Brooklyn Memories

And no, I am not talking about one of the 5 boroughs in New York City. I am talking about Brooklyn's the restaurant and bar located on lower Colfax Avenue here in Denver. It is now actually called The Original Brooklyn's to distinguish it from the Brooklyn's on Auraria Parkway near Ball Arena, home of the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. This Brooklyn's is located at the edge of the parking lot for Empower Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos. Needless to say, it is packed during the football season, but much quieter during the offseason. Lower Colfax runs below the Colfax Avenue overpass that connects downtown Denver with the Sloans Lake neighborhood and was once an area filled with warehouses and factories.

The building Brooklyn's is in was built in 1896 and located in the predominately Jewish neighborhood of Colfax. Around the turn of the 20th Century, a number of shopkeepers incorporated a small section of the town and named it Brooklyn, after Brooklyn, New York, due to the many Jewish immigrants who settled in the neighborhood. At the time, anyone heading to the foothills or going into Denver, including herds of cattle, had to pass by this building. A man named Eli Schachet, a prominent member of the Jewish community, rented and eventually purchased the building to house his meat business, and it eventually became a mercantile and community gathering place. Customers included Jack Benny, the Marx Brothers, and Bugsy Siegel. Eli's son Nelson took over the business, and from him it was purchased to become Brooklyn's, which opened in December of 1983.

I have had dinner here a number of times over the years and really enjoy the ambiance. The last time I visited the place was when the Colorado Buffalos and Colorado State Rams were playing each other in Empower Field. The place was packed, and I went out into the outside patio and had a beer at the bar. It is a really pleasant space to hang out, although as you can see from the photograph on the left, it is not too popular during the winter. Also, on that occasion, the neighborhood was still filled with factories and warehouses. When I stopped by the other day, I noticed that a huge apartment building was going up right next door. And there are plans to turn the parking lots of Empower Field, just across the street, into a mixed-use development. Also, Meow Wolf, the interactive art museum (called Convergence Station here in Denver) is located just up the street. Evidently a lot of visitors to that art space stop at Brooklyn's first, because their web site warns them to make sure they arrive on time at Convergence Station, since they are sticklers concerning ticketed entrance times. Otherwise, if you are turned away, you might wind up back at Brooklyn's to drown your sorrows. There are worse things that can happen in life.