My good barflies, a rant: Streets of London is as much an English pub as Williams Tavern is a Scottish pub as the Irish Hound is an Irish pub – which is to say, they aren’t.
That said, The Auld Dubliner is a pub – an Irish one, at that – and thank the good, green heavens, because were one more supposed Irish pub to open, with its friendly staff and annoyingly “authentic” auld environs (yes, Scruffy Murphy’s, I’m talking to you), we might hurl ourselves into the nearest peat bog.
I could barely muster the courage to brave the Auld Dubliner (2796 S. Broadway). After talking with a cute girl at the Larimer Lounge one night about her haunts and hearing about yet another Irish bar, this one on South Broadway from the same folks who opened Cherry Creek’s Squealin’ Pig, I think I visibly flinched. But after the Bloc Party show at the Gothic last week, I thought it natural to meet friends for post-concert discussion at the Dubliner.
If only it were open.
After surveying the building, which looks typically generic, Hobbs, Chiara and I headed in only to find a mostly empty bar and a bartender cleaning away.
“We’re closed,” he said kindly, letting us pass briefly to check the place out and use the restrooms. The short stroll was enough to tell me I wanted to come back, as the building was split into multiple awkward rooms accented by asymetrical booths, random knickknacks and mix-
and-match furniture. It seemed like a living room, and that’s appropriate.
And so I went back a few days later for dinner, and then again a few days later for a drink, and the bar’s comfort holds up. An intimate booth was the perfect place for dinner with my friend Merrily. And a bigger, stained-glass-
sided booth was the ideal spot for drinks with my buddy John, a proud Irishman who was wary of hitting this joint but quite enjoyed himself.
Staff writer Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
Funky: If you’re a Dave Matthews Band fan, you’ll love the fact that they play entire DMB albums at this Irish pub. But while I’m OK with pubs straying a bit on the music, entire DMB albums are never good.
Skunky: The hours are sporadic, especially during the week, when the crowds are sparse.
