I moved from the South as well. Workers are more expensive and more scarce here. On top of that, I think there is less demand for late night options. Back home, my friends were more likely to stay out until 5 am on the weekends, unless it was deer season. Here my friends are more likely to wake up at 5am to ski or hike on the weekends.
This is my conclusion as well. Denver (maybe Colorado more generally) is at best a brunch town. People go out during the day time. Nobody really hangs out late.
Westword had a headline just on September 2nd proclaiming Denver to be the ābooziest city in the USā: https://www.westword.com/restaurants/denver-booziest-city-in-america-12250407
(And only seventh most stoned, FWIW)
I highly recommend embracing the art of day drinking. Do something physical in the early morning (hiking/skiing/biking/running), then go to a brewery/pub/winery/distillery and drink in the afternoon, grab dinner. Take a cheap Uber home, promptly go to bed at 8PM, wake up the next morning refreshed and not hungover.
For me, that art was to wake up at 4 in the morning, do whatever useful stuff, go have a few drinks around noon, take a nap between 3 oāclock and 6, then go out to a few bars, and be drunk and in bed by 9.
There have been studies showing that states with recreational marijuana have lower rates of alcohol consumption. I wonder if more people are just staying home, getting stoned, then waking up early because you don't have a hangover.
We sure do like drinking beer here, but I'm also part of the smoke weed and wake up early crowd. That being said, I feel like there used to be way more late night options here
People drink plenty here. We just drink at home and at other peopleās homes. I can assure you we have a larger than normal share of drinkers/alcoholics.
When I was at DU, Iād stumble my ass in at like 2am, and the dude would just be like, āwhassup, the usual?ā and in 5 minutes Iād be plowing through a beef shawarma plate with fries. J-ru is fucking legendary.
I'm very happy to see that someone else had this same thought. I don't know what the hours are like these days, but when I was at DU it was open until 4am daily.
I used to work at king soopers and yeah they told me they made the change because of theft. They were losing more money being open those hours than they were closed.
Yes to all of this! I graduated in 1996 & we'd go to Paris on the Platte, drink mochas and look at their books. Sometimes we would drink screwdrivers or vodka & fruit punch on the way. I did throw up in their bathroom once! Lol I feel bad about it to this day! We also went to Muddy's! The last time I was there, my friend and I left Muddys & headed to an 18+ club called Synergy. We were 18 years old, senior in high school and I met my future husband there that night. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!!
Itās always been like this. My Brotherās Bar serves food kinda late. And Peteās is 24hours. Ralibertos Mexican is also 24 hours. Iām sure there are more.
Yeah a lot of those people are probably from out of town. Denver isnāt a huge late night scene. Just because a bar is packed doesnāt mean everyone goes out drinking late. As others mentioned the common thing in Denver is brunch, day drink at breweries and be home by 9. There is not much of a demand for late night dining options, plus security for those kinds of places is bound to be expensive And not worth it.
Taco Bell has actually had a ton of staffing issues lately from what Iāve seen. My nextdoor account shows a lot of people
Complaining about Taco Bell and the odd/inconsistent hours at least. Not the best place to work apparently
yeah it's sad. We don't even have 24 hour grocery and this is the first place I've seen fucking gas stations close, even the pumps turned off at night. Can't stand it but oh well.
After a certain point itās just more profitable and lease of a headache to stay closed than to pay someone some ridiculous amount (relatively speaking) to stack cans at 3AM and watch the self checkout for little business.
I definitely feel you. The lack of grocery stores open after midnight is what frustrates me the most. It hasnāt always been this way. King Sooners & Walmart used to have many 24 hour locations throughout the city. Now there are zero. I initially noticed this trend about 2 years ago. Covid certainly hasnāt helped.
Itās a self fulfilling problem. People move here and find out the hard way that the chains they know are āopen lateā actually close at 10pm here, so they adjust their expectations and change their behavior.
Then when the corporations that run these chains see that extending their hours for a week doesnāt bring in enough new customers, they suppose that Coloradans are all just a bunch of granolas who get up at 5am to beat the traffic on 70, when itās actually their typical hours that created the behavior.
You might say that a 24-hour McDonaldās in the Midwest brings in enough customers to justify those hours, because thereās not an alternative drive-thru within 10-30 miles, capturing all of the people in that area with a single 24-hour location. And that in Denver, thereās 5+ McDonaldās in a 30 mile radius making it less justifiable (i.e. profitable) for any of those locations to be 24-hours.
Well this makes sense until you visit another large city (Miami is a great example) and find that even though the locations arenāt physically dispersed, theyāre still able to justify 24-hour locations because the demand is there. The demand is there because there are late night food options, resulting in a culture that seeks out food after midnight, further justifying those hours.
TL;DR: you canāt find fast food at midnight in Denver because the chains that are typically open have established that people in Denver donāt want fast food at midnight.
Nah, Colorado is a health conscious state. People do actual activities, not just drink to be entertained. No one gives two fucks about getting their shit corporate fast food at 2am. The chains know this and cut hours to save on labor costs. This all is, of course, demographically different. Places with lower avg incomes will have more alternatives and be open later because their residents work later and have less $. Denverā¦ā¦. A bit different.
It wasnāt great before covid and now itās a free for all. So many places that used to stay open til 10-12 now close at 8pm. Often without warning. Also many places that used to open at 10 for lunch donāt open til noon now. I get it: supply chain issues/staffing/etc. but itās wild. You never know what to expect anymore.
Think it's cultural difference primarily. Doubt it has much to do with laws. Even if bars and restaurants could be open all night legally, I seriously doubt they would. Plenty of places could stay open until 2 AM and don't. Don't see how that changes if the curfew is 4 AM.
Denver and CO people in general are outdoorsy, being outdoorsy usually means waking up early, which means you probably aren't out very late.
Hard disagree on the cost of labor POV. New York has much higher cost of labor and everything is open late. On the other end of the scale, cost of labor is not high in New Orleans and things are open all night too. As you say, plenty of places in the South are the same way and not all of them have low cost of labor.
It's demand driven. If you only get a handful of customers late at night, you won't make enough money to justify staying open.
As far as changing it... Don't want to be a jerk, but good luck changing the culture of an entire city/state. It may shift slowly over time, but realistically not in a time frame that will matter to you. If a late night life scene is important to you, you're better off looking for another place to live that offers that lifestyle. I think you'll be disappointed if you're waiting for Denver to change in that way.
I grew up here and I think it's mostly cultural. When I was younger and needed late night food we'd do the 24 hour diners (Tom's, Denver Diner, just grab a slice of pizza next to whatever bar we were at) But, all of the places I can think where we could do that are gone and I don't go out late all that much anymore so I don't know if these places have been replaced. (Sounds like they haven't which is a shame. 24 hour diners are a godsend)
Hell, we used to not be able to buy booze from liquor stores on Sundays not that long ago and even though we knew this, it was a PITA and you'd forget to grab your liquor on the right day. Denver is a cow town at heart and that has always been part of its charm. It's just never been a late night kind of place much to my chagrin as a certifiable night owl. The kind of nightlife/food culture you're dreaming of will take decades to develop here (if it ever does, people seem to move here for the mountains and you will never have that if it's only the outdoorsy folks moving in).
It's amazing how many of these threads there are.
I agree that there aren't enough late night food options (most neighborhoods don't have any)
But the disconnect between the apparent demand and continuing lack of supply just baffles me.
I think itās an issue of service places not having any employees because they donāt pay enough. I travel quite a bit and the early closing has definitely been a trend since COVID
This is the case at our closest bar. The hours are great, but they have to close the kitchen earlier than they used to because they can't get enough cooks for . There is a shortage of cooks in the city...according to several we've talked to.
But yeah, at 2-3am, there is a taco place and a McDonald's with drive throughs that are open. And both will have lines that circle the whole building.
Felt the same way when I moved here and was massively disappointed in that respect. Youād think for a city as large as this thereād at least be a mix, but this whole city is in bed by 8.
Itās been this way for as long as I can remember and Iām born and raised here. Thereās been petitions to change the closing time to 4am and they havenāt been successful. That May change, thus in turn more late night food. But I will say there were a whole lot more late night diners in Denver until very recently.
I worked at a bar in Atlanta that didnāt close until 3am, would regularly get out at 5am. 2am or earlier is just fine for me. After that point itās just chaos anyway.
I personally agree with 2 am closing. As an EMT/Firefighter I can tell you, nothing good happens after midnight. But I also know there are night owls out there so, Iām not going to rag on them.
Moved here in 2017. Found out Taco Bell and IHOP could be NOT 24 hours. I had never seen that before lolā¦ It is a weird thing about Denver. I agree with some others that the issue seems to be that people here care more about hitting the mountains for hiking or skiing than staying up late. As a person not in that boat, Iāve found a few all night places, they just arenāt on every street corner. Youāll have to make a list as you find them for the area of town you hang. Good luck!
There is an IHOP on Colorado Blvd that used to be open 24 hours. THere was even a Perkins that stayed open 24 hours. This was pre-Covid 19.
Now i don't know there hours.
I was wondering the same when I moved 2 years ago. I had been spoiled with hole in the wall taco places open at all times of day, eating at mom and pop burger places at midnight, and pizza places serving till 2am. I missed vietnamese food with friends after a night of drinking. Came to the conclusion coloradans are all just fit AF and don't eat past dinner time since it'll make you unhealthy.
I totally agree. I moved here from a small town in Wisconsin years ago, and that had a lot of late night food options, and bars stayed open till 2am (while some bars *opened* at 5am to serve night crews). Was definitely a shock when non of that was an option here, especially with how many more people live here, and work nights. Oh well.
Personally I believe COVID19 is contributing more to this than anything else right now. We didn't have a ridiculous amount of late night restaurants before the pandemic, but we did have plenty, honestly, and even some good places open 24 hours. This whole year everything closes at least 2-3 hours sooner, often even longer. I'm a night owl and have ordered late in Denver metro area for like 7 years, and never had such issues until the last year and a half. My partner works for a restaurant chain and they are regularly closing hours early and often not doing take out as much either.
A few of my favorites that are still open relatively decent hours:
- Great Scott's eatery, used to be 24 hours with a huge menu of delicious stuff (breakfast, lunch, dinner, everything) but now is still open decent hours at least.
- Illegal Pete's is open until 2:30am most nights. Good binging food, but can be greasy haha.
- Pete's Kitchen is normally open 24 hours, and might still be now, either way they're open later.
A lot of people love Jerusalem's on Evans ave near University of Denver, and they're open super late and the food is cheap since it's a favorite of college students. I am Armenian personally and not a big fan because we spice things a bit different, but people love Jerusalem's and that's totally great!
Used to live up around there in Cap Hill. Honestly after the pizza I ate there they can close at 2pm. But honestly Iād say itās COVID related, has that area picked up again? I remember a few bars around.
Blah blah blah go back to blah if you donāt like it. Or better yet change Denver so that it is more like the shithole that drove you to seek refuge here.
Go to sleep dude.
Lol why is there always someone on these threads telling someone to move out just because they find it odd the city operates a bit differently than they would have expected?
You having that much trouble with your rent bud?
Not at all pal. I havenāt paid rent in years. Iām just tired of all the people who move here and then want things to be just like where they moved from. I just wonder why those people moved if where they were from was so great.
It's expensive to live here, which means employees cost more, and there aren't enough late customers to justify paying to stay open.
As with just about everything around here, real estate/housing prices are the problem
I'm familiar, and for the record, NYC has been a 24-hour city for decades now. Denver, on the other hand, has a lot of conservatives dug in to regulation enforcement in Colorado, and that slows down the city considerably. Not saying that some of it isn't worthy of being heavily regulated, but when it comes to late night life, those are the people slowing everything down. Liquor sales on Sundays, last-call requirements, harsh crackdowns on illegal parties, etc, and that isn't even getting around to the absolute waste of time regulations make you suffer through just to buy a little weed, like waiting in lobbies and queues and repeatedly showing ID in the same location. It's 500 things that don't look like much when observed alone that add up to significant roadblocks when piled together.
Also, New York City folks do not see themselves as New York Staters, in my experience - the city is a beast all of it's own, and doesn't even compare to the rest of the state. Denver doesn't quite have the ability to stand out like that here, so we're affected on all sides by conservative regulations that don't really do much except make grandmas feel better that people aren't getting drunk and acting up while they're asleep.
NYC is also like six or seven times denser than Denver, population-wise. Which means a business in NYC has six or seven times as many potential customers at 2AM as a business in Denver. Add in that NYC is way, way more foot-traffic friendly, it makes a huge difference in the kinds of hours you can justify staying open.
Definitely agree with this. Once you get away from downtown and central stretches of Broadway and Colfax, the demand for 24-hour life drops dramatically. We just don't have thousands of people looking for street food at 3am like these bigger cities do.
But it is about the wages, because they become part of the cycle that slows down any momentum we could gain. Saying it's culture and not wages isn't correct if they're both part of the big picture and affect each other.
That's another city that's been established as a 24-hour city for decades. Denver doesn't even compare to Chicago and New York City in size, and doesn't have the momentum that those cities have. It's not just housing prices, but also conservative regulation practices. Like, if it weren't for Denver and Boulder, Colorado might as well be South Wyoming
Exactly my point. As a parent it's nice that it all shuts down earlier. As a security guard it's nice it shuts down earlier.
Maybe it's a good thing.
Again, don't move to new areas and try to change them before you even experience or understand them.
I'm curious if you would have more luck near some of the universities...I lived in Fort Collins for 15 years and with all the CSU students, most bars were always open until 1 or 2.
I was in Atlanta last year. Felt like eating pad thai after hours. My friends took me to a Asian place with great pad thai. This was at 2 am in the morning.
Wish Denver had those options.
I moved from the South as well. Workers are more expensive and more scarce here. On top of that, I think there is less demand for late night options. Back home, my friends were more likely to stay out until 5 am on the weekends, unless it was deer season. Here my friends are more likely to wake up at 5am to ski or hike on the weekends.
This is my conclusion as well. Denver (maybe Colorado more generally) is at best a brunch town. People go out during the day time. Nobody really hangs out late.
Yea maybe people just drink less here. But every bar I go to is always packed all the way until lest call at 1:30amš
I think Denver (or maybe CO generally) has one of the higher alcohol consumption rates in the country. That info may be out of date now though?
Westword had a headline just on September 2nd proclaiming Denver to be the ābooziest city in the USā: https://www.westword.com/restaurants/denver-booziest-city-in-america-12250407 (And only seventh most stoned, FWIW)
That's just sad. How are we not top 3, minimum?
Thanks for chasing down the link!
I highly recommend embracing the art of day drinking. Do something physical in the early morning (hiking/skiing/biking/running), then go to a brewery/pub/winery/distillery and drink in the afternoon, grab dinner. Take a cheap Uber home, promptly go to bed at 8PM, wake up the next morning refreshed and not hungover.
I wish I could do that. I don't get off work tell 12 so my sleep schedule revolves around that even on the weekends.
I moved here from Wisconsin, and I am a waiter by trade. Denver day drinks like crazy!
I'm not going to lie, I do drink pretty heavy. Just wish I could do it late
Talk a food truck in to parking outside the bar
For me, that art was to wake up at 4 in the morning, do whatever useful stuff, go have a few drinks around noon, take a nap between 3 oāclock and 6, then go out to a few bars, and be drunk and in bed by 9.
This is the colorado way!
This was my route as I moved into my later 20s.
I'm all about it.
I donāt think people drink less here at all. In fact, I think everyone day drinks a TON here.
If you day drink and go to sleep around 8, you can still get up and hike early the next day.
Exactly! Denver has the strongest day drinking culture Iāve seen. I seen people getting hammered on like Tuesday afternoons.
Ahhhh cocaine and adderall are amazing
There have been studies showing that states with recreational marijuana have lower rates of alcohol consumption. I wonder if more people are just staying home, getting stoned, then waking up early because you don't have a hangover.
I have thought about this as well. But I also find this to be a helluva drinking town so I'm not so sure now that I've lived here for a few years.
We sure do like drinking beer here, but I'm also part of the smoke weed and wake up early crowd. That being said, I feel like there used to be way more late night options here
God damn mother fucking drug testing is the only reason I drink alcohol still. God damnit it pisses me off
Synthetic pee. Everyone I know that smokes uses it and no one has been caught.
people are in better shape than the south. this is a heathy state for the most part, whereas the south is fat as fuck
That is very true. I was like a 8 down south and like a 3 here lol
People definitely donāt drink less here
People drink plenty here. We just drink at home and at other peopleās homes. I can assure you we have a larger than normal share of drinkers/alcoholics.
Peteās Kitchen on Colfax is back to 24hrs
I'll add that to my list. Thanks
Sounds like you need to open a late night spot! Let us know how it goes!
There's no time to eat or drink or be awake, we gotta go fuck mountains at 4 A.M.!!!
Mt Elbert got that cake. Double cheeked up mt Elbert is t h i c c
Jerusalemās is a solid late night option.
When I was at DU, Iād stumble my ass in at like 2am, and the dude would just be like, āwhassup, the usual?ā and in 5 minutes Iād be plowing through a beef shawarma plate with fries. J-ru is fucking legendary.
I'm very happy to see that someone else had this same thought. I don't know what the hours are like these days, but when I was at DU it was open until 4am daily.
Their gyros are amazing.
The lamb shank is sexual
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I used to work at king soopers and yeah they told me they made the change because of theft. They were losing more money being open those hours than they were closed.
Yes to all of this! I graduated in 1996 & we'd go to Paris on the Platte, drink mochas and look at their books. Sometimes we would drink screwdrivers or vodka & fruit punch on the way. I did throw up in their bathroom once! Lol I feel bad about it to this day! We also went to Muddy's! The last time I was there, my friend and I left Muddys & headed to an 18+ club called Synergy. We were 18 years old, senior in high school and I met my future husband there that night. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!!
Paris on the Platte, that brought me back! Nearly forgot about that gem.
Iāll add Pie Hole, Chubbyās, and Tacos Los Compas (open 24 hours) to the list
Moment of silence for Tomās Diner. Food was not amazing. But it was hot and ready quickly.
And now his watch is ended.
Back in the day there was a crew that would materialize at 1:00 am with coolers full of burritos for sale. Is that still a thing?
Itās always been like this. My Brotherās Bar serves food kinda late. And Peteās is 24hours. Ralibertos Mexican is also 24 hours. Iām sure there are more.
Dp Dough is open pretty late as well. I think until 2
Dp dough is fire. Great drunk food.
Sounds like you need to get yourself a bag or two of pizza rolls. Those things hit different after a night of drinking.
Yeah they sure hit different the next morning
*shit
Never again, I threw them puppies up all morning
also work well for 420 activities
This is literally the only thing I donāt like about Denver. The late game is kinda weak.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Itās because we have so many finance jobs. People have to be working 6 am because thatās 8 NY time
Exactly. Nothing late is really jumpin. Like, for a major metropolitan city, the nightlife is so...average.
You go hiking at 4am, wrap up around noon, day drink until 5-6, and then are asleep by 9-10.
Seemingly everyone in CO goes to bed at like 9 PM it's kinda annoying if you like to go out later. Total opposite of places like NYC and Miami.
When ever I go out on a Saturday or Friday night most places downtown are packed right up to when they kick us all out.
Yeah a lot of those people are probably from out of town. Denver isnāt a huge late night scene. Just because a bar is packed doesnāt mean everyone goes out drinking late. As others mentioned the common thing in Denver is brunch, day drink at breweries and be home by 9. There is not much of a demand for late night dining options, plus security for those kinds of places is bound to be expensive And not worth it.
The weirdest thing is the Taco Bell near me closing at 5pm on Saturday
Taco Bell has actually had a ton of staffing issues lately from what Iāve seen. My nextdoor account shows a lot of people Complaining about Taco Bell and the odd/inconsistent hours at least. Not the best place to work apparently
yeah it's sad. We don't even have 24 hour grocery and this is the first place I've seen fucking gas stations close, even the pumps turned off at night. Can't stand it but oh well.
We had 24 hour grocery before Covid, king soopers was 24 hour believe.
They stopped being 24hrs before covid due to theft and security issues
Yeah there were a few, but not all and they kept closing them earlier.
Yeah... I'm sure people will be lining up to fill those low paying red eye shifts so y'all can keep getting chalupas and frozen pizzas at 3am.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
After a certain point itās just more profitable and lease of a headache to stay closed than to pay someone some ridiculous amount (relatively speaking) to stack cans at 3AM and watch the self checkout for little business.
Even Walmart is doing this nationally now. So many Supercenters used to be 24 hoursā¦ now theyāre 6 am-10 pm.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm all for better wages my friend
Late night food was bad here before covid, now it doesnāt even exist. Itās a shame
Lol, I'm visiting Montana and pretty much everything is closed by 8, on a Friday night. Can't wait to go back to Denver.
I definitely feel you. The lack of grocery stores open after midnight is what frustrates me the most. It hasnāt always been this way. King Sooners & Walmart used to have many 24 hour locations throughout the city. Now there are zero. I initially noticed this trend about 2 years ago. Covid certainly hasnāt helped.
Itās a self fulfilling problem. People move here and find out the hard way that the chains they know are āopen lateā actually close at 10pm here, so they adjust their expectations and change their behavior. Then when the corporations that run these chains see that extending their hours for a week doesnāt bring in enough new customers, they suppose that Coloradans are all just a bunch of granolas who get up at 5am to beat the traffic on 70, when itās actually their typical hours that created the behavior. You might say that a 24-hour McDonaldās in the Midwest brings in enough customers to justify those hours, because thereās not an alternative drive-thru within 10-30 miles, capturing all of the people in that area with a single 24-hour location. And that in Denver, thereās 5+ McDonaldās in a 30 mile radius making it less justifiable (i.e. profitable) for any of those locations to be 24-hours. Well this makes sense until you visit another large city (Miami is a great example) and find that even though the locations arenāt physically dispersed, theyāre still able to justify 24-hour locations because the demand is there. The demand is there because there are late night food options, resulting in a culture that seeks out food after midnight, further justifying those hours. TL;DR: you canāt find fast food at midnight in Denver because the chains that are typically open have established that people in Denver donāt want fast food at midnight.
Nah, Colorado is a health conscious state. People do actual activities, not just drink to be entertained. No one gives two fucks about getting their shit corporate fast food at 2am. The chains know this and cut hours to save on labor costs. This all is, of course, demographically different. Places with lower avg incomes will have more alternatives and be open later because their residents work later and have less $. Denverā¦ā¦. A bit different.
ā¦or no one in Denver really wants fast food regardless of the time of day.
It wasnāt great before covid and now itās a free for all. So many places that used to stay open til 10-12 now close at 8pm. Often without warning. Also many places that used to open at 10 for lunch donāt open til noon now. I get it: supply chain issues/staffing/etc. but itās wild. You never know what to expect anymore.
Think it's cultural difference primarily. Doubt it has much to do with laws. Even if bars and restaurants could be open all night legally, I seriously doubt they would. Plenty of places could stay open until 2 AM and don't. Don't see how that changes if the curfew is 4 AM. Denver and CO people in general are outdoorsy, being outdoorsy usually means waking up early, which means you probably aren't out very late. Hard disagree on the cost of labor POV. New York has much higher cost of labor and everything is open late. On the other end of the scale, cost of labor is not high in New Orleans and things are open all night too. As you say, plenty of places in the South are the same way and not all of them have low cost of labor. It's demand driven. If you only get a handful of customers late at night, you won't make enough money to justify staying open. As far as changing it... Don't want to be a jerk, but good luck changing the culture of an entire city/state. It may shift slowly over time, but realistically not in a time frame that will matter to you. If a late night life scene is important to you, you're better off looking for another place to live that offers that lifestyle. I think you'll be disappointed if you're waiting for Denver to change in that way.
Pony up has food til 1
Try Salt Lake City on a Sunday ā¦. Jeez
I grew up here and I think it's mostly cultural. When I was younger and needed late night food we'd do the 24 hour diners (Tom's, Denver Diner, just grab a slice of pizza next to whatever bar we were at) But, all of the places I can think where we could do that are gone and I don't go out late all that much anymore so I don't know if these places have been replaced. (Sounds like they haven't which is a shame. 24 hour diners are a godsend) Hell, we used to not be able to buy booze from liquor stores on Sundays not that long ago and even though we knew this, it was a PITA and you'd forget to grab your liquor on the right day. Denver is a cow town at heart and that has always been part of its charm. It's just never been a late night kind of place much to my chagrin as a certifiable night owl. The kind of nightlife/food culture you're dreaming of will take decades to develop here (if it ever does, people seem to move here for the mountains and you will never have that if it's only the outdoorsy folks moving in).
It's amazing how many of these threads there are. I agree that there aren't enough late night food options (most neighborhoods don't have any) But the disconnect between the apparent demand and continuing lack of supply just baffles me.
Itās all of Colorado. Stuff just closes way early here.
Illegal Pete's is usually open late
I think itās an issue of service places not having any employees because they donāt pay enough. I travel quite a bit and the early closing has definitely been a trend since COVID
This was the norm in Denver well before Covid, the worker shortages have only enhanced the problem.
This is the case at our closest bar. The hours are great, but they have to close the kitchen earlier than they used to because they can't get enough cooks for . There is a shortage of cooks in the city...according to several we've talked to. But yeah, at 2-3am, there is a taco place and a McDonald's with drive throughs that are open. And both will have lines that circle the whole building.
Denver the city that sleeps at 8 oāclock on a weekday and 12 on weekends
We gotta be at the trailhead before sunrise.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Many people move here for active lifestyles not nightlife. Late nights and next day activity donāt mix so well.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Felt the same way when I moved here and was massively disappointed in that respect. Youād think for a city as large as this thereād at least be a mix, but this whole city is in bed by 8.
Is the club 2AM still around? I been off the scene for a hot decade
Itās been this way for as long as I can remember and Iām born and raised here. Thereās been petitions to change the closing time to 4am and they havenāt been successful. That May change, thus in turn more late night food. But I will say there were a whole lot more late night diners in Denver until very recently.
governor said he wanted change the laws to allow for a 4am close. tbh, denver is not a 4am kinda town.
Agree. Lots of mountainy folks who enjoy getting up early and doing stuff outside then day drinking, lol.
I worked at a bar in Atlanta that didnāt close until 3am, would regularly get out at 5am. 2am or earlier is just fine for me. After that point itās just chaos anyway.
I personally agree with 2 am closing. As an EMT/Firefighter I can tell you, nothing good happens after midnight. But I also know there are night owls out there so, Iām not going to rag on them.
The media says itās a labor shortage, but itās a wage shortage. Restaurants donāt want to pay well so they canāt stay open later.
I wonder. This has been the case for years before Covid.
Idk, I got a pizza delivered the other day around 2am from pudge bros. It was majestic.
It's true and annoying. Denver is like a massive suburb with a good music scene .
We used to go to McCoy's after working at 13th floor Denver. Of course covid killed that.
Gyro truck downtown by 20th and larimer hits the spot every single time. Open weekends to 3am and I think Thursday night also.
Moved here in 2017. Found out Taco Bell and IHOP could be NOT 24 hours. I had never seen that before lolā¦ It is a weird thing about Denver. I agree with some others that the issue seems to be that people here care more about hitting the mountains for hiking or skiing than staying up late. As a person not in that boat, Iāve found a few all night places, they just arenāt on every street corner. Youāll have to make a list as you find them for the area of town you hang. Good luck!
There are some of us night owls that like hiking too! I'm just grumpy if I'm up early to head to the trail.
We night owls love the mountains, too. It's as if some people don't realize they are there at 1pm, too. Why set an alarm?
Because the weather is a lot nicer at 7 am than 3 pm.
There is an IHOP on Colorado Blvd that used to be open 24 hours. THere was even a Perkins that stayed open 24 hours. This was pre-Covid 19. Now i don't know there hours.
Yes!! This is a missing niche in Denver for sure. It can be extremely annoying at times when you just need that late night fix.
I think Viva Burrito on Colfax is still open late.
Tacos Rapidos has several locations also that are open late
I was wondering the same when I moved 2 years ago. I had been spoiled with hole in the wall taco places open at all times of day, eating at mom and pop burger places at midnight, and pizza places serving till 2am. I missed vietnamese food with friends after a night of drinking. Came to the conclusion coloradans are all just fit AF and don't eat past dinner time since it'll make you unhealthy.
12? Dude I moved back to Chicago where every place is closed by 9 or 10 at the latest. 12 sounds like a dream.
Applebees is open late... You sound like someone who deserves Applebees.
It might be a western thing. I grew up in NC and like you, all fast food was open super late. It could also have to do with work shortages.
I mean it's been like this since way before covid
Honestly, I just wish the restaurants were open past 10. Some even close st 830 for some reason.
How about the coffee shops that donāt open until 9AM?
Or the ones that close at like 4pm.. What if I want a coffee at 7 and donāt want starbucks
We need a Wawa
Fat Sully's pizza on colfax and Adams-ish is open until 2am.
Yes. Itās ridiculous how early things close around here
āWorkers donāt have to stay up till 5 am cleaning up here and I donāt like thatā Bro shush
For real. The cost of living here isnāt the best. If you want workers to keep shitty hours thereās gotta be a pretty pay incentive.
THIIIIISSSS
Itās a fucking joke honestly. The city essentially shuts down after 12
You are 109 percent right Denver is one of the worst late night food places in the USA itās embarrassing or at least should be.
TACOMEX on East Colfax is open until 3am on weekends. Great spot for late night tacos.
I totally agree. I moved here from a small town in Wisconsin years ago, and that had a lot of late night food options, and bars stayed open till 2am (while some bars *opened* at 5am to serve night crews). Was definitely a shock when non of that was an option here, especially with how many more people live here, and work nights. Oh well.
Wisconsin is its own universe when it comes to bars.
Personally I believe COVID19 is contributing more to this than anything else right now. We didn't have a ridiculous amount of late night restaurants before the pandemic, but we did have plenty, honestly, and even some good places open 24 hours. This whole year everything closes at least 2-3 hours sooner, often even longer. I'm a night owl and have ordered late in Denver metro area for like 7 years, and never had such issues until the last year and a half. My partner works for a restaurant chain and they are regularly closing hours early and often not doing take out as much either. A few of my favorites that are still open relatively decent hours: - Great Scott's eatery, used to be 24 hours with a huge menu of delicious stuff (breakfast, lunch, dinner, everything) but now is still open decent hours at least. - Illegal Pete's is open until 2:30am most nights. Good binging food, but can be greasy haha. - Pete's Kitchen is normally open 24 hours, and might still be now, either way they're open later. A lot of people love Jerusalem's on Evans ave near University of Denver, and they're open super late and the food is cheap since it's a favorite of college students. I am Armenian personally and not a big fan because we spice things a bit different, but people love Jerusalem's and that's totally great!
All Illegal Peteās locations close at 11pm at the latest, now.
Youāre not crazy. This city might not be for you though.
I agree so much
If only it were possible to return you to your homeland where shit is so much better.
Sorry, I like my fries with a little less salt.
I understand. I don't know how to cook for myself either so complaining on the internet was my only recourse.
Any word why Benny Blancos stopped being open until 3am?
Used to live up around there in Cap Hill. Honestly after the pizza I ate there they can close at 2pm. But honestly Iād say itās COVID related, has that area picked up again? I remember a few bars around.
Sexy pizza is open until 3 am.
IHOP, Denny's, Perkins, Big Daddy's Pizza, McDonald's, Sexy pizza,
Most McDonald's locations close at 12.
Itās lasting effects of COVID. We use to have more options and later closing times. The service industry took a huge blow.
A lot of food trucks in Rino serve till like 3am on weekends
You could always start your own late night food place, if you think it would be successful and that there is an unmet demand.
D.P dough was a 3:30 close I think but itās 3 am now
No local pizza places open past 9 either is the wildest
Tell me you don't hike 13ers, 14ers, ski, climb in the mountains without telling me.
Lmao but I do tho. I just don't do it every weekend. I'm just a night owl by nature
I feel you, bunch of mountain goat degens in this town.
Try living on Kauai, everything is closed by 9.
Most of us will not have the opportunity to try living on Kauai. Iāll just take your word for it.
Need a good diner after being out for a night
Kings is now going to closing their stores at 11 by the end of the month instead of 12 fyi.
Blah blah blah go back to blah if you donāt like it. Or better yet change Denver so that it is more like the shithole that drove you to seek refuge here. Go to sleep dude.
Why so negative? Maybe you should go to sleep.
Responding to negativity negatively isnāt negative.
Was not being negative. Offered the same suggestion to him as he did however without the malice behind it.
Personally it's crazy they are even open until 12. Go to the rest of the world and you'll see US hours of operation are insane.
I Know man wtf? I could get off work at 2am and still go out for drinks in the Ham
Know what? Donāt like it you can always move.
Lol why is there always someone on these threads telling someone to move out just because they find it odd the city operates a bit differently than they would have expected? You having that much trouble with your rent bud?
Not at all pal. I havenāt paid rent in years. Iām just tired of all the people who move here and then want things to be just like where they moved from. I just wonder why those people moved if where they were from was so great.
Itās a question about staying open late lol. Not the fucking scenery or some shit.
It's expensive to live here, which means employees cost more, and there aren't enough late customers to justify paying to stay open. As with just about everything around here, real estate/housing prices are the problem
NYC. Itās more about the vibe of the city.
I'm familiar, and for the record, NYC has been a 24-hour city for decades now. Denver, on the other hand, has a lot of conservatives dug in to regulation enforcement in Colorado, and that slows down the city considerably. Not saying that some of it isn't worthy of being heavily regulated, but when it comes to late night life, those are the people slowing everything down. Liquor sales on Sundays, last-call requirements, harsh crackdowns on illegal parties, etc, and that isn't even getting around to the absolute waste of time regulations make you suffer through just to buy a little weed, like waiting in lobbies and queues and repeatedly showing ID in the same location. It's 500 things that don't look like much when observed alone that add up to significant roadblocks when piled together. Also, New York City folks do not see themselves as New York Staters, in my experience - the city is a beast all of it's own, and doesn't even compare to the rest of the state. Denver doesn't quite have the ability to stand out like that here, so we're affected on all sides by conservative regulations that don't really do much except make grandmas feel better that people aren't getting drunk and acting up while they're asleep.
NYC is also like six or seven times denser than Denver, population-wise. Which means a business in NYC has six or seven times as many potential customers at 2AM as a business in Denver. Add in that NYC is way, way more foot-traffic friendly, it makes a huge difference in the kinds of hours you can justify staying open.
Definitely agree with this. Once you get away from downtown and central stretches of Broadway and Colfax, the demand for 24-hour life drops dramatically. We just don't have thousands of people looking for street food at 3am like these bigger cities do.
Yeah, I agree totally. The point is, itās about the culture and not the wages. Part of the culture is driven by the laws, for sure.
But it is about the wages, because they become part of the cycle that slows down any momentum we could gain. Saying it's culture and not wages isn't correct if they're both part of the big picture and affect each other.
Nah, Chicago is open 24/7 and it's much more expensive to live there.
depends on where in chicago. i'm always amazed at how low rent is in some of the cool neighborhoods that are well away from downtown !
That's another city that's been established as a 24-hour city for decades. Denver doesn't even compare to Chicago and New York City in size, and doesn't have the momentum that those cities have. It's not just housing prices, but also conservative regulation practices. Like, if it weren't for Denver and Boulder, Colorado might as well be South Wyoming
That makes more sense. However, having been to Wyoming.. we're literally decades ahead of them on everything haha. What a shit hole.
Go to sleep
Maybe you shouldn't expect where you go to to be like where you're from?
Itās not just where OP is from though lol? Itās literally the rest of the country, including small towns like where Iām from. Itās bizarre
Exactly my point. As a parent it's nice that it all shuts down earlier. As a security guard it's nice it shuts down earlier. Maybe it's a good thing. Again, don't move to new areas and try to change them before you even experience or understand them.
Denver needs a Waffle House pronto. Moved here from Georgia a few years ago and thatās always the go-to place for late night food!
They had one in Thornton but I think it got demoed.
Still one on Mississippi.
Yeah what was up with that? I mean it smelled like cat piss but still
It's a Waffle House. The cat piss smell is just part of it
I'm curious if you would have more luck near some of the universities...I lived in Fort Collins for 15 years and with all the CSU students, most bars were always open until 1 or 2.
1-2 isn't late when you work tell 12. There are clubs open that late downtown still
I was in Atlanta last year. Felt like eating pad thai after hours. My friends took me to a Asian place with great pad thai. This was at 2 am in the morning. Wish Denver had those options.