1. What can people expect when they walk into the Elm? How would you describe it?

When you walk into The Elm, you are greeted with a smile and a "hello" from one of our friendly servers. We pride ourselves in being a fun neighborhood pub that serves great food and drink at reasonable prices. Whether you are looking for a delicious meal with the family, a place to watch the game with friends, or a night out on the town, The Elm is your spot. We offer happy hour deals that just can't be beat. Come enjoy our patio, which is open year round and features a pool table. We also have live trivia every Tuesday and Texas hold'em every Wednesday.

2. The Elm is obviously a Red Sox bar. Do you also promote other Boston teams such as the Bruins, Celtics or Patriots?

We feature all the Boston teams, but are also fans of the local Denver teams. We carry all NFL, MLB, NHL, and College Football games on our sports programming packages.

3. Is there any significance to the green exterior of the building?

The exterior of The Elm is highlighted by the original green sandstone. This architecture is from the days early last century when this spot hosted a drug store and soda fountain. The interior was designed to match the art deco appearance of the outside.

4. Do you get Boston fans from around the metro area? How far have some fans traveled to catch a game at the Elm?

We are the best place in Colorado to watch all Boston teams. When Boston fans from all over the world are in Denver, they find The Elm when googling "Boston sports bars in Denver." We get fans in from all over the country and around the world.

5. The Elm opened in 2004. What was Colfax like back then and how has Colfax changed?

Colfax has changed a lot in the past 8 years. Gone are the days of watching the "Working Girls" and drug dealers do their commerce from the front windows. This section of Colfax has improved drastically in a short time.

6. Why did the owners choose to open the Elm in this specific neighborhood off East Colfax?

There was a need for what we offer in this area. Park Hill is a very up and coming neighborhood and needed a upscale pub that represented the improving demographics.

7. Do think East Colfax will continue to improve and what is your vision for the area surrounding the Elm in the years to come?

This area of East Colfax is growing into a stronger, safer, and better community every day. We are excited to be here for many years to come and happy to be a part of this growth. Many great businesses are opening up on this stretch all the time, strengthening the overall community. We look forward to being a part of it.

https://sites.google.com/site/thestaylowlowdown/announcements/theelm

posted: May 1, 2011

posted: March 29, 2011

One of the newest sports bars in Cherry Creek North, Brandon’s Pub on Second Avenue and St Paul Street, has been adopted by the fans of the Auburn University Tigers who have a possible shot for the national championship. When the Auburn game comes on, all 17 television screens switch to that game and the Auburn cheering fans start screaming for their team while singing team fight songs and belting out cheers. When the Tigers score a touchdown, Brandon’s does shots, normally based around the team’s colors — orange and blue. There are also special menus with reduced prices which change every game day. Brandon’s owner Clemente Martinez declares, “They love their team and know how to have a great time. It’s almost like being in a big sky box at the stadium — it is that electric.”

A few blocks north at 575 St. Paul is the self-proclaimed Alabama Crimson Tide headquarters at the Irish Hound. During halftime the fans play bar games such as Big Buck Hunter and Pop-A-Shot Basketball while enjoying their famous menu items such as smoked pork and homemade potato chips. Irish whiskey and Irish beer are guaranteed to never run out. The ’Bama fans seem every bit as rabid as the hated rivals from Auburn.

Which brings us to our holiday suggestion for Chronicle sports fans. Why not watch this year’s bowl games by going to the sport bars in the Valley that have adopted one of the teams playing in a particular bowl. You’re going to have a good time and maybe go to a sports bar you never have been to before. There are always food and drink specials, and it is a wonderful way to meet a lot of fun people.

“My Saturdays revolve around college football games and they are pretty much the main social event of my weekend,” said Valley resident and Iowa Hawkeyes fan Erica Garvey. “Honestly during the fall I don’t really go out at night unless Iowa has a night game. Watching the game is one of my favorite ways to relax, unless my team is losing.”

Garvey continued, “I love watching football, but I admit that I go for the social aspect. It’s great to be surrounded by a hundred people all cheering for the same team. The enthusiasm is infectious and I always find someone to chat with. In fact, I met one of my best Chicago friends at a Steelers bar!” When they put out the list of dates, times and teams playing in bowl games just consult our handy list below for where to go.

Among the top sports bars that sponsor fans of a particular university expected to go to a bowl game are:

Alabama — Irish Hound, 575 St. Paul Street (just off 6th Avenue) Arkansas — Choppers Sports Grill, 80 S. Madison (just down from Gates Tennis Center) Auburn — Brandon’s Pub, 3027 East 2nd Avenue (Cherry Creek North) Boise State — Old Chicago, 1415 Market Street (Downtown Denver) Iowa — Sports Column, 1930 Blake Street (Downtown Denver) LSU — Brooklyn’s, 901 Auraria Parkway (One block from Pepsi Center) Michigan State — Blake Street Tavern, 23rd & Blake (one block north of Coors Field) Nebraska — Cap City Tavern, 1247 Bannock Street (Golden Triangle) Ohio State — Croc’s Mexican Bar & Grill, 1630 Market Street (Downtown Denver) Oklahoma State — The Fawning Goat, 846 Broadway Street (near Governor’s Park) Oregon — Jackson’s All American Sports Grill, 1520 20th Street (across from Coors Field) South Carolina — Don’s Mixed Drinks, 723 East 6th Avenue (south of Cheesman Park) Texas Christian — The Elm, 5001 East Colfax (Park Hill) Wisconsin — Swanky’s, 1938 Blake Street (Downtown Denver)

Ever since Jenn Sterger (most recently of Bret Favre fame) was discovered by ABC Sports doing a camera shot of the fans at a Florida State game, there has been an ongoing debate concerning which college team has the most attractive female fans. After touring the sports bars during the college bowl season, you can go to our Web site ( www.glendalecherrycreek.com ) and vote for which team has the most beautiful women cheering them on in the Cherry Creek Valley.

posted: January 16, 2011

Sometimes a new venue will throw old colleagues into the kind of mood where something different, wonderful and disturbing happens. I thoroughly blame Shannon, one of the girls at the office, for suggesting that we visit The Elm (5001 East Colfax Avenue, 303-336-5763). For me and the Head of Research at the Institute of Drinking Studies, the Elm is a walker -- a bar we can walk home from at the end of the night, knowing that we'll make it to our doors within an hour, weaving time included. And despite its location on East Colfax -- still regarded primarily as the setting of Johns TV, judging from several people I polled in a well-researched study -- it's one of the better bars we've been to lately.

The sign over the door, back-lit and red (I think -- we'd been lubricating ourselves with John Courage and George Dickel), screamed cool. The interior was just as cool, with metal furnishings, a pool table, a great jukebox, Golden Tee and the concrete floor recommended by frat houses everywhere for ease of cleanup when patrons have a habit of throwing up on their dates. We decided to sit out on the patio so we could enjoy the beautiful weather and converse without screaming at the top of our lungs.

The Elm was brought to us by our friends at the Irish Hound, so I knew the Black and Tan would be excellent -- and it was. The Head of Research was absent when we ordered, so my girlfriend, once again demonstrating why we all love her, got him a Cuba Libre. The drink "went down like ice water," he raved.

It could have been the warm night air, but more likely it was the rising blood-alcohol level that turned our conversation lascivious. Before we knew it, we were delving into the heart of human sexuality. Along with the Institute's new Head of Women's Studies and Head of Drinking Regrets, we conducted the first annual Drunk of the Week sex survey -- with results more profound than any Cosmo "study" or PenthouseForum.

Among the Institute's key discoveries: Those of you looking for an easy conquest should attend a wedding as soon as possible. Our research has been conducted primarily at Irish Catholic weddings, where the night typically degenerates into an old-school-style frat party at which the groom's friends are doing shots at the open bar with every woman present, including the bride's grandmother, and getting the bride's dad to do keg stands. Also typically, the night ends with the still-in-his-tux groom passing out in the honeymoon suite's bathtub and each bridesmaid with at least one of the groom's buddies, who all came to the wedding not to celebrate the love of the bride and groom, but to hook up with a bridesmaid. The bridesmaids, we suspect, came either to find a husband or to prove that they are still attractive even when forced to wear a hideous dress.

Another discovery: Sex is a dangerous undertaking. The Institute recommends that all participants protect themselves against not only sexually transmitted diseases but bodily harm by wearing full hockey gear, minus the pants. We collected numerous reports of bumps and bruises that could've been prevented by simple padding; we also uncovered instances of neurological injury. The Head of Research himself insists that damage to his radial nerve caused by sleeping with an over-excitable badger caused numbness in his hand for days.

Our most ground-breaking work, however, was getting two women to admit to something that guys have known for years -- an inequity that's the root cause of all conflict between men and women and probably the reason for most wars. The bottom line is that women can have sex anytime they want, while guys are totally at the mercy of a woman's desire, approval and schedule. In the beginning, of course, our female researchers vociferously denied this. Ultimately, though, they admitted that, unlike guys, they'd willingly turned down sex for non-physiological reasons. They also acknowledged that a woman is prone to return to an old boyfriend for one night's pleasure instead of "hooking up" with a "strange guy" so that she can feel less "slutty" about it.

Finally, the women insisted that a guy could have a companion every night if he'd just lower his standards. The problem with this assertion, however, is that guys haveno standards -- especially when drinking. Besides, the women freely admitted that they would never lower their standards, so we wouldn't stand a chance anyway.

Needless to say, we at the Institute have little hope that relations between men and women will improve in the near term. Guys will continue to regard sex as a recreational activity they can brag about (and, on a very subconscious level, use to find that special someone); women will continue to regard sex as a life-defining event with someone who could be, or at sometime in the past was, the "one." To further the debate, we suggest a few nights at the Elm. Or crashing the next possible wedding.

posted: January 12, 2011

I've been playing the guitar for ten-odd years now, the piano for about three. I can write a pop hook, a finger-picked acoustic ballad or a seven-minute-long minor-chord epic in less than an hour. I can layer those tracks with drum loops, percussive sounds and vocals, then digitally arrange the amalgamation into something resembling a song. I cannot, however, play (just for example) a single Green Day, Nirvana or Dave Matthews Band number with any confidence. Okay, at all.

I've always sort of despised Guy With Guitar. You've seen Guy — sitting in the grassy area of your college campus, strumming around the fire in your friend's back yard, squawking on the stairwell of the party you just decided to leave. Dude's a fucking menace. Needs his attention-craving ass kicked.

Yet here I am at The Elm (5001 East Colfax Avenue) — which is packed from the back bathrooms through the side patio, thanks to a thirteen-team, Tuesday-night Geeks Who Drink competition — drinking a pint of Smithwick's and agreeing to start a happy-hour cover band with my friend Ken. This decision has been a long time coming: Ken played pubs for years with great success back in Baltimore, is anxious to do so again here and has convinced me that I'm the guy for the job. The Guy With Guitar for the job. Sweet Jesus, what have I done?

With any luck, what I've done is sign myself up for free beer once or twice a month. This, at least, has been my major motivation thus far. When I played in touring indie-rock bands, clubs always gave us drink tickets or a bar tab, the value of which cannot be overestimated. I'm imagining a similar arrangement during these hypothetical happy-hour performances: We get our feet wet by offering to play for complimentary pitchers. Should the whole thing take off, we demand free booze and cash. Truckloads of it.

As the pints of Smithwick's keep coming, we discuss song ideas. Ken is a classic-rock guy, preferring standards from the late '60s and '70s. I've got my sights set on avoiding those decades altogether, and instead steer us toward an era in which I actually breathed. I have scribbled some ideas in my notepad; when I pull it from my back pocket and start rattling off song titles, I can't help but notice Ken's furrowed brows.

Me: How about "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," by Cyndi Lauper? Ken: [Grimace.] Me: Or any version of "I Think We're Alone Now"? Ken: [Squint.] Me: "One (Is the Loneliest Number)"? Ken: [Eh.] Me: "In the Air Tonight," by Phil Collins?

At this point, Ken warms up a bit, though he has little faith in our ability to pull off "Against All Odds," another Phil Collins song I'm anxious to try acoustically. We eventually find middle ground in Counting Crows (maybe "Long December"?), U2 (definitely "One"), Tom Petty (no "Free Fallin'," I promise) and the possibility of Everclear (I really want to do "Santa Monica"). The next step is to practice and warm up with an open-mike night or two. After that, we'll need to strategically pick bars that will 1) give us free beer (and dump trucks of money) and 2) be nice to us.

We both agree that the Elm might be the perfect spot, though that's not why we met here. The place has a warm, neighborhood-pub feel, lots of moveable tables and comfy wood booths, and a staff with a sense of humor. And judging by the turnout for trivia night, the bar can obviously support canned entertainment. Even if it is Guy(s) With Guitar(s).

posted: January 12, 2011

"You have a lot of readers outside New England. That much is clear when you see the cities people write to you from. Is there any way you could create a list of places to watch the Patriots in different cities. For instance, I know here in Denver, The Elm on East Colfax has the Patriots on most TVs with the game audio. It's the best place I've found in the Mile High City to watch the game."

Some readers have already chimed in, and here are some of the responses. The plan will be to keep updating the list in the weeks leading up to training camp:

1. @Ccmckenzie writes: "Best place to watch in San Diego is Longboard’s Bar & Grill in Pacific Beach. Miller’s Field is second."

2. @joshk33 writes: "Chicago’s Patriots bar is The Store at Halsted and Armitage."

3. JonathanSanterre writes: "Here's my two cents about the best place to watch the Pats where I live in Orlando, FL. For anyone visiting the Walt Disney World area I would say the best place close by to enjoy a game would be the Celebration Town Tavern. It's a Boston/New England sports bar/restaurant in general if you want to enjoy a Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, Bruins game."

4. charles.schrumpf writes: "There is a Patriots bar in Baltimore. It's called Don't Know Tavern. It is always filled with fans on game day and has pretty good food as well. Normally there are drink specials for wearing Pats gear."

5. thesttuff004 writes: "Boomerangs in Port Orange, FL is the best place around to watch the Pats. It's near Daytona Beach."

posted: December 29, 2010