry.

Letters to the Editor

From the week of 5/10/2007

The Home of the Rave

Promoters hurry to get their acts together -- before parents, police and the courts decide the party's over.

Cellar Wine Bar pours out its plans

The folks behind the Cellar Wine Bar, slated for the former home of the Red Door at 2556 15th Street, have applied with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses for a beer and wine liquor license. They'll meet with neighbors and the board of Highland United Neighbors tonight at the Asbury Churc ... More >>

Taqueria Mi Pueblo goes for a liquor license

The burrito wars are heating up on North Federal Boulevard, with a new Santiago's and Jack-n-Grill duking it out in the 2500 block, and Taqueria Mi Pueblo offering $1.99 breakfast burritos, as well as other authentic Mexican fare, just two blocks away at 2300 Federal. And Mi Pueblo could soon have ... More >>

Wine Cellar, Brio liquor license hearings today

As reported here in March, the Wine Cellar could soon uncork in Highland. This morning, the prospective owners of the joint, which would take over the spot at 2556 15th once occupied by the Red Door shop, are at their liquor-license hearing before the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses right ... More >>

Chili today, hot tomorrow

Lori Midson​We're hearing good things about Chili Verde, a new restaurant cooking up southern Mexican cuisine at 3700 Tejon Street. Good things, that is, about everything but its lack of alcohol -- but that could change next month. Owner Eder Yanez-Mota has a liquor-license hearing with the D ... More >>

Chile Verde liquor license hearing tomorrow

Lori MidsonWouldn't these tables look better with beers on top?​ Cross your fingers for Eder Yanez-Mota, the owner of Chili Verde, the spot at 3700 Teon Street that's been cooking up southern Mexican cuisine for a few months now. He opened the restaurant without a liquor license, but all tha ... More >>

Confusion over Fusion Cantina, the former downtown Zaidy's

Zaidy's in Writer's Square​Zaidy's Deli, a mainstay at 121 Adams Street in Cherry Creek for decades, opened a downtown outpost several years ago in Writer Square. It did a decent breakfast and lunch business there, but the crowds flocking to LoDo and Larimer Square in the evening -- and walkin ... More >>

Zaidy's turns into Fusion Cantina and goes for a cabaret license...maybe

The vision for the new Writer Square -- it doesn't look like this now.​David Hannes, president of the Writer Square Condominium Association, has had his hands full dealing with the ongoing renovations at Writer's Square, which have turned the downtown oasis into a concrete desert. He lives abo ... More >>

Zaidy's liquor license up tonight

The lights were off on Monday, and the listing suddenly disappeared from the upcoming hearings schedule at the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses -- but by all accounts, the liquor-license hearing at which the city will consider whether to expand Zaidy's license to allow live entertainment at ... More >>

Confusion reigns over Zaidy's Fusion Grill

Zaidy's in happier days.​The residents of Writer Square were ready last night with their petitions complaining about a proposed liquor-license change for the former Zaidy's Deli Downtown, which morphed into Zaidy's Fusion Grill this spring and was planning to transform itself again into Fusion ... More >>

Another Asian joint arriving on Alameda

Lori MidsonThe future site of Asian Diner​ Directly across the street from Swing Thai, less than a block away from Fontana Sushi, exactly one block from Thai Basil and a short three-block walk from Crazy Asian Cafe, sits the future home of Asian Diner. And once it opens at 295 South Pennsylvania S ... More >>

The Tavern's Frank Schultz encounters some flak on Colfax

The former Flix cafe could become a Tavern.​ It's been a year since Neighborhood Flix, the ambitious movie theater/cafĂ© in the Lowenstein project, pulled the plug -- but with any luck, the lights will soon be back on at 2510 East Colfax Avenue. That's because Frank Schultz, who runs Tavern Ho ... More >>

This Just In: Star Bar not shining so bright these days

​ Star Bar, one of the state's classic dives at 2137 Larimer Street, has gone dark to due to a liquor violation by the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses. No word on yet on when it will re-open.

Medical marijuana dispensary owner sleeps in car and pays $5,000 for the privilege

​Wesley Fazio waited twelve hours -- in a cold car, in his long underwear -- for a shot at making his soon-to-open dispensary legal. Yesterday, the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses started accepting applications for medical marijuana dispensary licenses -- which every operational disp ... More >>

Medical marijuana dispensaries in Denver have five days left to get a license

​Colorado's medical marijuana industry has been compared to the Gold Rush of 150 years ago, but so far, there's been no rush for dispensaries to get legal in Denver. Under Council Bill 34, a dispensary must have a city sales-tax license and also apply for a specific dispensary license by Marc ... More >>

Medical marijuana dispensaries in Denver: Guess how many file by March 1 and win a marijuana lei

​The stereotypical pothead moves slowly -- but this is ridiculous. By last Friday -- the end of the second week during which medical marijuana dispensaries could file their now-required dispensary applications with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses -- exactly 61 had done so. Which ... More >>

Denver hits the million-dollar jack pot with 235 medical marijuana dispensaries

​The stereotypical pothead moves slowly -- but this is ridiculous. By last Friday -- the end of the second week during which medical marijuana dispensaries could file their now-required dispensary applications with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses -- exactly 61 had done so. Which ... More >>

Tamales by La Casita gets liquor license

No beer here,​This Tamales by La Casita is still dry.​Tamales by La Casita just got approved for a liquor license. No, not the Tamales by La Casita at 3651 Navajo Street that's owned by Paul Sandoval and his wife, state legislator Paula Sandoval, one of ten candidates vying for the Dist ... More >>

Justin Cucci to open Linger in LoHi Marketplace

​Linger has a date with the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses on May 26. Justin Cucci, chef/owner of Root Down, has signed on for a second space a few blocks away from his restaurant at 1600 West 33nd Avenue. This one is in the old Olinger's building that's been redubbed the LoHi Market ... More >>

Coming soon to Cherry Creek: Sweet Ginger Asian Bistro & Sushi

Lori Midson​While Cherry Creek just lost Tambien, one of the tony neighborhood's best independent restaurants, the downstairs space at 2710 East Third Avenue, formerly Plush, is poised to become Sweet Ginger Asian Bistro & Sushi. Located directly next door to -- and sharing a patio with -- ... More >>

Wine at the coffee shop: Coffee at the Point partners with Cottonwood Cellars

J. Wohletz​Liquor licenses for restaurants, bars and coffee shops often are not cheap or easy to get, but Ryan Cobbins, owner of Coffee at The Point, found a way to serve wine in his Five Points coffee shop: He partnered with Cottonwood Cellars.

Will a nearby school put a halt to Welton Street's resurrection?

The Rossonian Hotel is just beyond the 500-foot, no-liquor line.​As we reported yesterday in Cafe Bites, there have been numerous roadblocks to the redevelopment of the strip of Welton Street that's at the heart of Five Points -- some anticipated, some surprising. The most recent? The Tubman H ... More >>

The former Roxy Theater is up for lease

The Rossonian Hotel is just beyond the 500-foot, no-liquor line.​As we reported yesterday in Cafe Bites, there have been numerous roadblocks to the redevelopment of the strip of Welton Street that's at the heart of Five Points -- some anticipated, some surprising. The most recent? The Tubman H ... More >>

Sputnik reopens tomorrow after getting ripped for liquor-law violation

​Sputnik, the hipper-than-thou Baker 'hood bar, renowned for its hangover weekend brunch, live music acts and globetrotting menu catering (mostly) to vegetarians and vegans, has gone dark, at least until tomorrow, when the tatted 'tenders can begin pouring booze again. Seems as though the gr ... More >>

Lao Wang Noodle House is closed for remodeling -- and there's a liquor license in the works

​An uncontrollable craving for xiao long bao (aka Shanghai dumplings, aka soup dumplings, aka heaven) hit early this afternoon, and there was one obvious place to feed the beast: Lao Wang Noodle House, the Taiwanese joint that makes a kick-ass basket of the buns. But as we pulled off Federal ... More >>

Hush has a deadline of 5 p.m. today to object to liquor-license denial

Lori Midson​Don't put on your dancing shoes yet, Creekers. After an epic, hours-long liquor-license hearing March 25 at the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses, Michael Olsen's plans to put a version of his Hush nightclub into the subterranean space at 250 Steele Street seem doomed. Ols ... More >>

Masterpiece Delicatessen looks to land a liquor license

​ Masterpiece Delicatessen hardly needs another reason to give crowds a reason to stop by: The breakfast and lunch eatery has been packing hordes of patrons into its tiny space and downtown-facing patio since it opened three years ago. But Steve Allee and Justin Brunson are about to make the n ... More >>

Cafe Pure goes for a liquor license

​Cafe Pure is a tiny cafe that fronts the Aveda salon at the corner of 17th and Market streets, providing a shot of caffeine to customers in for a haircut and a midday respite for cubicle warriors from buildings nearby. The cafe would like to offer more than just coffee and pastries, though, ... More >>

Gary Lee's Motor Club and Grub going in at 176 South Broadway

​This old garage space looks shuttered now, but it's the future home of a new restaurant: Gary Lee's Motor Club and Grub. And while we're guessing the opening is still a ways off -- a deserted car lot flanks the front of the building and will require some serious clean-up -- the spot has appl ... More >>

Medical marijuana licensing more liberal in Denver than in Boulder?

​Boulder may have a reputation for being the most liberal spot in Colorado. But it turns out that Denver takes a much more liberal approach to licensing medical marijuana businesses, the state's biggest -- only? -- growth industry over the last few years.

Buffalo bull! Steve Friesen gets a visit from Pawn Stars

​Boulder may have a reputation for being the most liberal spot in Colorado. But it turns out that Denver takes a much more liberal approach to licensing medical marijuana businesses, the state's biggest -- only? -- growth industry over the last few years.

Medical marijuana: Denver almost ready for dispenary applications to begin.

​The dispensary application process seems a lot like a visit to the DMV. You show up knowing that it's going to be a pain in the ass, go through line after line, each time praying it will be the last. Finally, you cut a check to someone in the hope that the state has enough of its act together ... More >>