15 MAY 23-29, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | That’s the Spirit THESE NEW WATERING HOLES ARE RAISING THE BAR. BY MOLLY MARTIN “It’s just a place to have good drinks and be comfortable,” says Xanthus Be Dell, who opened Pretty Neat on South Broadway last November. The bar, which is in a neighborhood known more for its dives and live-music venues than for having a cocktail scene, was quickly embraced by the neighborhood. “A lot of the very repetitive statements I hear from guests is, ‘Man, this neighborhood really needed something like this,’” Be Dell notes. He’s not the only one who has brought something new and needed to Denver’s already diverse bar scene in recent months. Often when you want to go out for a drink, you have to make a choice. We love the comfort of a well-worn dive, but that’s not where you’re going to get a well-made Ne- groni. And when you do want a well-made Negroni, you don’t necessarily want to sip it in a trendy spot where the prices hover around $20 for a cocktail. At Pretty Neat, you don’t have to choose. Be Dell has a passion for well-crafted liba- tions, but he also believes that “if you’re gonna put all that effort into making a really good cocktail, someone should feel comfort- able drinking it.” Since Pretty Neat opened, the drinks have all been priced at $12 each, with the exception of one rotating special concoction that is slightly more complex and uses more expensive ingredients. The place feels upscale enough to war- rant a date-night stop, but the af- fordable options and the warmth of the staff also make it the kind of wa- tering hole where you can sit and stay a while, which has resulted in plenty of regulars who do. “The aim is all of the retention without the pretension,” Be Dell notes. My Boy Tony on Tennyson Street, which opened the same month as Pretty Neat and was our 2024 Best of Denver pick for Best New Bar, takes a similar approach. “We’re not a cocktail bar. We’re not a beer bar. We’re not a wine bar. We’re just a place to go drink, a place to come hang out,” says owner Eli Cox, who adds that you can get a really good cocktail, or a local beer, or a glass of funky natural wine, all served in a well-designed space that operates “with a dive-bar mentality.” Cox has been a part of the Berkeley neigh- borhood for over a decade. He’s owned Berke- ley Supply Company since 2012, and during that time, he became friends with BookBar owner Nicole Sullivan. When she decided to close her decade-old business, which shut- tered in January 2023, she leased the space to Cox. “My landlords could have tripled the rent and gone with a big national company, and they didn’t. Nicole and Ryan [Sullivan’s husband] should be fully applauded. This place wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. They are stewards of the street,” Cox says. His goal in opening My Boy Tony was to fi ll a need in the neighborhood. “Some of the really cool, charming things have left, and that’s what we wanted to continue to have here,” Cox notes. “Ever since Local 46 left, there was a hole.” As he planned to fi ll that space, he was conscious of not stepping on the toes of other bar owners in the area, many of whom he knows well. While he was developing the concept, friends would ask what its “thing” was going to be, he recalls, and he’d try to explain, “We don’t have a thing. It doesn’t have to be a thing. ... It’s like in these nice spaces, people expect there to be a shtick.” What My Boy Tony does have is thought- ful design created by Cox’s longtime friend and business partner, Jon Strieby. “I told him, I want to fi nd a place and put you inside for three months so you can spit out your grand achievement,” Cox says. “He was instru- mental in creating this place.” The result is a space that’s warm, dimly lit and inviting, with a lot of carefully crafted millwork and a variety of seating options and little nooks to settle in, as well as an outdoor patio space. The service model is thoughtful, too. Or- ders are placed at the bar with staffers who are equally happy to craft an Old Fashioned, recommend an interesting glass of vino or pour a vodka tonic. When a couple comes in, they know the bartenders by name — and the bartenders know their drink order. “We come in prob- ably a couple times a week,” they say. And that’s the case with many patrons, Cox adds. Be Dell has seen a similar effect at Pretty Neat. “It feels like we’ve been here a lot lon- ger than we have,” he notes. “Friendships have been made here. It’s becoming that neighborhood spot to go for someone who has to go to work tomorrow.” “We see a lot of familiar faces,” echoes Kevin Feldman, general manager of the W, which opened in the former home of the Elm on East Colfax in March. Like Pretty Neat and My Boy Tony, it has a welcoming atmosphere and is defi nitely more polished than the Elm was, but it still feels like a neighborhood spot. Owners Carrie and Ernest Wigglesworth have lived in the Park Hill neighborhood for over a decade and were excited to revive the space, which had sat empty for nearly two years after Crush Wings + Tap’s brief run. “Their original idea was a burger and beer bar,” says Feldman, who met the couple shortly after moving to Denver from California. “I brought in the idea of a burger, beer and cocktail lounge. And [Ernest’s brother] Charlie has a huge passion for wine, so we wanted to incorporate some really approach- able but interesting wines.” Feldman headed up the cocktail program, which includes seasonal options as well as signature drinks that pay homage to Denver. The 1868, for example, is the W’s version of a Manhattan and is named for the year Colfax got its name. The Grand Avenue, named after the street’s original moniker, is a spin on a margarita made with smoked rosemary. And then there’s the Lowry Field, which is an Aviation made with Woody Creek’s Colorado Summer Gin. Local spirits and beer are a focus through- out the W’s menu, and the wine list is ap- proachable and fun. “Everything we do, we just want to make sure we put a lot of thought into it. Everything is intentional,” Feldman notes, including making guests feel as comfortable as they would at their favorite dive bar. “We just want to make sure that when they’re here, they’re gonna be able to stay a while.” Be Dell likens the feeling that these bars are trying to create to a familiar slogan. “It’s like the Olive Garden saying, ‘When you’re here, you’re family,’” he says. “When you’re here, I care.” Pretty Neat is located at 114 South Broadway and is open from 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday. Follow it on Instagram @prettyneatbar for more information. My Boy Tony is located at 4280 Tennyson Street and is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday and Mon- day, 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Visit myboytony.com to learn more. The W is located at 5001 East Colfax Avenue and is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday and Mon- day, 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit thewdenver.com. CAFE FIND MORE FOOD & DRINK COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/RESTAURANTS Pretty Neat opened in November but already has lots of regulars. Many of the cocktails at the W pay homage to parts of Denver history. XANTHUS BE DELL MOLLY MARTIN
