Last Call for Goodfriends

When Goodfriends closes at the end of service on Saturday, May 17 (or, more likely, early on the morning of May 18), it will close for good. With it will go a lot of memories -- since the restaurant/watering hole at 3100 East Colfax Avenue has been open almost thirty...

By Patricia Calhoun

May 16, 2008

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When Goodfriends closes at the end of service on Saturday, May 17 (or, more likely, early on the morning of May 18), it will close for good.

With it will go a lot of memories -- since the restaurant/watering hole at 3100 East Colfax Avenue has been open almost thirty years, and is the last survivor of Denver's once-thriving fern bar scene. So stop in -- soon -- and raise a glass (I recommend one of the margaritas) to Goodfriends. And while you're there, you can also toast the restaurant that will be moving into the space: the equally venerable Annie's Café, which will leave its longtime home on East Eighth Avenue next month, getting more space, the contents and a full liquor license in the bargain.

And Goodfriends's menu and margaritas will live on, too, since siblings Racines and Dixons offer much the same lineup. (Owners Lee Goodfriend and David Racine will be on hand for last call at Goodfriends, their first venture.)

As for the ferns, they went with the furniture. -- -- Patricia Calhoun

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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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