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First built in 1890, the building that would eventually become Bar Bar was started as a saloon and brothel in downtown Denver. While appreciated by its community it did little to stop the police from raiding the establishment in 1903 for the grave crime of selling alcohol to women (which was illegal at the time). Unfortunately the owner was unsuccessful at suing to reverse the appeal but fortunately for him it wasn’t the last time a girl would ever drink there. Shortly after he renamed his club to the “Carioca Cafe” to help change his bar’s image. However he wasn’t given much time before prohibition kicked in forcing him to close his saloon once more.
During prohibition he converted his bar into a union meeting center which definitely did not sell alcohol yet despite this lack of any and all business he was ready to re-open once prohibition was repealed. Despite his mysterious ability to generate money with a bar not allowed to sell alcohol, he re-opened, and wasted no time christening it the “New Caricoa Cafe”. This would mark the second and last time the name would ever change as ever since then the building has remained the very same name. In the years that followed, the New Carioca Cafe has existed at its present 2060 Champa address as a bonafide landmark of all things punk, sunk, or drunk. It’s known and talked about worldwide. It’s the one, the original, the Bar Bar.
