Photo: View Apart/Shutterstock

8 Best Dive Bars in Denver

Denver Restaurants + Bars Insider Guides
by Tim Wenger Nov 11, 2016

If you’re anything like me, you’d much rather pull up a stool at a cozy dive and enjoy a cold $3 pint than sit down over a $12 cocktail in a chair remodeled from the furniture section of the local thrift store at some gentrified hipster joint. Luckily, Denver still has a number of great dive bars to choose from. You’ll find me at the Candlelight in Wash Park, but here are seven other great options to quench your thirst.

Editor’s note: These spots are all taken directly from travelstoke®, a new app from Matador that connects you with fellow travelers and locals, and helps you build trip itineraries with spots that integrate seamlessly into Google Maps and Uber. Download the app to add any of the spots below directly to your future trips.

1. El Chapultepec

 El CHAPULTEPECDenver, United StatesEl Chapultepec will serve you a shot with a deep fried grasshopper in it. That’s all you really need to know about this place, other than the fact that it also serves live jazz every single night and has been around since long before the Ballpark neighborhood was called the Ballpark neighborhood. #divebar

2. Don’s Club Tavern

 Don’s Club TavernDenver, United StatesCommonly referred to as Don’s Mixed Drinks, or just Don’s, this spot greets drinkers as they enter Cap Hill from the west and often keeps them there until last call, when the sidewalk out front becomes a swarming, yelling, but somewhat cohesive mass of late night conversations and prolonged goodbyes. #divebar

3. Bar Bar

 Bar BarDenver, United StatesTechnically, this place is called the Carioca Cafe but I’ve never heard a single person say those words. It’s known by everyone as Bar Bar, a shithole establishment on the edge of downtown that still allows smoking indoors and if you schmooze the bartender enough, he may let you stay for the after hours party once they kick the general public out into the cold.

4. Pete’s Satire Lounge

 Pete’s Satire LoungeDenver, United StatesPete Cantos is as legendary in Denver as his drinking and eating establishments, and the Satire is favorite east Colfax spot for hipsters, locals, and anyone else looking to get sauced on cheap beer and spirits without leaving the neighborhood.the Satire is also a hangout for touring musicians playing at one of the nearby clubs, so you just may rub shoulders with a rock star while drinking that PBR. #divebar

5. Nob Hill Inn

 Nob Hill InnDenver, United StatesPerhaps Denver’s most renowned dive bar, Nob Hill Inn mixed the vibrant characters of Colfax with a hefty amount of alcohol for an experience that is as memorable as the horseshoe bar itself. Wearing a Nob Hill t-shirt around town with typically generate a discussion or two if you’re looking to make some friends in Denver.

6. Star Bar

 Star BarDenver, United StatesStar Bar is the place to hide out from the sloppy bro-fest that LoDo becomes after
10 pm. As the most chill drinking spot in the area, you’ll find love music and Dj’s without the cover charges and overpriced, underpoured cocktails that are so prominent this side of downtown. #divebar

7. Berkeley Inn

 Berkeley InnDenver, United StatesThe Berkeley Inn is one of the last remaining original pubs in the North Side neighborhood, which post-gentrification has become know as Highland. You’ll find a motley crew of regulars drinking cheap domestic beer, live music on weekends, and easily the most relaxed vibe on Tennyson. #divebar

8. Candlelight Tavern

 Candlelight TavernDenver, United StatesThe Candlelight is the best bar in Denver if you’re looking for a cozy, community dive with (cheap) stiff drinks. The staff will quickly become your friends, and it isn’t y common to find yourself overly acquainted with just about everyone sitting at the bar during happy hour. On Friday and Saturday nights, the place fills up with college kids from the University of Denver, but other nights it’s mostly a neighborhood crowd. #divebar

Discover Matador