21 Best Bars in Denver, Colorado

This private club offers daily, monthly, and annual memberships for cannabis consumption starting at $20 a day. The atmosphere inside is like a dive bar, with photos of famous people consuming cannabis and large-screen TVs hanging above the comfy chairs and couches. Board games and art supplies keep visitors occupied, and the occasional DJ drops by to spin. No cannabis is sold here, but there are numerous dispensaries nearby. Because it's a private club, all forms of cannabis can be consumed inside, and the patio outside hosts live music and other events. 

One of the city's best-known bars has anchored LoDo since it was a pre–Coors Field warehouse district. The Wynkoop Brewing Company is now more famous for its founder—former Denver mayor and Colorado governor and current senator John Hickenlooper—than for its brews, food, or ambience, but it remains a relaxing, slightly upscale, two-story joint filled with decent bar food, the usual pool tables, and games and beers of all types.

Of Denver's numerous old-school music hangouts, the most popular is the regally restored Bluebird Theater, which showcases local and national acts, emphasizing rock, hip-hop, Americana, and ambient genres.

Charlie's is a gay bar that features a country-western atmosphere, music, and dancing, and a drag show at least one night a week.

Multiple rooms on three floors in a decommissioned church host DJ-spun dubstep and bass on Thursday, EDM, hip-hop, and trap on Friday, and salsa, bachata, reggaeton, cumbia, and other Latin-style dance on Saturday.

Denver's first licensed cannabis lounge, no-frills Coffee Joint is open daily from 8 am to 10 pm and allows customers age 21 and up with a valid ID to vape, consume edibles, and ingest dab concentrates using vape pens or an electric nail, all legally. No cannabis is sold here, but a few area dispensaries will deliver, and the $5 entry fee is waived if you purchase from the dispensary next door. The first cup of coffee is free, and tea, pastries, and other munchies-friendly snacks are available for sale. Guests can use the ping pong and foosball tables too. Bring your own supplies; smoking weed, open flames, and alcohol are not allowed.

Denver comics have honed their skills at Comedy Works for more than 30 years, and nationally known performers make it a tour stop. A second location, the Landmark in Greenwood Village, has an upscale lounge and restaurant attached.

Denver's classic San Francisco concert hall spin-off looks dumpy on the outside, but it's elegant and impressive inside. Before catching a big-name act such as Rise Against or Wizkid, scan the walls for color photographs of past club performers.

Sitting south of downtown, this theater came of age in the early '90s, with a steady stream of soon-to-be-famous alternative-rock acts such as Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It still showcases the old and new, from Morgenshtern to T-Pain and Neko Case, but also operates as a community venue for theater, music, and charity events.

Classic-rock bands are big here, as are country acts big and small. The Grizzly Rose has miles of dance floor, hosts regional and national bands, gives two-step dancing lessons, and sells plenty of Western wear, from cowboy boots to spurs. Sunday nights are for all ages until 11 pm.

Drag queens rule the scene here on weekends, with events such as "Mary-oke" and the town's premier drag revue, all of which take place on the stage side of this restaurant/club. Other digs farther east on 17th Avenue in City Park feature a sportier, classier look than the previous location, and the restaurant crowd, gay and straight, seems to agree that this bar offers one of the town's best burgers, with tater tots as a side option. The huge patio out back is always a party.

Hidden in the back of a parking lot, the hipster favorite Herb's Bar, known locally by its previous name, Herb's Hideout, is a gloriously nostalgic bar with dim lighting, comfortable booths, and inexpensive cocktails.

In a south Denver neighborhood, down-home Herman's Hideaway showcases mostly local rock, with a smattering of rap, reggae, and blues thrown in.

This energetic, hip club located in the Baker neighborhood just south of Capitol Hill books a diverse and eclectic range of talented indie rockers. The crowd is young, likes Red Bull, and tends to revel in the discovery of obscure underground music.

DJ-spun, Latin-based dance weekends, with bachata, cumbia, and reggaeton, as well as live salsa Saturday night and salsa classes nightly, is what's on deck at La Rumba.

The Lion's Lair is a dive where punk-rock bands and occasional name acts---the Black Keys played here a couple of times years ago, as did British rocker Graham Parker---squeeze onto a tiny stage just above a huge, square, central bar.

Tripling as a health-food restaurant with sublime tofu fettuccine, a fringe theater, and a rock club in a downtown neighborhood, the Mercury Cafe specializes in acoustic sets, progressive, and newer wave music. Weekly swing dance lessons upstairs and poetry readings in a side room add to the appeal. The eatery also prides itself on its self-reliance on solar and wind energy and neighborhood tree and urban garden programs.

This classic old theater showcases alternative-rock, blues, and hip-hop acts such as Andy Frasco & The U.N., Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic.

Considered by some Denverites to be the best bar in town, the laid-back, casual, slightly divey PS Lounge has a well-stocked jukebox and an owner, known to all simply as Pete, who hands out roses to the ladies and a free Alabama Slammer shot to anyone who behaves and seems to be having a good time. Be aware it's cash-only.

A vintage-style poolroom is just one reason to stop by the beloved Skylark Lounge, which counts live music, pinball machines, comfortable seating, and friendly staffers among its many charms.

This suburban country club and bar is a cavernous boot-scooting spot, with dance lessons, live Mexican and Spanish music several times a week, and Wednesday Ladies Night.