The Soiled Dove is a better summertime venue than it is a wintertime hangout.
The music venue downstairs – which rarely matches its quality acoustics with the right entertainment – is a treat of a space. But the Dove (1949 Market St., 303-299- 0100) is at its best upstairs on the patio, preferably on a non-Rockies day.
Sit at the bar and feel the mist lightly tickle your neck. It’s more than refreshing. It’s necessary. And it takes me back to Mexico – more Cake’s version than James Taylor’s.
It was a three-week jaunt down the Yucatan Peninsula, down through Playa and Tulum and into Belize and Guatemala. I was with my dear friend Jenae, and together we conquered nearly every beach-side bar along the lengthy coast, our feet buried in the sand, hands on icy glasses and the Caribbean’s mist giving the backs of our necks a continuous salty kiss.
OK, so the upstairs patio bar at the Soiled Dove – overlooking El Chapultepec, Coors Field and a number of unsightly parking lots – doesn’t quite compare. But it’s the closest thing we have in LoDo.
The Dove’s downstairs bar is large and in charge. The service is on-point and quick. Servers remember your name and hustle up round upon round with expert efficiency. But the prices are a bit of a bust. Red Bull-vodkas run $8 and have the bartenders giving you the can’s remainder, advising, “Save this, and your next one won’t cost so much.”
It’s an admission of gouging, the bartender’s apology, but it also gives the patron a responsibility he shouldn’t have. Do I look like I want to schlep this cocktail and this 8-ounce can while I watch Esthero rock the house? How about you keep it, use the rest for the next guy and charge me less?
That’s when I head upstairs to sit at the bar with the piña colada machine and the cool and lingering, albeit artificial, mist.
Staff writer Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
Funky: The Soiled Dove’s patio is the ultimate escape, from an obnoxious opening act or a reckless ex-girlfriend.
Skunky: The Dove’s staff needs to fix those patio spritzers so they better douse the patrons.