First Look: Bitter Bar reopens today with James Lee as owner

A half-dozen years ago, there was a race to see which restaurateur would open the first hip noodle bar in the area. Frank Bonanno won when he opened Bones at the very end of 2008; soon after, Dave Query's Big Red F group debuted Happy Noodle Houseat 835 Walnut Street...

By Westword Staff

May 2, 2014

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A half-dozen years ago, there was a race to see which restaurateur would open the first hip noodle bar in the area. Frank Bonanno won when he opened Bones at the very end of 2008; soon after, Dave Query's Big Red F group debuted Happy Noodle Houseat 835 Walnut Street in Boulder, and XO took over an addition built on the back of the Jet Hotel. While Bones is still going strong, XO is long-gone (as is its replacement, a Swing Thai outpost), and Big Red F dropped Happy in favor of Bitter Bar, a hip concept that had developed within the space. Now Big Red F is out of the location entirely, though, and master mixologist James Lee is back as the owner of Bitter Bar.

He closed the place a week ago for a quick renovation; it reopens today. Brandon Marshall stopped by yesterday and shot this sweet look at a new start for Bitter Bar.

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