Anyone who regularly drives the stretches of Broadway and Lincoln Street running between Colfax Avenue and Speer Boulevard gets a daily portrait of one of Denver’s most active nightlife districts.
Some are trying (really hard) to name the ‘hood SoCo, as in “south of Colfax,” but their success outside of paid advertisements remains to be seen. Regardless, the area’s club and bar turnover is always a point of discussion in my group, as many of us live right there. For example, a conversation that will take place in the next week, I’m guessing, will revolve around the Sutra Room, which opens in the old Donkey Den/Cielo/Denver Buffalo Company space at 1109 Lincoln St. next weekend.
I’ve not seen the bar, though I know it’s coming from the same people behind Tryst in Writer’s Square. I know the neighborhood well, though. Does it need another bar? If it’s a good one, absolutely.
It’s this quest for quality establishments that keeps bringing me back to the green awning at 846 Broadway. For a long time, the space was The Parlour, an old journalist hangout. My first time there was meeting a former editor for whiskey and debate. It was shabby and dank, which is to say it was lovable.
When the mountaineers from Minturn opened another Minturn Saloon, this one in the Parlour’s old space, they renovated the room and changed the menu. But save for a brilliant rooftop patio, it did little for me – and others too as it soon closed.
And so arrives the Moon Time Bar. Same space, yes, and little else has changed. I’ve been there a few times since the switchover. But each time I’ve left underwhelmed and unimpressed – a feeling that doesn’t resonate with the space itself, because the renovation was effective.
The bar sits grandly near the entrance, and bar tables are scattered around the front room. The back room is a tad creepy – all tables and almost always empty. All three times I’ve been to the Moon Time something has left a sour taste: Sluggish service. Mediocre food. Lame pours. You know how it is when you want to like something but it just won’t let you? Maybe they’ll figure it out before the next bar takes a swing at the space.
| Moon Time Bar
846 Broadway; 303-831-4034
Funky: Love the neighborhood.
Skunky: They need to work on consistency.
