Everyone knows about the Squire Lounge. It’s been a perennial dive bar fixture on the Corner of Colfax and Williams for much of Denver’s recent history. But in case you’re new here, I am going to break it down for you so you can seem like a native. That’s a…
The Vesper Lounge in Capitol Hill is about to celebrate five years in business, but the location has been a bar since at least the 1960s. Owned by local restaurant mogul Frank Bonanno, today’s Vesper Lounge is a pleasant, cozy spot that has been nicely redone while still paying tribute…
In the heart of Capitol Hill, Charlie Brown’s Bar and Grill has been serving booze since the Prohibition era. Notable Denver characters, new and old, have made the bar their own over the years. The history of this classic bar starts with Judge Earnest Colburn, a mine owner who made…
The old 404 Club on Broadway in Denver’s Baker neighborhood is being reinvented yet again, this time as Rory’s Tavern, an Irish bar. The owners of the last iteration of the bar, Brendan’s Pub, have gutted and redone half of the bar, which they opened on New Years’ Eve. The…
Five years might not seem like a long time, but it’s definitely a milestone for any new business in this town, where the food and drink scene competition gets fiercer every day. The Dive Inn has enjoyed staying power over the past half-decade as a neighborhood fixture catering to the…
If you don’t pay attention, you might miss the Bannock Street Garage, or just think it’s an actual garage. The building was a car repair shop for years prior to becoming a bar, and the large garage doors and smallish sign could easily fool a person as to what goes…
Last weekend, I went from doing perhaps the most hipster thing to the least hipster thing a person could do metro Denver in one night. The most hipster thing was attending opening night of Divisions, the collaboration between Denver hip-hop act the Flobots and local ballet company Wonderbound. Wonderbound is…
On another venture into the suburbs of metro Denver, I checked out Sideways Sports Lounge in Arvada with a friend who lives pretty close to the bar, which is at 9134 West 88th Avenue in a nondescript strip mall next to a liquor store and “Dog Spa” (so next time my dog needs…
Before LoDo-sized crowds came to RiNo, Sudhir Kudva stumbled upon an interesting opportunity to open a bar in the now-booming neighborhood. At the time, the 2600 block of Larimer Street and most of the surrounding area was home only to warehouses, liquor stores and a few outposts of nightlife at…
The Capitol Hill Tavern is definitely a neighborhood bar in the sense that it is almost hidden in a residential part of Capitol Hill, on a quiet block of Logan Street between 12th and 13th Avenues. Despite being in the heart of one of Denver’s most popular, classic neighborhoods, it’s…
I’ve spent a fair bit of time at the Horseshoe Lounge. My old roommate is a regular who invites me there for a drink frequently, and I’ve been there on dates. I also once found myself there for a Meetup group that my friend was a part of — I…
I have to confess, St. Patrick’s Day snuck up on me this year. I figured the main festivities for one of America’s favorite drinking holidays associated with another country would be happening over the weekend. After all, this year, St. Patrick’s Day itself falls on a Friday, but I thought…
As I have previously mentioned, I will eventually run out of bars to profile if I don’t get out to the ‘burbs every so often. A friend of mine who lives in Westminster invited me to one of her local spots, the Bar & Grill, at 9975 Wadsworth Parkway in…
When I was in school at the University of Denver, Hanson’s Tavern & Grill was one of the main spots around for patio drinking and eating appetizers, playing pool, or going to graduation parties. I’ve always found it to be more comfortable, at least to me, than other establishments on…
Ah, Streets of London. One of the places to go to get into trouble in Cap Hill back when I actually lived in Cap Hill, like hundreds of other twenty-somethings in the early 2000s, before the area’s rental market largely priced out anyone under thirty without a trust fund. Back…
I’ve always noticed the Dirty Duck Bar’s large sign displaying a cheerful, drunken duck on my way down Evans Avenue towards the I-25 on-ramps. Each time I drive by, I tell myself that I need to check the place out. I finally ventured in on a recent Sunday with a…
When I started writing about neighborhood bars, I knew I would eventually venture outside Denver city limits in my quest for great watering holes. Admittedly, I can be a little lazy when it comes to driving outside of Denver proper. But clearly I will run out of bars at some…
Let’s be honest; there aren’t that many dive bars in Denver any more, let alone in West Washington Park, one of Denver’s more expensive neighborhoods. Some would assert that the Candlelight Tavern is a dive bar, while some would debate the definition of a dive bar for hours without coming…
Although it’s a little newer to the scene than some, the Federal Bar and Grill has garnered a local following in the Jefferson Park and adjacent Highland neighborhood over the past four years. After taking over the space that the Micky Manor bar occupied for 79 years, Christopher and Nikki…
The West Highland Neighborhood has changed immensely over the years, but Mead Street Station has been a fixture for locals since 1994. I have always appreciated the bar for remaining casual and friendly in the sometimes hoity-toity strip of West 32nd Avenue near Lowell Boulevard that seems to sprout new…
Despite working in the surrounding neighborhood for years, I had never made it to Phil’s Place. My coworker and I recently decided to stop in for a drink on a Friday after an event over at our office, which is just blocks from the unassuming little bar that sits on the…
When I go to the Hornet, it usually involves one of two things: Either I am there on a Tinder date, or I run into one of my friends who lives in the neighborhood. Or actually, three things, if I include summertime visits for a show during the concert festival…
