Friends in low places

Patrons drink beer and watch the baseball playoffs at The Sink's bar Friday, Oct. 9. Autographs grafitti the low ceiling above their heads and celebrity caricatures cover almost every wall of the restaurant. (CU Independent/Lauren Walter)

The mission was to find the best basement bar in Boulder.

It all started around 10 p.m. on a Tuesday at the Sink. From 10-11, the Sink serves $1 well drinks. It can take a while to get a drink even with a light crowd, but with $1 wells it’s worth the wait.

Brian Davis, an MBA student scheduled to graduate in 2010, said he thought the Sink was, “pretty happening for a Tuesday night.”

“(It has) good music. I like dive bars, so this is a good scene for me,” Davis said.

The Sink is something of a dive bar, but with a more distinct character. It has none of the trappings of an upscale establishment, but it does have cartoon figures on the walls and a low ceiling covered with the signatures of past patrons who managed to find a couple inches of blank space. The Sink is a place with good enough food and a full bar as well as cheap drinks at the right time of night. It has the crowd one would expect to see in a place on the Hill, namely students.

Next up is the Walrus Saloon, which is usually packed regardless of the night. Much of the time there’s a line outside the door stretching halfway up the block. The hardwood floor is either dotted conservatively with people clustered into small groups, or packed from wall to wall. Red Christmas lights hang from rafters on the ceiling, and the dust of peanut shells crushed underfoot is everywhere. This only helps to confirm the Walrus is a true saloon. It seems to have too few bartenders, but on slower nights there may be too many.

Danny Lee, a senior political science major, said, “I love the peanuts here,” as he glanced over to a barrel on the far side of the bar filled to the brim with peanuts free for the taking. “That’s all I got,” he said and continued to play pool on the blue felt table top.

The music is usually loud and the crowd agrees with it. Those who aren’t on the dance floor are either sitting in one of the booths, hanging out by the bar or dispersed between the pool tables, skee ball and air hockey.

Roland Boller, a sophomore environmental studies major, said, “It’s got a lot of games.”
Boller called the Walrus “a reliable bar to go to.” He was disappointed with the crowd on this particular night, but he still seemed to be having a good time.

Music can be heard from the street coming out of one of Boulder’s lesser-known basement bar, ’Round Midnight. Visitors are immediately greeted by tan colored pool tables with hanging red lights over top of them. The dirty green carpet extends to booths on one side and to an elaborately lit dance floor with a DJ on the other. They also have a game room with arcade games and foosball.

The last and most definitive of the basement bars is the Sundown Saloon. The Sundown is a discreet dive bar located down a set of steep narrow stairs on Pearl Street. The façade is not much, but on the inside there is a personality to it. Call it grime, grunge, or the last remnants of the Wild West mindset in Boulder. A protruding rectangular bar stretches out from the wall, with more tables to the left and pool tables in the center. With its low ceilings and charmingly seedy atmosphere, it’s the quintessential basement bar.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Seth Gitner at seth.gitner@colorado.edu.