“Is this place from the whole Three Dogs family?”
John’s never been to Wyman’s No. 5, but we weren’t 60 seconds into his first visit to the Cheesman Park neighborhood bar last week when he called it out as part of the Little Pub Co., which owns a mostly proper assortment of neighborhood bars in Denver.
“You can tell because of the booths and the mirrors,” John said as I looked on, surprised that anybody – Highlands resident or not – would be familiar enough with Three Dogs Tavern’s furniture that he could point out the same design across town. “They’re exactly like Three Dogs’ booths.”
Armed with a Red Bull-vodka and a Stella, we took over said booth at Wyman’s (2037 E. 13th Ave., 303-996-0842) to catch up on the previous debauched weekend. Stories flowed as quickly as our glasses emptied, and even though he was mostly alone working the room, the excellent bartender was quick with booth service as the half-full bar raged on with its obnoxiously loud and weirdly forward clientele.
One guy screamed a 100- decibel shout-out to the cat across the table from him, and another gent near the bar openly fondled his lady friend. Each act grew strangely more open – with the lovebirds, oblivious to the stares in their direction, eventually leaving to heed everyone’s unspoken advice to get a room – and it created a moment decidedly its own. And for a space as generic as Wyman’s, that’s saying something.
Truth is, Wyman’s proves that an everyday bar can distinguish itself in other ways. Regardless of its shared aesthetics, Wyman’s has the best service in the neighborhood and some surprisingly epic pizza. On another recent visit, the lemonade was kept full and the pizza was served hot by a gentleman who was as matter-of-fact as he was friendly.
Staff writer Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
Funky: Especially on these recent brisk evenings, the best seat in the house is near the tall, slender windows that open to the bustling 13th Avenue foot traffic.
Skunky: The booths – nearly identical to others in the bar’s family – create weird optical illusions when you’re walking by the full bank. If it looks like other people are in your booth, they aren’t. Or maybe they are, knowing the random denizens the bar can attract.
