Best Holdout on 13th Avenue 2017 | Wax Trax Records | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Holdout on 13th Avenue

Wax Trax Records

Thirteenth Avenue — once a beacon for weirdos and a magnet for suburban teens aching to rub elbows with bona fide punks — has lost many of its eccentric tenants over the years, but Wax Trax remains. The record shop doesn't need to try hard to be cool: It embodies cool, with racks and rows of hand-picked albums, brand-new releases and collector's items expertly organized and resting comfortably in well-kept but ephemera-strewn rooms. Like any good music-selling institution, Wax Trax is staffed with knowledgeable, fairly approachable clerks, most of whom are in bands or were in bands (maybe even as an original member of your favorite band). Growth be damned: Wax Trax is a tried-and-true neighborhood record store that stays true to cool, despite the modernization all around it.

Best Old-School/New School Barber Shop

Steel & Lather Barber Co.

Steel & Lather Facebook

A welcoming atmosphere is perhaps the most understated yet crucial characteristic of a good barber shop, and Steel & Lather Barber Co. has achieved the perfect mix of comfort and coolness. The LoDo location definitely has a business-casual vibe, while the Capitol Hill space is a little more neighborly, but both treat customers like old friends. Patrons are treated to a cold brew while they wait, and the conversation is constantly flowing as Steel & Lather's classically trained barbers mix modern styles with time-honored looks. Owned and operated by brothers Moses and Michael Lucero and their good friend Sean Martinez — all born-and-raised Denverites and proud graduates of Emily Griffith's barber program — Steel & Lather stays on the cutting edge of style without being pretentious, maintaining a true local barber shop vibe. Still, this ain't your grandpa's barber shop: While walk-ins are welcome, appointments must be booked online.

Best Name for a Marijuana Dispensary

The Joint

When new owners took over an early dispensary in northwest Denver last year, it changed the name to something short and simple, something that perfectly captures the mission of the quaint storefront. The Joint isn't the kind you smoke — but it certainly sells plenty of these. The Joint was voted the number-one dispensary in Denver by Leafly in 2016; it has a friendly staff and a killer selection of bud. Be sure to try Voodoo, the signature strain, and ask a budtender for a look at the kaviar. Don't pass this Joint!

Readers' Choice: Fresh Baked

Best Concentrates Company

Olio

Olio was the brainchild of concentrates guru Wade Sanders, one of the founders of 710 Labs, who split off from the 710 brand last year and decided to create a new company. Based in Colorado and selling only small batches of its insanely high-quality concentrates — live resin, sauce or distillate — to select dispensaries, Olio has quickly gained momentum. The Olio team is dedicated to perfecting terpene flavor and achieving high THC percentages; try the products for yourself at Silver Stem, Colorado Next Buds, Good Chemistry and THC Boulder.

dabolio.com

Readers' Choice: NectarBee

Best Selection of Concentrates in a Dispensary

Frosted Leaf

Scott Lentz

Frosted Leaf has three locations in Denver, and all of them boast a huge selection of concentrates, with selections from Mahatma, O.pen and O.pen Craft Reserve, Rosin by Verde Natural, Rockin' Extracts Sugar Wax, Quest Concentrates, Pax Era pods from the Lab, Mary's Medicinals bootlegger CBD distillate, Harmony concentrates, GH Labs, Evolabs, moonrocks, kaviar, Craft Concentrates, Concentrate Supply Company and Chronic Creations. It's the largest selection in the city, and while Frosted Leaf might not have the cheapest prices, most things are well worth the cost. Besides, the stores will always have some kind of deal on three grams in addition to the most impressive wax lineup you may ever see.

frostedleaf.com

Readers' Choice: The Green Solution

Best Deals on Bud at a Dispensary

Colorado Harvest Company

Scott Lentz

Read it and reap: We haven't found better deals on flower in the Mile High City than the ones at Colorado Harvest Company. For the past year and a half, this dispensary has made a practice of picking a special strain out of a selection of up to twenty, then selling that strain for only $120 an ounce. And recently, Colorado Harvest made a good deal even better by dropping the price of these special strains to $109 an ounce. That's the same price that some places would charge for a quarter of an ounce, and it's an incredible bargain considering the quality of the bud, which is every bit as impressive as many of those on the top shelf.

Readers' Choice: The Green Solution

Best Deals on Concentrates in a Dispensary

Doctor's Orders

At its spot in northwest Denver, Doctor's Orders stocks an entire fridge full of products from such heavy-hitting companies as Craft, Chronic Creations, Viola, Cannabis Maximus and more, which typically provide Doctor's Orders with several different types of concentrates, including wax, shatter, live resin and even distillate. The staff is friendly and knowledgable, and all concentrates are $10 off if you get to the shop between 8 and 10 a.m. At Doctor's Orders, the early bird gets the dabs!

Best Cannabis Selection in a Dispensary

Oasis Cannabis Superstore

Oasis Cannabis Facebook

If it weren't for the word "cannabis" in the title, you might think Oasis Superstore was some giant wholesale pool-supply store from both the name and the size of the locations. But while the products and smells are very different from styrofoam noodles and chlorine, this two-shop homegrown dispensary group has taken the big-box concept to a whole new big-bud level. The indecisive may have a hard time choosing just one strain from the 200-plus available; Oasis definitely has a bud for every occasion. And with stickers designating which of Oasis's dozen wholesale growers provided the flower you're smoking, you can start watching for your favorites at other dispensaries that sell wholesale strains. Trust us: There are a lot more out there than you think.

Readers' Choice: The Green Solution

Best Late-Night Dispensary

Kind Love

Matt LaBrier

Your choices are somewhat limited in metro Denver after 7 p.m., the current closing time for all dispensaries in the Mile High City. But at least some suburbs have taken advantage of Denver's constraints. Aurora, Edgewater, Glendale and Mountain View are all within a few minutes' drive of Denver and allow their dispensaries to stay open until late in the evening. Still, you'll pay the price for their extended hours — so be sure to go to a place where you'll get your money's worth. Open until midnight in Glendale, Kind Love provides the late-night convenience of Carl's Jr. with a strain lineup that's much more Ruth's Chris. Its powerhouse menu of Alien Rock Candy, Durban Poison, Ecto Cooler, Cookies and Cream, Sherbert, Tiger's Milk and more are sure to impress any weed snob before dirt-napping them, and its clones provide home-growers with some of the best genetics in town.

Readers' Choice: The Green Solution

Best Dispensary to Take Your Grandmother To

Good Chemistry

Support for legal marijuana is growing among this country's senior citizens, and chances are good your grandmother won't be put off by weed — just by some of the seedier parts of town where dispensaries are located. But Good Chemistry, a welcoming and non-intimidating place, should put Grandma at ease. At both of its locations, including the classy Aurora space, the staff doesn't simply throw "Indica" and "Sativa" on the jars; it breaks down the feeling of each strain into four categories: sleep, relief, stimulation and relaxation. Those are terms even Granny can get behind.

Readers' Choice: The Green Solution

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