Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).
Let me be the first to say that I miss The Bulldog. The exterior of the dive bar at 3602 E. Colfax Ave. once looked much as it does now, with cheap, faux-stone siding and a shallow concrete patio that invited excellent people-watching.
The inside, on the other hand, has changed a lot. When the one-story space — also occupied in the past by Monroe Tavern and Mr. Von’s Alamo — turned from The Bulldog into Lost Lake Lounge in 2010, I feared its diverse clientele and raucous karaoke nights would be replaced with something worse.
Improbably, it wasn’t. Matt LaBarge, who owned the Hi-Dive on South Broadway, transformed the well-preserved dive into a dim drinking haven patterned after throwback bars in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. With plenty of wood and thrift-store pictures, the spot suddenly felt like a hidden gem.
Wood burning stove by the entrance? Coffee mugs hanging from hooks above the bartenders? Yes and yes. “The shadowy corners of the bar are lit with vintage-looking lamps set on dark wood tables. Candles flicker in the booths, illuminating the cheesy thrift-store art objects on the wood-paneled walls,” The Denver Post’s Kathleen St. John (who I would soon marry) wrote at the time.
Being 12 years old, as Lost Lake is now, is like being 50 years old in Denver’s fast-gentrifying, amnesia-riddled scene. Appropriately, Lost Lake hasn’t stopped changing. The layout, which had not been appreciably updated since the 1940s, has evolved into a top-notch live music stage on one side with an attached, high-ceilinged, brick-walled bar on the other.
Since 2013 it’s been owned by Scott Campbell, who also owns the similarly indie-centric Larimer Lounge and Globe Hall. As a promoter and talent buyer for AEG Presents, he’s a veteran of Denver’s competitive live-music scene and has hired a series of smart, connected bookers for his independently owned venues. Lost Lake’s roughly 75-person audience capacity guarantees intimate shows.
Corny framed pictures and neon signage still adorn the wall above Lost Lake’s bathrooms. But these days, you’re as likely to see an acclaimed local or touring artist as much as the bottom of a glass at last call. With impeccable sound and friendly staff, it’s still an asset on a stretch of East Colfax Avenue that already has music venues, taverns aplenty and great food.
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