![]() ![]() Westword Word spread beyond the neighborhood, luring food writers, the Cooking Channel, CNN and the Food Network both businesses have been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with Guy Fieri - signed memorabilia hangs on one wall to prove it. But as a person who gets really hangry when brunch involves a wait of longer than fifteen minutes to be seated, I would sometimes lose patience with the seemingly endless line. There weren't that many brunch options within walking distance of the many apartment buildings on East Colfax at the time, so it was common for me and everyone else in the area to roll out of bed and head over. The "DBC Club" biscuit even has bacon AND fried chicken. The biscuits are huge, fluffy and full of unhealthy and delicious fillings - primarily bacon and fried chicken. ![]() Now there was pretty much a boatload of people in the bar at all times of day, and it truly became more than just a local watering hole. The idea was originally meant as a food truck, but when Shader and chef Jonathan Larsen started testing things out in the Atomic Cowboy kitchen, people in the neighborhood went nuts yet again, this time for biscuits. Not satisfied with just helping drunk people eat food late at night, the Shaders started offering breakfast, too, opening the Denver Biscuit Company in 2009. Fat Sully's was also an early adopter of offering gluten-free pizza, which added to the draw for many early adopters of a gluten-free lifestyle. Half the time, the pizza line was as long as the line to get into the bar. Fat Sully's New York Pizza was born, with delicious and large thin-crust pizza by the slice or by the pie - and people lost their freakin' minds. In 2008, the Atomic Cowboy might have been the pinnacle of East Colfax nightlife, but it wasn't much of a food destination, so Shader and his wife and new co-owner, Ashleigh, got the genius idea to add some drunk munchies in the form of huge-ass pizza slices. The moral of that story is that the Atomic Cowboy's booths have an intimate feel that allows people to talk easily, welcome or not. Escape meant calling an actual cab (this was before the dawn of services like Lyft and Uber) so that he wouldn't follow me home. He told me his whole life story, which included extreme international baby-mama drama, a semi-professional basketball career and other assorted things that you just can't make up. I've definitely met a few new friends at this bar and even ended a first date here with a Brazilian guy who wouldn't stop talking. Because of this, the bar always seemed like a good place for groups of friends, dates and everyone else. Sarah McGill This large space, with high ceilings, brick walls, a bar in the middle and booths around the edges, somehow manages to keep a good volume level, even with music playing. On offer are $2 PBRs, $3 well drinks, $4 for all other beers, and $5 for Hornitos and Jim Beam drinks. Happy hour remains remarkably similar, though, running from 3 to 6 p.m. Apparently trivia night is no longer, but according to our peppy young server, people still call asking about it. Trivia night was also a big deal (before that, too, became ubiquitous), and people used to get really excited about it. This is no longer a cutting-edge thing, but there are still 24 varied taps with craft beers from near and far. When I lived across the street, the food menu was minimal and the beer list was large and full of craft beers - a novelty at the time. Shortly after the Atomic's opening in 2004, current owner Drew Shader took the reins, and he's overseen the bar's growth and development ever since. All in all, it was the same old place.Ītomic, as we used to call it, was initially opened by Leigh Jones, who is now part of a group that runs the Horseshoe Lounge, Inga's Alpine Lounge and the Bar Car. The reassuringly weird space-cowboy art was still hanging on the exposed brick walls, and there was still a selection of board games to play. It was a Saturday night and there were plenty of people inside, but not in a standing-room-only, spill-beer-on-the-person-next-to-you sort of way. Gone, however, was the nightclub-like line that I remember snaking out the door and down the street. The place still felt the same in many ways there was still a guy stamping hands at the door, but this time I appreciated being ID'd, because it made me feel young. I went back the other night for old times' sake with a few friends, one of whom used to be my Congress Park neighbor. Back then, the Atomic Cowboy was just a simple but hip bar for a new, slightly-less-sketchy Colfax crowd. ![]() I used to frequent the Atomic Cowboy (the original one, at 3237 East Colfax Avenue) when I first moved to Denver more than ten years ago - and so did nearly everyone else in my Congress Park neighborhood. ![]()
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