You can trust me on this: I once walked into a rural tavern and ended up owning the place. Whether or not you drink alcohol, you can drink in history at these twenty watering holes:
Northwestern Colorado
Main Street Pub, Rangely
By turns billed as a pub, a dive or “Rangely’s only sports bar,” Main Street Pub checks all the boxes for a classic drinker’s establishment, with good service, passable food and reasonable prices. Still, the real reason to go all the way to Rangely is to spend time with its people, and you won’t find a friendlier bunch than at the Pub — which has its own dedicated car service to get you to your accommodations if one of the regulars convinces you to have one too many.
J.W. Snack’s Gulf Coast Bar & Grill, Craig
Take two steps through the front doors of the unassuming, aluminum-clad rectangle that is J.W. Snack's and set sail to the Gulf Coast — with support pillars fashioned into palm trees and Jimmy Buffett memorabilia crammed between the neon signs and pirate flags. Though the place is more restaurant than saloon, there are always ice-cold beers on hand. The bar itself is small, but the terraced dining room is expansive, and you can catch live music on the beach-themed patio. You might even be inspired to trade in your cowboy boots for sandals.
The Antlers Cafe & Bar, Yampa
When future president Teddy Roosevelt visited Yampa on a hunting trip in 1900, he reportedly complained that there was nowhere in town to get a bite to eat. The Antlers appeared not long after, around 1904, and it’s been just about everything you can think of in the intervening 120 years: stagecoach stop, saloon, pool hall and liquor store. Now managed by the enterprising Anthony Franciosi, the Antlers features a dynamic menu — but the best thing you can order in these historic digs is probably a Coors Banquet for Swede, a legendary local who’ll buy your next round in kind.
The Gashouse, Edwards
While much of the Vail Valley has been overtaken by glitzy artifice over the past sixty years, if you squint your eyes long enough, you’ll notice rustic digs where anybody could be comfortable draining a bottle. The Gashouse, for example, which opened in 1983 in what used to be a gas station. Animal mounts and old license plates abound in this cozy log cabin, though you’ll be most impressed by the collection of ski passes used by both beloved locals and visiting celebrities.
Stockman Bar & Grill, Walden
In Walden, population 606, nobody's a stranger for very long. You'll instantly feel welcomed under the friendly glow of the pink and green neon festooning the back bar at the Stockman. If you carry yourself right, the locals might just tell you all about the best North Park hunting and fishing spots. Earn a few brownie points by asking the bartender how the bar and back bar ended up in Walden.
Northeastern Colorado
Lulu’s Inn, WatkinsWith high ceilings, plenty of neon and the chance to cook your own meal, Lulu’s is a classic cowboy bar. The owners have their roots in the cattle industry, so this roadhouse is good for both steak and suds, and the perfect excuse for a trip from Denver to the western edge of the Eastern Plains. Two-step in on a live-music night to avail yourself of the expansive dance floor, then stumble across the street to Mr. Wu’s Country Manor Motel and hang your hat.
Oscars Bar & Grille, Limon
Limon, population 2,000, is about the last place you’d expect a spot as cinematic as Oscars Bar & Grille. While it doesn't resemble a dusty saloon in an old Western film, it's jam-packed with Hollywood memorabilia, including movie posters, antique cameras and film projectors, plus wall-to-wall glamour shots of silver-screen stars. Lest you think the place is more museum than drinking joint: The bar features more than 400 whiskeys and 100 tequilas — and there’s even a pool table, if you want to try re-enacting a scene from Road House.
Henry’s Pub & Club, Sterling
What appears to be your standard hole-in-the-wall from the outside is a clean neighborhood gathering place with six billiards tables, several dart boards and more seating than you can shake a pool cue at. Service is fast and friendly, and the other patrons seem genuinely happy that you're there. Sure, after nightfall the room is a touch too dark, the music is indisputably too loud and the drinks are too strong — but you’re only about four blocks from an excellent night’s sleep at an affordable motel.
Julesburg Tavern, Julesburg
Drinking at the wood-paneled, low-slung Julesburg Tavern is a lot like sneaking a nip of alcohol from your grandpa’s private stock in his basement bar — and that’s very much a good thing. Don’t get the wrong idea, though: The place has been renovated in fits and starts over the years, and it’s clean, safe and pleasant, especially if your bartender is Heidi — who might stay open if you call ahead, and will even cook up a cheeseburger and a basket of fries that’ll hit the spot like nothing else after your long drive to the far reaches of northeastern Colorado.
The Bar, Burlington
Sometimes you just need a bar, any bar, and in Burlington, you'll want to head to The Bar. No surprise that this is a decidedly low-frills joint, and while the place looks a little desolate on a lonely stretch of road across from an abandoned gas station and several vacant lots, it’s lively on the inside, with a legendarily cheap happy hour. Still, make sure you call ahead to see if it's open.
Southeastern Colorado
Windmill Saloon, EadsAfter ten minutes in the Windmill Saloon, you’ll ask yourself why more bars aren’t built into Quonset huts. It's well-maintained and has plenty of headroom, but the real draw is the owner, Milton, who can talk with you about anything for as long as you’d like and will keep the lights on even if you’re the only person in the joint. Make sure to bring quarters if you’re into billiards.
The Buzzards Roost, Lamar
Neon light refracts off the tin cladding in the Buzzards Roost, from the siding to the ceiling tiles above the bar. Rock-and-roll ephemera will draw your eyes to the very tall stage in the back corner; this is one hell of a place to catch a local act. The owners, Jay and Karen, will be the first to remind you that the place is a bar, not a restaurant — so the pizza has no business being as good as it is. Stay late and stay the night one door down at the associated motel, the Buzzards Nest.
Columbine Saloon, Ordway
The Columbine Saloon is a good reminder that in a small town, a bar does double duty as a town hall of sorts. This spot rarely gets raucous, which encourages conversations with the locals about why places like Ordway, population 1,100, matter. The back bar is over a century old, and if all that history doesn’t do it for you, enjoy a game of darts or billiards over an ice-cold beer — Coors Banquet, of course, which is all the Columbine has on draft...and all you really need.
Pacos Starlite Tavern, Walsenburg
Paco’s Starlite Tavern is a tiny corner bar, but it packs a lot of heart into its cash-only digs, along with billiards and, somehow, shuffleboard. That’s all a credit to the man behind the pine, Paco Archuleta, whose family has owned and operated the place since Prohibition. A lifetime Walsenburg resident, Paco is a wealth of information on local history. His adoring regulars make it clear that he’s an institution in his own right — and not just because his prices are so low.
The Trinidad Lounge, Trinidad
You’ve probably heard about Trinidad’s economic and cultural renaissance, and the ’Dad Lounge has played a big part in that. Reopened for the first time in a decade under the steady hands of Curt Wallach and Suzanne Magnuson, of Denver’s hi-dive, the ’Dad regularly features world-class musical acts. Spacious, well-decorated and soaked in red light, it’s the perfect place to play pool or Pac-Man. Pack your own dinner, though, since the only fare the ’Dad can offer comes out of the microwave.
Southwestern Colorado
Kochevar’s Saloon & Gaming Hall, Crested Butte
One cool thing we get to do as Coloradans is drink in, and drink at, the same places legendary Westerners did. Butch Cassidy is said to have left his revolver at the bar after a bad night at Kochevar’s, but you should have better luck. Located at the end of CB’s main drag, the bar has plenty of pub games to keep you busy on low-key nights, though there’s always a good chance you’ll run into a roving neighborhood party.
Alamo Saloon, Gunnison
History students are exhorted to “Never Forget the Alamo.” The Alamo Saloon’s bumper stickers, meanwhile, promise “a truly forgettable experience" — but that’s only because the pours are strong. In fact, much like its Lone Star State namesake, the ’Mo, as locals call it, is something of a historical artifact that you’ll always remember. After all, it’s one of the last Colorado bars where you can legally smoke cigarettes. Breathe easy while listening to Texas’s own George Jones on the jukebox.
STEPS Tavern, Ridgway
STEPS is a cavernous joint, but only because it’s underground. Owner Dan Easton has carted a lot of life into this basement bar, including live music, karaoke, pool nights and dart leagues. And while the stone facades make it feel like you’re drinking in a mine shaft, STEPS has an adventurous liquor selection and a craft cocktail menu that you’d expect from much tonier environs. Don’t worry: You can always order a cheap beer, and if you get to feeling claustrophobic, head over to the joint's all-outdoor sister bar down the block: The Patio at STEPS Tavern.
Enterprise Bar & Grill, Rico
The ’Prise is billed as the “sixth oldest bar in Colorado,” and when you drink here, you end up drinking in a whole lot of history, too. This is an intimate locals’ spot that also welcomes bikers, hikers and everyone else exploring this veritable movie set of a tiny town just 27 miles from Telluride. Stay the night in the on-site lodging like weary gold and silver miners did back when the place was built in 1892 — purportedly as a bar and brothel. Just don’t expect that particular type of hospitality.
Orio’s Roadhouse, Durango
Orio’s Roadhouse was probably most famous for holding out as a cigarette smoker’s bar in the eighteen years since the passage of Colorado’s Clean Indoor Air Act — under which it was grandfathered in. But that all ended on April 30, when the bar celebrated a “Last Day of Smoking Party.” Now you’ll find the ashtrays on the dust heap of history as the owners try to attract more customers. It was the right decision from a public health perspective, at least, and if that sort of thing lights your proverbial cigarette, head on in the next time you’re in Durango to show your support. After all, the drinks are still strong and the pool is still free.
