Post #517541 by burleyque on Mon, Mar 15, 2010 1:38 PM

Not much Tiki beyond a few Chinese places that serve exotic drinks in the mugs- The best decor, drinks and food is at Twin Dragon- http://www.twindragonrestaurant.com/- but we've got a few great craft cocktail places poppin up. Steuben's is the best, featuring vintage and classically minded coctails using fresh ingredients and small batch spirits http://www.steubens.com/plus there food is terrific.

The Cruise Room is a vintage dream serving vintage coctails with fresh juices. Their cocktail menu is very fru-fru, but you can skip it and just have them make you any cocktail you can think of http://www.theoxfordhotel.com/dining/cruise-room.php. They're attached to a McCormick's restaurant, with great seafood.

South Broadway has some great vintage clothes and bookstores, plus the amazing Mayan Theatre and Beatrice and Woodsley's http://www.beatriceandwoodsley.com/(more great coctails, incredible design, local and super interesting/delicious food and their happy hour features half price drinks). They have a sister bar downtown called Double Daughters, not far from the cruise room that's worth a look http://doubledaughters.com/

Root Down http://www.rootdowndenver.com/in Denver's Highland neighborhood and Colt and Grey http://www.coltandgray.com/on the west side of downtown both have incredible food, and amazing craft cocktails.

Also in the highlands A Cote, a quaint french absinthe bar with a full shelf of different absinthes. They have wonderful cocktails and light french fare- and next door is Z cuisine, a full (and terrific) french restaurant. http://www.zcuisineonline.com/

There's some really cool mid-century modern neighborhoods. They're outside of central Denver, but well worth the taxi fare http://www.milehimodern.com/modernTour.php

I'd recommend the Curtis downtown- it's centrally located, has a great restaurant with good cocktails (The Corner Office). Every floor has a different pop culture theme. http://www.thecurtis.com/ Not super cheap, but sometimes they have special rates. The Ramada on Colfax is a good deal with comfortable rooms 1150 E. Colfax Ave and it's known as the 'Rockmada' for it's proximity to several music venues that put their performers up there. In the 1960's it was home to a tiki bar, that is sadly long gone. The 15 runs up and down Colfax, one of the main streets in Denver, and connects to broadway's 0 bus and the light rail.

Colfax was once the main road into the mountains and there are amazing vintage hotels, bars and restaurants with their original signage all along the road (which is the longest continuous street in the US). If you take the 15 or a cab at night, most of them still light up and they're pretty awesome.

Also on west Colfax is one of my favorite places, Casa Bonita- a fake Mexican wonderland/restaurant. The food's not great (they make it palatable to kids, so lots of velveeta) but the 2 story waterfall, volcanic rocks, silly shows and mariachi make the 8 bucks (for dinner, or you can just pay that entry fee) well worth it. They do make a decent if candy-like Pina Colada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Bonita

Depending on where you want to go and do and where you stay, the busses and light rail plus an occasional cab might be just fine.

If you have any more questions feel free to contact me! [email protected]
Michelle