Reader: The hipster ratio at these bars disqualifies them as real dives

Yesterday we released our updated list of the best dives in the metro area, and the comments have been fast and furious. Mostly furious. Some people are peeved we included their favorite bars -- which means they'll be more crowded -- and others are irritated that we ignored their favorite...

By Patricia Calhoun

January 17, 2014

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Yesterday we released our updated list of the best dives in the metro area, and the comments have been fast and furious. Mostly furious. Some people are peeved we included their favorite bars -- which means they'll be more crowded -- and others are irritated that we ignored their favorite bars. Some of the snubbed were the usual suspects -- Don's Mixed Drinks, for example, which we consider renovated beyond dive status. But others suggested by commenters create an excellent excuse to get out and bend an elbow this weekend.

There's also some dispute over the definition of a dive bar, a definition more fluid than stuff poured in the place: Says Phillip:

The hipster ratio for most of these bars is far too high for a real dive. If there hasn't been a stabbing within the month, it's not a dive bar.

And then there's this from Heidi:

I love how the people pounding booze at these dives still look great/are in such good shape. Way to go, CO.

What do you think disqualifies a bar as a true dive? Too many hipsters? Too many healthy drinkers? What do you consider the ultimate dive in metro Denver?

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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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