14 DECEMBER 11-17, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | LETTERS | CONTENTS | If you, a loved one, or your patient is struggling with a substance use disorder, help is just a call away. Take the first step toward recovery. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Call: 303-962-8027 SCAN TO LEARN MORE Denver Health’s Substance Treatment Line is here for you. • Free compassionate support • Confidential • No Pressure • Inclusive Care doesn’t hurt, either. The Scapegoat has all that and more, including a collection of eclectic art and taxidermied goats that make it feel like an old favorite despite being just two years old. TrashHawk Tavern Overland 1539 South Broadway trashhawktavern.com There always seems to be something happening at TrashHawk, which is one of the many reasons it’s been on our top bars list since its 2021 debut. Owner Erin Hom- burger, known to many regulars as “Trash Mom,” has worked hard to create the kind of place in which you can relax, whether you’re taking advantage of the long and generous happy hour, hitting up the rotating food trucks outside, or entering a cribbage tournament. The bathrooms are plastered with old cigarette and booze ads, the walls are lined with nostalgic memorabilia, and the vibes are 100 percent trashy in only the best ways. DENVER BEER AND WINE DESTINATIONS The places to indulge your local craft cravings. Bierstadt Lagerhaus RiNo 2875 Blake Street bierstadtlager.com Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye opened this brewery in 2016. It specializes in lager beers, including three core brews: its Helles, its Dunkel and its Slow Pour Pils, perhaps the most lauded beer in Colorado. Beyond Bierstadt’s propensity for making some of the best craft beers in the state, it boasts a comfortable, expansive space that regularly hosts large events, pop-ups, games and trivia, while also offering plenty of corners to tuck into for an intimate experience. Bigsby’s Folly Craft Winery RiNo 3563 Wazee Street bigsbysfolly.com Bigsby’s Folly aims to bring the soul of wine country to the heart of RiNo. Housed inside a 130-year-old warehouse, the com- bination bar/tasting room/restaurant/pro- duction facility blends industrial grit with refi ned accents, like soaring 30-foot raftered ceilings and massive glass chandeliers. The space is equally suitable for enjoying a re- laxed glass of post-work wine on one of the plush couches, or attending a tasting or blending session at the metal-and-wood tables. The wines are primarily small-batch vintages sourced from grapes across Califor- nia, Oregon, Washington and even Colorado by winemaker Brian Graham, who studied and apprenticed in Bordeaux, France. Blanchard Family Wines LoDo 1855 Blake Street bfwcolorado.com Tucked into the bustling alleyway of Den- ver’s Dairy Block behind the Milk Market, the Blanchard Family Wines tasting room is a space both comfortable and luxurious at the same time. The wines featured include not only those made by brothers Mark and James Blanchard—utilizing grapes imported from California and fi nished in-state — but also from a range of Colorado-based vineyards. Order by the glass or by the bottle, or opt for one of many wine fl ights. Education is a big focus here, with classes spanning wine pair- ing, storage and serving, and even choosing the right glass for the right wine. Bull & Bush Brewery Glendale 4700 East Cherry Creek South Drive bullandbush.com Step inside this dark, cozy English-style pub and you’ll understand its staying power: It turned 54 in 2025. Now run by second- generation owners, “the pub you’ve been practicing for” (as the motto goes) serves a long menu of England-meets-Colorado comfort food, including French onion soup, bangers and mash, and green chile-smoth- ered mashed potatoes, as well as both inno- vative and traditional house-brewed beers. There’s also a Scotch list to warm the cockles of your heart. Cohesion Brewing Clayton 3851 Steele Street cohesionbeer.com Since opening in 2021, Cohesion has become one of the top destinations for out- of-towners, local industry workers and beer afi cionados drawn by its Czech-style lagers served in a very traditional way: from side- pull Lukr taps, with plenty of creamy foam on top. (The exact amount depends on which style of pour you choose.) The bar itself is striking, with gorgeous tilework serving as a backdrop and a wood-paneled nook reminiscent of old Europe. ESP HiFi La Alma/Lincoln Park 1029 Santa Fe Drive esphifi .co ESP HiFi, at its heart, is a vinyl listening bar fi rst, with plenty of options for libations to go along with your audio intake. Coffee, tea, cocktails and beer are all on the menu. But what stands out is an all-natural wine list designed to match any mood or emotion that patrons bring with them. Designed after the Japanese “kissa” — where the music may be loud, but the mood still soft — ESP also has perhaps the best wine club in town, featuring two bottles of wine and your choice of vinyl record for only $100 a month. Hogshead Brewing Sloan Lake 4460 West 29th Avenue hogshead54.com In 2012, Hogshead Brewery transformed a former gas station into an English-style brewery and taproom. Today, it’s one of the last remaining Colorado breweries to serve cask-style beer, and its intimate neighbor- hood taproom draws drinkers from near and far. The roster has expanded in recent years to include beers outside of the English category, but the changes feel within the umbrella of authenticity. Email the author at [email protected]. Cafe continued from page 13
