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Carioca Cafe (Bar Bar)

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2060 Champa St. Denver, CO 80202

303-296-1250 

 

2060 Champa St. Denver CO 80202

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Description

It's fascinating to watch how the clientele at the Carioca Cafe, better known as Bar Bar, changes over the course of a day (and three happy hours) -- especially when this classic dive, one of the last left downtown, brings in live music. Get there a few hours before a gig and you'll find some of Denver's finest barflies, a few of which might have been there since the doors opened that morning. As the hour gets later, an assortment of hipsters, punks and rockers mixes in with those barflies, the music gets loud, and the next thing you know, you're in a veritable drinker's nirvana. Dive, he said.








Back to TopWestword Critic News & Reviews | Write a Review
  • Reader: If drinkers toast the camera, you\'re not in a dive bar

    Reader: If drinkers toast the camera, you're not in a dive bar

    Denver's great dive bars are disappearing -- but there are still many worthy of celebration, including Bar Bar (Carioca Cafe), which just won Best Dive Bar in the Best of Denver 2013. And there was st... More »

  • Denver\'s ten best jukeboxes

    Denver's ten best jukeboxes

    See Also: - Boulder's five biggest hipster bars - Denver's biggest hipster bars - Five best midsize venues in LoDo and Ballpark - Denver's ten best karaoke bars - Denver's ten best dance clubs - Fiv... More »

  • Review: The Skeleton Show at Bar Bar, 1/7/12

    Review: The Skeleton Show at Bar Bar, 1/7/12

    THE SKELETON SHOW @ Carioca Cafe ("Bar Bar") | 1/ 7/12Halfway through her set, after hitting who knows what chords and wailing about being hatched from a witch's egg and flying high, Sara Century held... More »

  • Mile High Horror Film Festival adds music component to this year\'s festivities at Bar Bar

    Mile High Horror Film Festival adds music component to this year's festivities at Bar Bar

    The second Mile High Horror Film Festival is upon us, and in an effort to make it even bigger and badder, Timothy Shultz and company added a music showcase to the event at Bar Bar this Friday, October... More »

  • Downtown\'s last true dive

    Downtown's last true dive

    The bummer about Bar Bar (officially the Carioca Cafe, at 2060 Champa Street) is not that the bathrooms are glacial, grimy, graffiti-covered dungeons. It's not that the volatile mix of white, black, brown and out-of-town patrons are wont to drink... More »

  • Loading More Critics Reviews
  • 2013 | Best Dive Bar

    Dive bars are drying up in Denver, swept away by tides of development. We've lost many of this city's old saloons over the last few years, which makes the survival of Carioca Cafe -- better known as Bar Bar -- something to celebrate. Perhaps with a drink or ten. It's fascinating to watch how the clientele at this spot at the edge of downtown changes over the course of a day (and three happy hours). Get there at noon and you can grab a cup of coffee and reading material -- or... More »

  • 2010 | Best Place to Watch Day Turn Into Night

    It's fascinating to watch how the clientele at the Carioca Cafe, better known as Bar Bar, changes over the course of a day (and three happy hours) -- especially when this classic dive, one of the last left downtown, brings in live music. Get there a few hours before a gig and you'll find some of Denver's finest barflies, a few of which might have been there since the doors opened that morning. As the hour gets later, an assortment of hipsters, punks and rockers mixes in with those... More »

  • 2009 | Best DIY DJ Night

    Everyone who has been around the scene within the last decade either knows Sarah Slater or has seen her at some of the most interesting shows, local and otherwise. For the past couple of years, she's organized and hosted her Bring Your Own Records night at various places, now mostly Carioca Cafe (aka Bar Bar). Basically, you bring a handful of vinyl instead of CDs or -- perish the thought -- iPods, and do your thing. What Sarah's doing may seem incredibly retro, but really, it's... More »

  • 2007 | Best DIY DJ Night

    Everyone has a little disc jockey inside of them, and once a month (or so), Carioca Cafe -- better known to scene kids everywhere as Bar Bar -- hosts a coming-out party for all the wicky-wicky wannabes. The concept is simple: Bring your records, play your records. Be sure to arrive early because the sign-up sheet fills up quickly. The free-for-all makes for interesting mixes of everything from soul and hip-hop to grindcore and psychedelic folk. It's a commune of music that welcomes all... More »

  • 2003 | Best Place to See Chicks Fight

    Carioca Cafe, also known affectionately as "BAR," after its generic neon sign, squats on the desolate corner of 21st and Champa. The astoundingly cheap drinks and great Tuesday-night DJs Chuck and Brian attract a strange mix of clientele: scooter folk, indie rockers, Joe Hundredaires and, of course, your typical crusty, decrepit barflies. But these barflies bring their girlfriends, and therein lies the spectacle. Petty jealousies seethe and bristled fur flies when riled up by too many... More »

Back to TopUser Reviews & Comments | Write a Review
  • lawgreen
           (0)    (0) Flag

    | Denver, CO | 1 Reviews

    Have you ever watched day turn to night while listening to a man with no teeth discuss Kafka? How about hearing the best music in town without ever paying a cover? Or what about a one-armed bar tender? This is Denver's only true dive bar/coffeehouse.

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