Audio By Carbonatix
The Wall Tavern opened at 11th Avenue and Santa Fe Drive in the summer of 2013 after an interior upgrade from the previous tenant, Scwherver’s Bar. But now the Wall signage has been removed and replaced by hand-painted lettering that reads the Monkey Bar.
Establishments with “monkey” in the name come and go: There’s currently the Monkey Barrel on Platte Street, a barrel full of Thai Monkey Club eateries around town, and urban winery Infinite Monkey Theorem. And then there was Dulcinea’s 100th Monkey, which briefly gave way to Pete’s Monkey Bar before becoming the 1Up Colfax, the joint’s current non-monkey moniker. And who could forget Monkey Bean (an early arriver to the Ballpark neighborhood that served coffee and great pie) or 3 Monkeys Cantina, which came and went quickly in the spot where Adelitas Cantina now packs the house.
Just up the street, someone’s been monkeying with the marquee of the former Hoffbrau Bar & Grill. Although signage still reflect’s the building’s history, including a stint as the Santa Fe Tavern & Grill, it looks as if the space could soon become an Italian restaurant. While the building, which housed a hardware shop and a grocery store before it became the Hoffbrau in the ’80s, shows promise as a historic fixture in the neighborhood, it may take a significant investment to return it to its glory days.
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