Board games and bespoke drinks at Bar Max

STAFF FAVORITE

Along with cocktails — both alcoholic and spirit-free — and snacks like charcuterie and cheese boards, Bar Max also has a selection of board games and hosts events like movie nights and gatherings for local writers and creatives. BETH RANKIN — THE DENVER POST

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By Beth Rankin

brankin@denverpost.com

Even in a city like Denver, there aren’t many bars like Bar Max.

Nestled across the street from the Carla Madison Recreation Center on East Colfax, this cozy, plant-filled oasis is a haven for cocktail lovers, cinephiles and bookworms — the Sie FilmCenter and Tattered Cover are a block away — and board-game lovers who raid the bar’s game stash or bring their own.

It was one of the first watering holes in the city to offer a robust non-alcoholic drink menu and includes a Choose Your Own Adventure option that lets drinkers select from a 100-option flavor wheel so the bartender can build a custom drink tailored to individual palates.

The cocktail menu is broken down by flavor profile and alcohol level — with categories like Savory, Sparkling and Sweet-ish — and includes a few local beer options, wine and snacks such as charcuterie and cheese boards. Astrology fans will even find cocktails catered to each star sign.

Impeccable service and warm, candle-lit vibes aside, Bar Max — named a Denver Legacy Business in 2024 — is a place that wears its values on its sleeve. A rainbow flag flies above the bar even outside of Pride month, and the menu touts discounts for educators (the owner is a teacher himself), health care workers, artists and pro-choice workers. During the most tenuous moments of the pandemic, it became one of the first Denver businesses to require a COVID-19 vaccine in order to imbibe there.

The menu denotes which spirits are made in Colorado or come from businesses owned by women, people of color or members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The bar recently launched Community Tuesdays, a weekly series with events ranging from movie nights to open mics and storytelling events.

Bar Max is the kind of place that can be whatever you need it to be: a cozy bartop to sip solo and read a book, a spot to host your next Boggle and bourbon game night, or a pit stop before or after a movie at the Sie or dinner at Sap Sua.

Everything this bar does, it does well — and with a sense of purpose and community that sets it apart from other Denver cocktail bars.

Bar Max, 2412 E. Colfax Ave., barmax.co