The Great American Beer Festival takes control of Denver this weekend. Downtown will be filled with beer fanatics — crowding the Colorado Convention Center, wandering LoDo in search of tastings, ambling up to Oktoberfest Denver in the Ballpark neighborhood.
This is all very exciting for beer drinkers. But what about Denver’s non-beer-drinkers? It’s hard to believe, but they’re out there, and the next few days are going to be rough on them if they’re out and about downtown. Where can they find refuge with a nice glass of wine or a fine cocktail?
Fortunately, places do exist where one can enjoy a simple, relaxing martini without being surrounded by rabid beer-hounds. (Even festivalgoers and gawkers might need a break, as well.) Here are a few choice spots for getting away from the beer brawl.
Interstate (901 W. 10th Ave.) is just far enough away from the downtown madness that it could provide an unexpected respite.
They pour beer, of course, but the bar is also proud of its menu of specialty cocktails. These drinks are no joke, either, with plenty of booze to calm the nerves. Check out The Interstate: peach “moonshine,” cranberry and blue curacao. It won’t clean your clock, but it’ll give the face a polish. Sit at Interstate’s spacious bar and take it all in.
The Meadowlark (2701 Larimer St.) is just out of reach for most of the festival hordes. They’ll be distracted by all the beery goodness downtown and in LoDo and not willing to make the walk up Larimer for an unknown quantity.
Often featuring live music, the subterranean Meadowlark tends to be a peaceful place with a full bar and a short selection of wines. None of the beers is available on tap, so Meadowlark is often more of a sipping situation than a raucous chug-fest.
The enormous street-level patio is fantastic on nice evenings — or afternoons. Patio umbrellas provide shade, and when the sun goes down, warm red lights turn on to create a cozy ambience. There’s live music most nights in the bar, too.
It’s just outside the beer-blast radius, but Paris on the Platte Cafe and Bar (1553 Platte St.) is a prime stop for wine lovers.
Attached to the Paris on the Platte coffee shop, a neighborhood institution, the Paris bar features a quirky yet broad selection of wines. Martinis and a shortlist of specialty cocktails keep the menu extra-civilized.
The small patio out front offers a view of the pleasant Central Platte Valley neighborhood, with the lights of downtown just beyond.
Which is where the rest of us will be drinking beer.
Calendar check
It’s a little unbelievable, but some people are so amped for St. Patrick’s Day that they’re throwing a “halfway to St. Patrick’s Day” party.
Saturday’s “ShamROCKfest” at the Rackhouse Pub (208 S. Kalamath St.) is for St. Pat’s biggest fans, the folks who bleed green. For $15, partygoers get all-you-can-eat corned beef and cabbage, two drink tickets and live music from the Michael Collins Bagpipers. Later on, The Hollyfelds and Reckless Red are slated to perform, too.
Guests can buy “blarney stones” — essentially raffle tickets — to win prizes from all sorts of local businesses. Money raised will benefit the Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee.
The fun begins at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Euro beats
Check out one of modern house music’s up-and-comers when Riva Starr plays Beta (1909 Blake St.) on Saturday.
Known for his bouncy, eclectic tunes and remixes, the Italian star brings a little Balkan flavor to his sets. Buy advance tickets for $10 at .
