Home > Denver Bars & Clubs > Bar Review > Inside: Atomic Cowboy

Atomic and cowboy. Two seemingly illogical concepts forever linked via Major “King” Kong’s wild ride atop a nuclear bomb in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. Though Slim Pickens played the role of Kong with great aplomb, at Atomic Cowboy on East Colfax there’s nary a trace of his iconic downward spiral into celluloid history. Thankfully the hypersexuality of the film is not lost and cartoon images of buxom cowgirls in daisy dukes and tied up plaid shirts riding phallic rockets add to this bar’s explosive personality. Stop worrying though and learn to love the Cowboy. Hans Blix would be similarly hard pressed to uncover any stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction here, though he might find signs of alcoholic obliteration.

Décor: The outside of Atomic Cowboy is nondescript. Brick façade with outdoor street level patio and iron railings could describe any one of the three bars that reside cattycorner to one another. The interior however, resembles a hipster cowboy bar that George Jetson might frequent. Adding to the wranglers in space theme, on one wall, a giant quadryptic depicts an Old West buckaroo in the midst of an epic duel with a spacesuit clad alien three times his size. The suspended rounded ceiling structure resembles the architecture drive-ins employed in the ‘50s and ‘60s to approximate the future, but today seem quixotically retro. Unfinished brick walls, wood floors and a clearance high enough to permit a Star Destroyer make the space seem cavernous when sparsely populated. But when the faux-cowhide booths and red leather bar seats are packed the place can become cramped, though in a sociable, strike up a conversation with the “vaquero” next to you kind of way. For those who don’t like to be at eye level with the bartenders while they drink, the back of the bar features a one-row upper deck where patrons can look down their nose at everyone else when they lift up their beverage. Outside a wraparound patio offers prime Colfax Ave. people watching.

Entertainment: Not only does the Cowboy have two pool tables and a dart board in the main bar area, but there’s also a separate game room lined with classic Americana show bills featuring foosball, arcade games and that table ice hockey game that you always remember as being a lot more awesome then it actually is. And if your competitive spirit never graduated from board games to table games, your old friends the Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley are permanent fixtures at this bar with sets of Monopoly, Guess Who?, Yahtzee and Connect Four available for your playing pleasure.

Crowd: The clientele tend to reflect the target demographic of the establishments that surround the Atomic Cowboy. On one side a Schwinn bike shop and funky hair salon, on the other an arcade and the Bluebird Theater and across the street a tattoo parlor and guitar store. Though be careful, there is also a martial arts studio in close proximity so the pushover standing next to you could actually be the next Daniel Larusso in training.

Drinks: An above average draft selection is complimented by drink specials every night which range from $2 domestics to $3 cocktails. Happy Hour from 4 to 7 p.m. is discounted drafts, wine and wells and also includes $1.25 sliders, 50 cent wings and other dishes $4 and under.

Bottom Line: Did we mention Connect Four?

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