What most bar-hoppers refer to as “South Broadway” actually straddles the line – Ellsworth Avenue – marking the beginning of official “South” street addresses in Denver. So some SoBo favorites – the Hornet, Punch Bowl Social, Historians Ale House – aren’t even in SoBo proper. As you head farther down Broadway, past Alameda Avenue, past I-25, you’ll notice one or two enclaves of destination-worthy restaurants, but beyond Evans Avenue, there’s not much going on. The Post Chicken & Beer is about to change that when it opens at 2200 South Broadway on Wednesday, January 18.
The new fried-chicken outpost from the Big Red F restaurant group makes a trio for chef/restaurateur Dave Query. The first, the Post Brewing Co., opened in 2014 in Lafayette, followed by Goodbird Chicken in Longmont in 2015, which changed its name to the Post Chicken & Beer last fall. The newest in the group follows the same path as the first two, with plenty of fried and roasted chicken, chicken sandwiches, chicken appetizers — and a handful of non-chicken items and daily specials.
The "beer" part of the name comes from the variety of draft and canned beers made at the Lafayette brewery, from such light porch-pounders as Top Rope Mexican Lager and Howdy All-American Pilsner to stronger stuff like a new double IPA that rings in at 8.8 percent ABV.
Query's group has reconfigured a restaurant space that was most recently 4 G's Mexican Restaurant (and a string of other neighborhood joints, as well as a Mr. Steak, before that), turning the long, narrow bar and dining room into a spot that's a little more bright and lively. A few extra feet of bar have been added, and the tables and booths now take better advantage of the big row of windows facing Broadway.
But don't call it South Broadway, say Dave and Dana Query: Call it Rosedale, a neighborhood designation that's been around for decades but hasn't been used much until recently — mainly because there was no need to. But new bars and restaurants moving in — from the Overland just up the block to Taste of Thailand nearly next door to the Post to a new breakfast eatery coming soon — are putting Rosedale on the map.
The Post will initially be open for dinner seven nights a week, but will add Friday lunches beginning on January 27 and weekend brunch beginning on January 28. A couple of new brunch items, like stuffed French toast and a Hippy-ster Bowl, will be unique to this location. Other new offerings on the dinner menu include chicken-liver pâté with chile-cherry chutney, a fried chicken-liver sandwich, and an oven-roasted mushroom salad topped with a vinaigrette made from the oil the mushrooms bathed in while they cooked.
Keep reading for more photos of the newest chicken joint in Rosedale.