Monday, August 31, 2026

The Top 100 Things to Do Near BurnDown





  1. The restored neon sign out front has been pulling people off Broadway since this building has been a bar, which is basically forever. Bar 404 is an old-school neighborhood watering hole on North Broadway, the kind where the vibe is loose and the programming punches above its weight: free jazz nights, live music, and a food program that Westword keeps recognizing alongside the concerts.



  2. A Czech-owned sports bar on Broadway where the roast duck shares menu space with chicken wings and the back bar stocks Becherovka alongside the usual domestic taps. Pool tables, a Pac-Man cabinet, karaoke nights, and Avalanche games on the screens make it a full-service neighborhood hangout. Westword named it Denver's top bar for Avalanche games in 2025, which feels right for a place this cheerfully, improbably itself.



























  3. Sketch comedy and improv on South Broadway, where the Baker neighborhood's thrift-store-chic energy suits the format perfectly. Performers with roots in Chicago, New York, and LA take the stage Thursday through Sunday, and the room is small enough that a botched scene lands on everyone equally. Classes run from total beginner to working comic, so you can watch one week and embarrass yourself on stage the next.






  4. The vaulted ceiling, Victorian-era paintings, and sculpted details make the Bluebird feel more like a recovered ballroom than a live music venue, which somehow makes the indie rock louder. It holds around 550 people, putting touring acts close enough to feel like a secret and giving local bands a room that announces they've arrived. Westword has named it Denver's top stepping-stone venue, and Colfax gets a little better every time the marquee goes up.





















  5. Su Teatro has been Denver's anchor for Chicano theater for decades, running out of the Denver Civic Theatre at the heart of the Santa Fe Arts District, which also happens to be the city's historic Latino neighborhood. The company produces its own touring work and rents the space to outside groups, so the calendar stays eclectic. If you're catching one of their own shows, you're in the right hands.































  6. Sports memorabilia covers every surface here, bathrooms included, because half-measures are for people who don't care. Named for a beloved late Nuggets trainer, this Cherry Creek sports bar has been around forever and carries that weight lightly. The menu sits a notch above standard bar fare, and the TVs outnumber the regulars on a slow night. When the Nuggets are playing, there is nowhere more logical to be.





  7. A wristband taps to your credit card at check-in so you never fish out your wallet again, which is either clever hospitality or a mild threat depending on your willpower. Number Thirty Eight is a vast indoor-outdoor beer hall where stalls run by Colorado breweries, cideries, wineries, and distilleries line the walls, the patio is dog-friendly, and Split Lip handles the burgers. Westword named it the city's best free entertainment.



  8. A historic tavern on Larimer that's been a dive, a cougar bar, and a live-music dance hall, sometimes all in one night. The drinks are stiff and cheap, a band usually occupies the small stage, and the whole place functions as a pressure valve for anyone who's had enough of the polished LoDo scene just outside. The occasional Phi Alpha Whatever will wander in, but the regulars absorb them without incident.




  9. A record shop sprawling across the old Lowenstein Center on East Colfax, Twist & Shout stocks vinyl, CDs, DVDs, books, and decades of rock-era paraphernalia in a space big enough to lose an afternoon in. Touring acts play occasional in-store shows, and a rotating Local Listening Post keeps tabs on Denver's own scene. Westword named it the city's best record store in 2025, which will surprise nobody who has spent an hour here and left with six things they didn't plan to buy.





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