I love the Thin Man. It was one of the coolest places around when I moved to Denver in 2005; it was hipster before hipster was a thing. The strings of red lighting, the artfully displayed infused-vodka collection, and the copious amount of religious imagery hanging everywhere combined to suggest…
The Bull & Bush Pub and Brewery, affectionately called “The Bull” by regulars, has definitely attained status as a Denver institution. The English-style pub has been a bar far longer than a brewery, but even the beer-making setup has been turning out suds since 1997, before nearly everyone and their…
Right under my nose, in my own neighborhood, the Mozart Lounge and its old-school neon sign had been hiding, disguised as the Aqua Lounge at 1417 Krameria Street. For the past eight years, and since I have lived in Mayfair in East Denver, the location has been known by the…
I am really into karaoke, which means I am really into Armida’s Restaurant. I honestly don’t know why it’s taken me this long to make my love of the place more publically known. There’s nowhere else in town that has public, crowd-pleasing karaoke every night of the week on this…
I am not a cigar smoker, and neither is my friend who invited me on my first expedition to Devon’s Pub, a modest-looking bar and cigar store in the Happy Canyon shopping center in University Hills. She just likes to smoke clove cigarettes indoors and watch free comedy shows. I…
On a strip of Colorado Boulevard across from the Trader Joe’s, if you look hard enough, you’ll find the Bar Car, an unassuming little local spot in a sea of strip-mall neon signs. Step into the Bar Car reveals a classic neighborhood bar decked out as a fancy railroad car, a relaxing…
Although the ownership has changed a few times since it’s inception as a bar in 1933, Billy’s Inn at 4403 Lowell Boulevard remains a long-standing drinking institution in northwest Denver’s Berkeley neighborhood. It’s been serving the area since the neighborhood was called only North Denver, or the North Side, long before…
I live just south of Stapleton, Denver’s premier planned community, designed perfectly for having babies. Similar to areas like Jefferson Park and Sunnyside, it’s a place where people I know who are committed to starting families, but are also simultaneously committed to short commutes and a somewhat urban feel, look…
As the Baker neighborhood has grown over the years, few things have stayed the same in the area. In fact, Dougherty’s owner Wes Ingram counts 22 new bars and restaurants that have opened in the immediate vicinity of his own establishment (technically on the West Washington Park side of the…
My family is Polish; my grandmother was actually born there. But most of what I know about my ancestors from Poland involves eating pierogies. That’s one of my favorite things about Kinga’s Lounge at East Colfax Avenue and Marion Street: the delicious dumplings filled with cheese, cabbage, meat, and various…
I’m not from Denver, but in the eleven years I’ve lived here, I feel like a local compared to the constant barrage of newcomers who have arrived within the past year or two or five. And I can’t help but remember the Denver I experienced when I first moved here:…
Like many people in our fair city, I have always referred to Don’s Club Tavern as “Don’s Mixed Drinks,” because that’s what it says on the neon sign outside the bar at 723 East Sixth Avenue. Despite the fact that I’d probably been there ten times or more, I only learned…
Since taking over a spacious building on 38th and Walnut Street from Mexican bar Las Potrancas in 2010, Jake’s Sports & Spirits has become a steady fixture in a neighborhood that seems to be in perpetual transition. Jake’s is run by Andrew Feinstein, a fifth-generation Denver native who is a part…
Interstate Kitchen & Bar opened its doors back in 2009, in what was then considered a sketchy spot on Tenth Avenue and Santa Fe Drive in Lincoln Park. At that time, there were quite a few empty storefronts, and the art galleries in the area were not nearly as established…
I’ve spent many a happy hour at Govnr’s Park Restaurant & Tavern — most of them when I first moved to Denver. It was the place to be for any girl in her twenties who wanted to hang out with the bros, meet new bros, watch sports, hang out with other…
The Irish Snug has been a Colfax standby for the past twelve years: a neighborhood bar for the Capitol Hill crowd. I frequented the place six years ago or so because my dramatic neighbor would drag me there to help her “casually run into” her ex, who was a regular…
I’m from the East Coast. From Maryland, to be precise. I realize this may impact my credibility with some Denver natives but I have been living here more than years so at least I think that gives me at least a few Denver points. Being from elsewhere, I do appreciate…
My dog loves going to the bar. As summer draws to a close, it seems like a good idea to let my him go out with his friends a time or two before the cold and the Denver health inspectors limit his options when it comes to nightlife. The recent…
Jefferson Park Pub is a small neighborhood bar in one of the tiniest neighborhoods in Denver. Jefferson Park itself is a roughly 45-square-block residential enclave bordered by Speer to the north and Federal to the west. The Platte River cuts along its eastern border, and the southern border of the…
The Dive Inn is a relatively new spot in Denver as neighborhood bars go, but since opening in 2012, it has become a staple in the Platt Park neighborhood along South Broadway. No matter what you’re into, you can probably find it at the Dive Inn. Most of my familiarity…
In a city searching for authenticity and identity amid the constant barrage of shiny condo buildings springing up out of the skeletons of old hospitals and storefronts, new breweries opening on a seemingly daily basis, and a plethora of hipster restaurants opening in old warehouses, neighborhood bars are comforting reminders…
In a city searching for authenticity and identity amid the constant barrage of shiny condo buildings springing up out of the skeletons of old hospitals and storefronts, new breweries opening on a seemingly daily basis, and a plethora of hipster restaurants opening in old warehouses, neighborhood bars are comforting reminders…
