114 MARCH 27-APRIL 2, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC & VENUES | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS & RECREATION | SHOPPING & SERVICES | CONTENTS | Best Bar Decor The Scapegoat 3801 Osage Street 303-993-7952 instagram.com/scapegoatdenver Open since December 2023, this low-key haunt from the team behind another fa- vorite watering hole, Crow Bar, has all the signs of a well-worn dive in the making. While we love bantering with the bartend- ers and playing a game of Buck Hunter, we especially appreciate the Scapegoat’s com- mitment to curating the many curiosities that adorn the walls, including the taxi- dermied goat heads that oversee the action and paintings that depict everything from more goats, of course, to a UFO visiting a dinosaur. Best Neighborhood Bar That Feels Older Than It Is TrashHawk Tavern 1539 South Broadway 303-320-7798 trashhawktavern.com While it just turned three in October, this South Broadway watering hole has grown up before our eyes, becoming a favorite that seems like it’s been there all along. Whether you’re popping in for a shot of Malört at the bar, gathering with friends for a gossip ses- sion on the patio, playing pool and enjoying eats from the rotating food trucks or taking part in events like a Midwestern-style euchre tourney, TrashHawk is a dependable pick for good vibes, good times and good people. Best New Neighborhood Bar Bedlam 1516 Wazee Street 303-975-6785 bedlampub.com LoDo isn’t exactly brimming with the kind of straightforward, low-profi le watering holes you fi nd in other neighborhoods. But among the sports bars, clubs and high-end cocktail havens is Bedlam, a place you’d have to be crazy not to love. Brothers Jacob and Jeremiah Berndt opened the joint last May in a narrow space that was most re- cently Deep Roots Winery & Bistro, and it feels like a clubhouse that you want to tuck into for hours. The eclectic art, cozy seating and mix of high- and low-end drink options and bites makes it as appealing for a mid- week mixed drink and a game of pool as it is for a weekend splurge on pricey whiskey and caviar served with Lay’s. Best New Bar Where Everything Is $5 Lincoln’s 1801 Wynkoop Street instagram.com/lincolnsdenver Honest Abe would approve of this bar that’s hidden inside the Ice House building near Union Station. It promises that all of its drinks are $5 — and that’s no bullshit. No catches, no upcharges. Just a simple menu of beer, wine and spirits, plus basic mixers. It might take a little work to fi nd this cash- only addition to downtown, but that effort will be rewarded with a low-key, basement- level hangout that feels like a secret escape. Come for the cheap drinks, stay for events like live comedy and the Thursday night rock, paper, scissors tournament. Best Cooking Class Cook Street School of Culinary Arts 43 West 9th Avenue 720-892-6086 cookstreet.com Taking a class at Cook Street is like shad- owing a professional chef for a day (or sometimes, days). You’re in an actual pro- fessional kitchen — the space used to be a Japanese restaurant — complete with high-BTU gas ranges, industrial ovens, a fi re suppression system, and the kind of function-over-form equipment rarely sold to home cooks. The instructors are chefs with real-life restaurant experience shar- ing the secrets they learned on the line with exacting detail and anecdotes. The school gives the curious and the aspirational cook alike the ability to level up their skills with both one-off date night classes and multi- week intensives focusing on essential tech- niques. And for those who desire an even deeper dive, Cook Street offers a profes- sional certifi cation program with both day and night sessions. Food & Drink continued from page 113 continued on page 116
