Bar Bar is gone gone

The glowing red “Bar Bar” sign that hung over the Carioca Cafe at 2060 Champa St. has been extinguished for good. Over the weekend, the century-old building that housed one of Denver’s most-beloved, notorious, and diviest of dive bars was reduced to a pile of rubble.

It was not an unexpected move. News of the impending demolition first surfaced last year. In February, the city approved the property owner’s request to demolish the building. Last month, a demolition company submitted details for how it planned to execute the demolition. 

The building had been through a lot over the years: a city crackdown on its liquor license, a burst pipe, a previous (and inaccurate) report that it had closed permanently, the pandemic. But the fire that tore through the aging building in June of 2024 closed it down for good; its fate sealed further when, last year, nearly the entire west-facing wall collapsed. 

There was some brief hope of restoring the landmark. A GoFundMe campaign to restore the bar is still active, but it’s safe to say that the effort has come to a close. There’s no word yet on what will replace the site.

Bar Bar’s demolition is yet another exit of a true dive bar from the Denver drinking scene. Last year saw the departure of the Pub on Pearl, which is now occupied by Dry Dock Brewery. This March marked the passing of the Dark Horse, a popular longtime bar in Boulder.

Establishments like these don’t just get replaced. You can’t open a “new” dive bar. That’s a status developed and earned over time. While plenty of bars aim to replicate the dive bar aesthetic, a bar doesn’t achieve dive status by intention. It’s not something you can create. Putting the word “dive” in the bar’s name doesn’t make it a dive bar. 

Dive bars are simple, unpretentious and uncaring about trends or Instagrammable moments. At their best, they are the punk rock of watering holes, happy with who they are without thought or care about the image they project. Of course, Bar Bar kind of took all this to the other extreme. It’s notorious bathrooms, quick-to-fight clientele and, ahem, “patina” of age (aka grime) made it maybe too much of a bad thing.

But that’s what set it apart, and, ultimately, sealed its fate. 

Looking at the site now really drives the news home. Before the demolition, even boarded up and fenced off, the graffiti-covered walls managed to serve as a visual reminder of the memories many readers still have. With the building now gone, those memories have no beacon to collect them. They’ll only exist in our heads. 

Looking for a good dive bar to pour one out for the now-gone-forever Bar Bar? Take a look at our Best Dive Bars in Denver list for one near you.