Tavern Uptown Will Throw a Labor Day Bash Before Taking a Building Break

Get ready for a big bash at the Tavern Uptown.

Last Thursday, the Denver Planning Board recommended that a PUD be approved allowing the redevelopment of the 500 block of East 17th Avenue — a revised redevelopment plan that now calls for maintaining the facade of the one-story Tavern building as well as the four walls of the two-story Tavern building with some allowances for cut-outs and alterations, since that structure will connect to a brand-new building constructed in a former parking lot by Southern Land Company, which bought the property from Tavern Hospitality Group last year.

"That's really a great outcome for a project that we didn't know where it was going to go," says Annie Levinsky, head of Historic Denver, which worked to save the outer walls of the circa 1900 grocery store built on one of the city's original streetcar lines. "I give a lot of credit to Southern Land, which had permission to demolish the building.... They've delayed their project to make it possible, waiting for the rezoning."

And now, pending the final approval of Denver City Council, the wait is almost over. "We hope it will be a good example of how, as a community, you can save a place and accommodate some new development," Levinsky adds. 

But you don't have to wait to party. THG has announced a big bash for Labor Day weekend, before the Tavern Uptown closes for a major construction project that will add a rooftop deck to the restaurant, among other amenities. "This is a huge celebration, to celebrate with all the people who've been our regulars for years," says Helen Wood, THG director of marketing. 

Starting next Thursday, the Tavern Uptown will offer a graduated discount on food and beverages: 10 percent off on September 1, 15 percent off on September 2, 20 percent off on September 3, 25 percent off on September 4, and 50 percent off on all food and beverage on Labor Day, September 5.

There will be live music to send the local watering hole on its way: a DJ from 8 p.m. to close on September 2, and again from 11 p.m. to close on September 3 and September 4. On September 2, Richie Allen and the Bad Ideas will play from 8 to 11 p.m. Dave Roppolo, an acoustic musician from Florida, will play from noon to 4 p.m. on Labor Day, and Richie Allen and the Bad Ideas will return from 5 to 8 p.m.

After last call that night, the Tavern Uptown will go on hiatus until the construction project is complete. But there will be plenty of other THG bars to serve you in the meantime: six neighborhood Taverns, as well as Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Cowboy Lounge, Choppers Sports Grill and Soiled Dove Underground.