Rocky Flats Lounge, One of Denver's Best Dive Bars, Closed After Fire

The Rocky Flats Lounge, one of our Ten Best Dive Bars in Metro Denver, has long given a whole new meaning to getting lit — at one point, it was the payroll office for the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, the federal facility just across the highway that started producing plutonium triggers...

By Patricia Calhoun

July 16, 2015

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The Rocky Flats Lounge, one of our Ten Best Dive Bars in Metro Denver, has long given a whole new meaning to getting lit — at one point, it was the payroll office for the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, the federal facility just across the highway that started producing plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs in the early ’50s and operated up until 1989. But the Rocky Flats Lounge has many more weapons in its arsenal: a great, gritty ambience; cheap and powerful drinks; a good bar menu complete with fish fries on Friday night, which attract plenty of Packer fans; and a deck with expansive views of the Foothills...and the future wildlife refuge replacing Rocky Flats. In short, this is just the place to get bombed.

But on Tuesday night, tragedy struck. The longtime owners posted this message yesterday on the Rocky Flats Lounge Facebook page.

To all our Rocky Flats friends...

The bar suffered a fire last night after close that caused significant damage to the kitchen area and north end of the building We are doing everything we can to figure out a plan of action as to moving forward and will be updating you periodically. With a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, we hope to continue bringing you the Rocky Flats experience for years to come. We thank you for all of your support and ask you to pass this info on to any friends, family or acquaintances that may want to follow/like/support us on and off of facebook during this time.

A huge thank you goes out to the Coal Creek Fire Dept and Jeffco Sheriff's Dept for their prompt and professional service when we needed them most...as well as allofyou who help keep the Flats fun and safe. It means a lot to us....

Thank you,
Go Pack Go

With the Rocky Flats Lounge closed, at least temporarily, and other classic dive bars gone for good, we'll be updating our list of the ten best dive bars in town. Have a nomination? Post it in the comments section or send it to [email protected].

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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