After more than a dozen dry years since America's failed experiment with teetotaling began on January 16, 1920 (and Colorado went temperate two years before that), Coloradans were ready to drink up. And although in 2018 the same legislature essentially put an end to 3.2 beer by allowing full-strength brews to be sold in grocery stores, there are still plenty of reasons to celebrate the end of Prohibition. And plenty of historic places to do it, though we've lost of couple of favorites recently.
The Cruise Room, which was modeled after the lounge of the Queen Mary, was ready to set sail in the historic Oxford Hotel, which opened a block from Union Station at 1600 17th Street in 1891, on the day that Prohibition ended. Tucked inside the circa 1891 hotel, it's still an Art Deco classic, and one of the 100 bars we can't live without in 2023.
The Brown Palace, at 321 17th Street, was constructed a year after the Oxford, and it was a year behind in opening its cocktail lounge: The Ship Tavern launched on August 24, 1934. Initially, this space in the corner of the circa 1982 building held shops, then a gentlemen’s club. After Prohibition ended, though, the Boettcher family, which owned the hotel at the time, decided to turn it into a nautical bar, complete with model ships and a crow’s nest. While it hasn't been smooth sailing at the Brown lately, a stool at the Ship Tavern is still a good place to toast history.
An intrepid employee climbs the crow's nest in the new Ship Tavern.
Courtesy of the Brown Palace
My Brother's Bar, Denver's oldest watering hole.
Evan Semón
By then, the Rock Rest, at 16005 Old Golden Road, was already catering to another kind of sporting man. According to local legend, the front of the Rock Rest was built around 1885 as a trading post and stagecoach stop. As nearby Camp George West expanded, the Rock Rest did, too, adding a lodge, ballroom and “private” brothel areas around 1907. It went through a series of owners as it operated as a speakeasy through Prohibition, then returned to a certain respectability during the Depression. It's stayed in business ever since.
Monaghan's Bar and Grill, at 3889 South King Street in Sheridan, opened back in 1892 near the old Fort Logan military base, serving military folks and civilians alike. Although Fort Logan closed after World War II, the bar has stood the test of time (and Prohibition) and retains relics of its storied past; its current liquor license dates to the day Prohibition ended.
The Columbine Cafe was established at 15630 South Golden Road in the 1920s as a cafe, but the Artemis family has been serving liquor there since the repeal of Prohibition. It's also the only bar in the area with a full ski-tune shop in the back. While there's no big Prohibition party planned, December 6 there is White Trash Christmas, Charlie Brown!
We've had to say goodbye recently to two Prohibition-era favorites: El Chapultepec, the legendary club at 1962 Market Street, got a jump on spots like the Cruise Room when Tony Romano started pouring that 3.2 beer in the summer of 1933. Romano’s son-in-law, Jerry Krantz, inherited El Chapultepec in the 1970s, adding jazz to its menu; it shuttered in December 2020. The building was purchased by Monfort Companies, which is incorporating part of the space in a new project.
On South University Boulevard — a dirt road during Prohibition — Bonnie Brae Tavern opened on June 6, 1934. It was one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants in Denver — certainly the oldest run by the same family — until it shuttered in June 2022. The building will be torn down, and the property is set to become an apartment complex.
Prohibition Day is a perfect time to head to one of the classic spots that remain and raise a glass to Repeal Day. Just don't try to order a 3.2 beer; that's gone the way of bathtub gin.
