Denver Central Market eyes late-night crowd with Bar 77 

Last month, we reported on a number of notable exits of vendors that have called Denver Central Market home, among them the Curio bar, which had been there since the food hall and market opened 10 years ago. 

Today, that bar is called Bar 77 and is owned by Denver Central Market owner Ken Wolf, who calls it the linchpin of his effort to extend the appeal of the RiNo breakfast and lunch hotspot into the nighttime hours.  

“I want to activate the market for later evenings,” he explains. “The bar is the epicenter of the market (and) I want it to work more coherently with the rest of the food vendors.”

That’s no shade on previous owners Katsumi Yuso Ruiz and Stephen Julia, who had planned to leave after their lease was up in order to move to Spain later this year. Instead, Wolf says, it’s just the latest in his effort to curate the space into a destination designed for the next 10 years. 

All the remaining vendors in Denver Central Market have signed 10-year lease extensions, he says. The only outstanding outlier at this time is for whoever takes over the former Butchers at RiNo stall, which at this time remains empty. 

The space formerly occupied by High Point Creamery was taken over by the neighboring Izzio Bakery stall, and is preparing a concept called “Tiny Rino Treat House.” Representatives from Izzio did not respond to requests for more information. The only public movement so far has been the branded facade built around the DCM space, and an Instagram account with no posts and a “coming soon” note in its description. 

As for Bar 77, the venture is a partnership between Wolf and Celina Tio, a James Beard Award-winning chef from Kansas City. Tio and Wolf are partners in The Belfry restaurant and bar back in Kansas, along with the Gerard’s Pool Hall, which has locations in both Kansas City and Denver. Tio, who won the Best Chef: Midwest James Beard Award in 2007 and competed on “Top Chef Masters” in 2011, also owns her own line of spirits called ANNX.

Name aside, the biggest immediate change that Bar 77 brings to Denver Central Market are big-screen TVs for airing sporting events, currently focused nearly exclusively on the World Cup soccer tournament. But according to Wolf, that’s just the start. 

He says he’d like to extend the bar hours and activities to include things like live music, karaoke, and more, all designed to attract customers past the happy hour timeframe not just to the bar, but ultimately the food stalls that surround it. And that, Wolf says, is the start of the more coherent experience he’s striving for, which extends to retaining most of the Curio bar staff at Bar 77 as well. 

“I have a great relationship with all my vendors,” he says, several of which he also has an ownership stake in, including Tammen’s Fish Market, Vero Italian, Temper Chocolates and Confections, and Lunchboxx.

Bar 77 is located inside the Denver Central Market at 2669 Larimer St. and is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit denvercentralmarket.com.