Little Pub Co.

Photos: The Classic Tavern takes over Local Bar@Highland

After decades as the Arabian Bar, the classic dive at 3360 Navajo Street closed last fall and was given a facelift by Barry Zadikoff, owner of Barry's on Broadway, who opened it as Local Bar@Highland in January. But the concept was short-lived -- the space was recently sold to the Little Pub group, ... More >>

Little Pub Company will open its newest spot in the former M&D's Cafe

The Little Pub Company -- owners of The Spot, the Irish Hound, Wymans and seventeen other neighborhood watering holes -- will open its newest location in the former M&D's Café, at 2800 28th Avenue, which closed a year ago. Mark Berzins, who runs Little Pub, says he's not normally an urban pioneer, ... More >>

Reader: That British Bulldog review was a dog!

No good deed goes unpunished. While we've been looking for a new restaurant reviewer, Jenn Wohletz has been lending a hand, writing full-length pieces that play off her "Jenn in Chains" posts on Cafe Society. Last week, for example, she took on the British Bulldog, one of nineteen links in Little Pu ... More >>

The British Bulldog finds strength in its Brit staples and brawny beers

Slide show: Inside the British Bulldog

The nineteen pubs of the big-thinking Little Pub Company

It's the brew-soaked dream of any drinking-age guy -- or gal -- to own a great bar. And to own close to twenty of them? That's a drinking dream come true. Since he foundedThe Little Pub Company in 1994, Mark Berzins has collected nineteen Denver area bars, including The British Bulldog, which I rev ... More >>

The British Bulldog: A Pakistani/bangers and mash mashup

A century ago, the building that now houses the British Bulldog was a popular boxing club called the Punch Bowl. When the place was transformed into a beer-and-burger joint, it kept that name -- and a loyal clientele of cops, lawyers and other downtown denizens -- for decades. But during the 1990s, ... More >>

Lazy dog-day afternoons are perfect for hanging out at the Irish Hound

Happy Place:Irish Hound, 575 Saint Paul Street, 303-996-0709. The Hours: Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. The Deals: $2-4 beer specials; $3.50 well drinks, house wines, and Jameson; $3.50 appetizer specials. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out.

Adam Dunbar: If you're not having fun, it's not worth it

In this interview, Freshcraft's Adam Dunbar weighs in on the night of the Beast, his go-to beer and where he heads for a perfectly made Manhattan.

Stingray morphs into Coop de Ville -- and ditches pizza for chicken and comfort food

The pizza oven has flown the coop at Stingray, the bar and pizza joint that Leigh Jones of Jonesey's EatBar and her partner, Margaret Moore (together they also own Bar Car and the Horseshoe Lounge) opened eight months ago at 2911 West 38th Avenue. And that's not all that's changed: After closing the ... More >>

Denver's ten best new bars of 2011

This year was a banner year for new restaurants -- as we noted in this week's Year in Review, nearly 300 new places have opened since January 1. Dozens of them included bars, and many more new dives, cocktail lounges, pubs and piano bars gave us still more reasons to go out drinking. Here, in no pa ... More >>

The Three Lions scores a goal on our roster

​Happy Place: The Three Lions, 2239 East Colfax Avenue, 303-997-6886. The Hours: Daily from 3 to 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight. The Deals: $2-$5 bottle and draft beer specials; $3 well drinks; $3 wines by the glass; $3-$4.50 small plates. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out.

Wyman's pepperoni rolls, good vibe and great crowds make it a happy hour hit

Happy Place: Wyman's No. 5, 2033 East Thirteenth Avenue, 303-996-0842. The Hours: Daily from 3 to 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. to midnight. The Deals: Half-priced well drinks, wines by the glass, and draft beers; half-priced select appetizers. Were we happy? Flip the page to find out.

Tennyson's Tap ramps up its live-music offerings

B.U.F.F. Brothers opening Boone's Tavern in former Smugs spot

​B.U.F.F. Brothers sold four of its bars -- College Inn, Gibby's, Dirk's and Pifler's -- to the Little Pub Company last year, keeping only FuNuGyz in Parker. But B.U.F.F. is already rebuilding its bar empire. The group opened the University of Colorado-themed Ralphie's (not to be confused wit ... More >>

The New Climax Lounge celebrates forty years on September 9

Three Lions now serving beer -- and soccer fans

​Jon Forget, the general manager of the British Bulldog, and Mark Berzins, owner of the Little Pub Company, which comprises nineteen joints in and around Denver, including the Bulldog, just opened Three Lions in the former Bank Bar & Grill at 2239 East Colfax Avenue. Three Lions is billing itsel ... More >>

Pints Pub's Scott Diamond on why his single-malt whisky collection is the largest in the world

David DonovanThe massive whisky collection at Pints Pub.​Along with Rackhouse Pub, this week I paid a visit to Pints Pub, the quirky British brewpub that claims to stock the largest collection of single malt whisky outside of Great Britain. I had my doubts -- a number of restaurants make the s ... More >>

The Three Lions, a "world football club" and pub is taking over the vacated Bank Bar & Grill

Lori Midson​If the Bank Bar & Grill has been your neighborhood watering hole for the past several years, grab a beer and weep, because it's gone. In fact, save for the distressed red brick walls, which have anchored the two-tiered space for decades, little remains of the former sports bar tha ... More >>

Hush could reopen in Cherry Creek -- but first it needs to survive today's liquor-license hearing

Sign of the times: Liquor-license hearing notice for 250 Steele Street.​Restaurants have a tough time making a go of basement space, and the 250 Steele Street address has been a particularly black hole. Although Bistro Adde Brewster had a long run there, the spot has since swallowed up French ... More >>

Noonan's is now open at the Golf Club at Heather Ridge

Noonan's Tavern set to open next week at Heather Ridge

​Last year the B.U.F.F. Brothers Group sold four of their bars -- the College Inn, Dirk's, Gibby's and Pifler's -- to the Little Pub Company. B.U.F.F. Brothers co-owner Rob Lanphier says the sale basically came down to money: The Little Pub Company, which now owns nineteen saloons in the area, ... More >>

Hush will put a nightclub in the former Tambien space in Cherry Creek

Lori Midson​Michael Olsen, who ran the original Hush on Larimer Street, wants to put a new Hush in the subterranean space at 250 Steele Street that Tambien surrendered in September. But Olsen isn't going in alone: He has the support of the Little Pub Company, which owns nineteen joints in the ... More >>

3014 is a bar that doesn't need a DJ -- it has a jukebox

LoHi SteakBar is a great neighborhood joint

Chef Dylan Moore on fish sauce, the Taco Nazis and effing up snapper Veracruz

Lori Midson Dylan Moore, executive chef of Deluxe, Delite, Deluxe Burger and food slinger of the Little Orange Rocket​ Dylan Moore Deluxe 30 South Broadway 303-722-1550 Delite 32 South Broadway 303-722-1278 Deluxe Burger 5325 East Colfax Avenue 303-333-5683 This is part one of Lori Midson's ... More >>

Little Pub Company buys College Inn and three other watering holes, bringing their total local bar tally to nineteen

​It's hard to find a Denver neighborhood without a neighborhood bar, and it's almost as hard to find a neighborhood without a bar owned by the Little Pub Company. Through March, the company owned fifteen establishments, including stalwarts like Don's Club Tavern, the Irish Hound, The Spot, Wy ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Tortilla soup from the Pioneer

Lori Midson ​As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up, in no particular order, a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to cafe@westword.com.

The more things change, the more they stay the same at Don's

James Mazzio has a new ooh la la chef gig at Le Chateau

​"I've just become the chef of Le Chateau," writes James Mazzio, one-time Food & Wine magazine Best New Chef winner and until recently the exec at the Icehouse Tavern, 1801 Wynkoop Street. But that stint ended early this month when the "high-powered" Mazzio was turned loose by powers higher th ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Sean Kelly of LoHi SteakBar

Lori MidsonLoHi SteakBar executive chef Sean Kelly​"Nothing that goes on my menus gets there by accident," insists Sean Kelly, executive chef of LoHi SteakBar, the packed-to-the-rafters restaurant and watering hole that opened in June in Highland. "I have a tendency to make sure that everythin ... More >>

The British Bulldog is a team player

Update: Mark Berzins talks about Icehouse Tavern

​ If you read yesterday's post about chef James Mazzio's exit from Icehouse Tavern and the uh...unusual changes taking place there, you already have the background for this story. But for those of you who might've missed it (and are too lazy to click on the link above), here are the basics. ... More >>

Mazzio exits from Icehouse Tavern

Lori Midson​James Mazzio poured his heart and soul -- and a lot of elbow grease -- into Icehouse Tavern, the comfort food restaurant at 1801 Wynkoop Street that took the place of Via and opened in July, after Mazzio had done much of the renovation work himself. "I redid the deck, I'm redoing ... More >>

The Irish Hound is an old dog that doesn't need new tricks

Sean Kelly finds a home at the LoHi SteakBar

Doghouse Tavern opens in Bear Valley

​The Little Pub Company just got bigger, with the opening of the Doghouse Tavern in the Bear Valley Shopping Center (in the space at the intersection of West Hampden Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard that was formerly Bear Valley Inn). "My brother lives in the Sheridan neighborhood and has been af ... More >>

Jason Sheehan is ready to face his critics

Senor Rita's is no mas

Senor Rita's, the "Cantina and Mexican Grill' at  5007 East Colfax, is on permanent siesta.  The restaurant was closed last Sunday by the Little Pub Company because it failed to meet expectations, according to the only person I could reach at company headquarters. And that's uncommon for a ... More >>

What's in a name? Steak and bar, but not steak hut

Lori Midson Until yesterday, I hadn't spoken to Sean Kelly in a long time -- not since he shuttered Somethin' Else (now Fruition) in 2006. Not since he hooked up with the Little Pub Company, whose fourteen pubs, bars, taverns, saloons and (sort-of) restaurants are strewn all over the city. And not ... More >>

Is a chicken wing without chicken even a wing?

Back in business: Sean Kelly

Rumors were rampant that the recently vacated North Star Brewery space at 3200 Tejon Street had already been snapped up by Joe Vostrejs, Jeff Hermanson and Rod Wagner -- the Larimer Square gang, in part, and the crew most recently behind the resurrection of Billy's Inn, at 4403 Lowell Boulevard. So ... More >>

Jonesy's EatBar gets a new (old) chef

Just got word from Leigh Jones that Jonesy's EatBar, her "gastropub" at 400 East 20th Avenue, has lost chef Mike "Waldo" Walden due to undisclosed circumstances (meaning something unsavory, no doubt). But she didn't have to look far for a replacement: She's hired back one of her old ... More >>

Bottoms — or heads — up at the Retro Room

The Cooler is very cool

Yesterday we took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to visit The Cooler, a bar/restaurant at 2045 Sheridan in Edgewater that not only has a great outdoor patio with a view of Sloan's Lake, but an unbeatable gimmick: Every beer -- and there are lots of them available -- comes in a can. And ... More >>

Little Pub Co. just got bigger, biting off the British Bulldog

Il Posto was worth the wait

A Glass Act

Let's drink to sixty years of drinking at Don's.

On Call

Sean Kelly, phone home.