Roll out the red carpet! There’s a hip new place to drink in Denver! Forest Room 5, which opened six days before Christmas, is housed in an old Denver firehouse (#5) on what used to be Forest Street — and is now the main drag between Highland and LoDo. The…
As many of Denver’s seedier neighborhoods undergo gentrification and John’s TV floods our public airwaves, finding a hooker in thigh-high boots walking Colfax just isn’t as easy as it used to be. But the Lounge, a swank, newish joint on the corner of Colfax and Marion Street, stays true to…
Everyone knows you can’t ring in the new year without popping the tops off several magnums of champagne. But if you prefer your bubbly mixed with a little hard stuff, Rhino serves up champagne cocktails that should add buzz to your big night. La Playa ($9), made with Bacardi O,…
The weather outside may be frightful, but inside the Ship Tavern, the corner bar of the Brown Palace, things are always warm and cozy. And a glass of Williams’ Eggless Egg Nog ($6) can be a downright delightful nightcap after an evening of downtown winter festivities. To make this traditional…
Long Island Iced Tea is infamous for its tendency to make drinkers pray to the porcelain god, and the Bank’s version ($5) should only cement that reputation. By substituting Blue Curacao for Coke and then mixing it with the standard rum, gin, vodka, tequila, Triple Sec and sour mix, the…
Sometimes the best way to pass the day is by drinking — and when the sun is shining, nothing goes down smoother than a good, old-fashioned screwdriver. Hanson’s Grill and Tavern, on the corner of Pearl and Louisiana in West Washington Park, is a comfy neighborhood bar, just the sort…
Ahhh, Thanksgiving: the official start to the glorious holiday season, when friends and family are certain to drive you crazy — or at least drive you to drink. And there’s no better place to do that than Charlie Brown’s Bar and Grill, a wonderfully dilapidated Denver drinking institution and a…
When you’re searching for a delicious martini downtown, all you have to do is look up. A bright-blue neon martini glass — complete with a green neon olive and red neon swizzle stick — glows like a beacon on the facade of Marlowe’s, a longtime favorite of tourists, business types…
A century ago, the neighborhood we all know and love as LoDo was teeming with fancy saloons, gambling halls, opium dens, rough cowboys and sinful prostitutes — also known as “brides of the multitudes” or “soiled doves.” Capitalizing on this history of debauchery, the Soiled Dove is still dark and…
It might be chilly outside, but the scene inside Mynt Lounge, a chic new LoDo club, is hotter than Miami Beach in July. Mynt features extensive mojito and martini lineups. Among the martinis is the Strawberry Banana Martini ($7), made with Stoli Strasberi Vodka and crème de banana. Served shaken,…
Legend has it that sake, the Japanese wine made from fermented rice, was originally called kuchikami no sake, which means “chewing in the mouth sake.” An entire village would gather to chew up nuts, rice and other tasty grains and then spit the result into a tub, where the enzymes…
Cool, dark and smoothly sexy — that description applies to both Sambuca Jazz Cafe and its Chocolate Mint Martini. Made with Fris Vodka, DeKuyper Peppermint Schnapps and Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur and garnished with a cherry, this black martini ($8) is served straight-up with a thin layer of ice on…
No bar in Denver celebrates the good life like the elegant art-deco Cruise Room, located off the lobby of the 111-year-old Oxford Hotel. Opened with much celebration on the day that Prohibition was repealed, this long, narrow lounge is still unmatched for its glowing atmosphere, polished service, comfy leather booths…
Start saving your pesos: A night at Tamayo, Larimer Square’s upscale, modern Mexican cantina, could wind up costing you a pretty penny. Or leave work early, because hora feliz, Tamayo’s version of happy hour, is one of the town’s best bargains. From 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, Tamayo…
With ceiling fans spinning lazily over the old wooden bar, sexy bartenders, and Gloria Gaynor blasting from the speakers, JR.’s is the perfect place to spend a naughty night. This is definitely one of Denver’s most happening gay bars, and the Blow Job shot ($5) is one reason why. Made…
The Cosmopolitan, a cocktail made famous by the sassy, serially unattached women on HBO’s Sex and the City, is the ultimate single woman’s drink — and there’s no better place to down one than the Cool River Cafe, suburban Denver’s ultimate pickup joint. At any given happy hour on any…
While the players prepare to hit the ice for the 2002-’03 Colorado Avalanche season, Brauns Bar and Grill offers Le Puck, a martini created especially for Avs fans. If you love licorice, this dark cocktail ($7) made with Pearl Vodka and Romana Black Sambuca and garnished with two red licorice…
That crazy Aussie Steve Irwin may make his living pouncing on snakes and alligators in the untamed wild, but all you have to do to snag such a beast is order a Dirty Alligator at the Cherry Cricket. The Dirty Alligator is one of the Cricket’s specialty shots, served in…
As Michelangelo discovered in the Sistine Chapel, creating an Italian masterpiece takes time. Mixing a great cocktail does, too — but the Limon Cello at Campo de Fiori is more than worth the wait. Poured from a glass decanter into a frozen shot glass, the Limon Cello mixes a simple…
Ready for some monkey business? Follow the brightly painted arrows on Colfax past Kitty’s and right into Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey, Denver’s newest jazz venue. This no-frills dark den fills up nightly with the town’s hipper cats, who lounge on comfortable couches and listen to live jazz; Colfax regulars, who make…
Rocky Balboa’s glass full of raw eggs won’t prepare you for the Knockout, the signature martini at Sullivan’s, a swank LoDo steakhouse named for legendary pugilist John L. Sullivan, the “Boston Strong Boy.” This killer cocktail is made with fresh Hawaiian pineapple slices that have been marinated for seven to…
“Wasted away again in Margaritaville…” You can practically picture Jimmy Buffett, who made it fashionable to fritter away sunny days, spending an idle August afternoon in Lakewood, belly-up to Gordo’s bar, while Sixth Avenue traffic speeds past in the distance. Gordo’s, which roughly translates as “Fatso’s” in Spanish, was founded…
