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Restaurants, food and drink, restaurants, food and drink | need a dive bar but with better drinks check out the new yacht club., the cole neighborhood hangout is equal parts dive, cocktail and wine bar.

The menu at Denver’s new Yacht Club bar reads a little wild at first: Beach drinks, sherry highballs, boozy shave ices; also loaded hot dogs, ham rolls and Cobb salads as snacks.

“It’s high-brow and low-brow,” explained the bar’s co-owner Mary Allison Wright. “If it’s nice, there’s (also) a sense of ratchet to it.” (Re: ratchet, think the opposite of bougie or bourgeoise.)

Wright and her husband, McLain Hedges, have been dreaming up this perfect high-low mix for nearly two decades together. The couple opened their first Denver bar by the same name back in 2014 at The Source.

Yacht Club is open From 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. every day except Tuesday. Two daily happy hours happen from 4-6 p.m. and 12-2 a.m. The bar is located next door to Brasserie Brixton at 3701 N. Williams St. More at yachtclubbar.com .

They debuted a bottle shop, The Proper Pour, alongside it, and both destinations gained loyal followings within the food hall until their respective closures in 2019 and 2020.

Now the standalone Yacht Club near the corner of 37th Avenue and Williams Street can become their very own neighborhood bar dream.

“It truly is an amalgamation of everything we love,” Wright said. “And it has everything you could want depending on your mood.”

“This is our home, our clubhouse,” Hedges added.

As the name suggests, Yacht Club is a reference to affluent seaside culture, here flipped on its head.

“Yacht Club is the anti-club club,” the bar’s menu reads. “YC is a nerdy cocktail bar, a natural wine bar, a(n) (expletive) dive bar.”

“Why have to choose?” Wright explained. “The space can’t feel too precious. But it also can’t feel too shitty that you’re wondering why you’re drinking this (great) glass of wine.”

What unites the drinks is a theme around “coastal, water-bound things that have a history of connecting the world through travel,” Hedges explained. So rum, sherry and brandy all make appearances.

Agave-based spirits also get their dues in drinks like How Very Blue the Sea Is, made with Madre mezcal, Blue Spice Clairin rhum, blueberry Curaçao, pineapple and lime ($12).

“That drink is like a Blue Hawaiian met a margarita,” Hedges said. “People have maybe had certain things like it, but there’s also an element of discovery there.”

The discovery continues with fortified wine-soaked shave ices cranked by hand and then topped with surprises like fermented blueberries, raw honey or candied orange (all $12).

Hollywood Frank’s (a fictional character) Famous hot dogs are made here with local Riverbear links and topped in combos like The Varsity chili slaw or The Lorraine cheeseball spread.

And then there are the simpler pleasures like the Old Number 7-11, an $8 Jack and Coke and a hot dog; or a $3.50 Miller High Life, the “Champagne of beer.”

Hedges and Wright agree: These days sometimes good drinks get served in such a fussy way that customers are left to wonder, “Am I enjoying this correctly?”

The answer at Yacht Club is simple. “We want people to drink it, and we want people to have access to it,” Hedges said. “Hopefully we built this place to invite everyone in and to host y’all.”

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A far cry from the exclusivity of real members’ only boating social clubs, irreverence is the name of the game at Denver’s Yacht Club, a self-proclaimed ‘anti-club club’ that bears the playful slogan: ‘Yachty by nature’. There, owners Mary Allison Wright and McLain Hedges aimed to combine three of their favorite types of drinking joints – cocktail bars, natural wine bars and dive bars – to achieve the ultimate hangout for locals and visitors alike. Thanks to its eco principles, Yacht Club is named the winner of the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award 2023 . Located in North Denver’s historic Cole neighborhood, there is zero pretension at the casual bar, which many Coloradans consider the equivalent of their modern Cheers. Drinks-wise, the programme mixes an eclectic approach of high – they have a fortified wine bottle list, for example – and low (like the Old No. 7-11 combo, which is a Jack and Coke with a hot dog). Even the finest spirits find a home in quickie combinations, which also sometimes skew somewhat nautical, with drinks like the Frozen Banana Daiquiri and Champagne Mojito bringing breezy fun to the mix, and the ‘Soft Bangers’ section of the menu features a few alcohol-free options for non-imbibers.

3701 N Williams St, Denver, CO 80205, United States

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3701 N Williams St, Denver , Colorado 80205 USA

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Learn more about this business on Yelp .

Reviewed by Nichakorn C.

After exploring numerous top 50 bars across America, I've finally discovered the epitome of excellence - Yacht Club. Without a doubt, it stands out as the best bar I've encountered so far. The... Read more

Reviewed by Ed D.

My friend took me here and it's a pretty cool vibe. Very relaxed and the bartenders are awesome. They have very unique cocktails and the three that we tried were delicious. The prices were good... Read more

Reviewed by Jess C.

If you hate world-class (and award-winning) drinks, cool ass vibes and insanely tasty hotdogs, then this isn't the place for you. The owners know their stuff-- and the bartenders are amazing. It... Read more

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New Cape Coral Yacht Club designs: Most on council like a coastal, Key West vibe

Given three different design options for the new Yacht Club Community Center , most of the Cape Coral City Council is leaning toward a coastal, Key West-flavor architecture.

At a committee of the whole meeting on Wednesday, the city sought direction from the council on a design direction for the outside of the community building.

"It's a concept, just like we do with anything else, and as we are designing, things may come up that we want to shift and be nimble (on)," said Cape Coral City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn.

James Pankonin with Kimley Horn, a consulting firm focusing on public and private developments, presented the information about the look of the community building.

Cape Coral's Yacht Club Community Park, which includes a yacht basin, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a ballroom, and a beach, has been a popular attraction and staple for the city since the 1960s but is set to undergo major renovations after Hurricane Ian delayed the original plans .

The current plans include a new two-story community center to replace the ballroom, removing the tennis courts, rearranging the area to accommodate a four-story parking garage, a new restaurant, and a new resort-style pool.

The city is also preparing for the demolition of the Yacht Club and its facilities in April as it awaits permits.

No estimates could be provided for the price of the new building.

"It will really come into how much of certain materials are needed and construction methods," Ilczyszyn said.

The city will have that information once they have 30% of the construction design.

Two public meetings for the designs are planned for April 2 and May 7.

After getting public input, the city will vote to amend its contract with Kimley Horn to approve all these changes.

The plan is to have these changes approved or introduced before the summer hiatus.

Previous Coverage Demolition of Cape Coral's Yacht Club slated for April will cost almost $1 million

Cape Coral community news Courtyards of Cape Coral South sets bingo fundraiser for residents still affected by Ian

New Designs for the Yacht Club building

John Bryant with Sweet Sparkman Architecture and Interiors, a Sarasota-based design firm, said the goal with the new designs was to maintain the experience of the original Yacht Club.

The majority of the council preferred option one.

Design one:

Bryant described the first option as "coastal vernacular" and similar to the park buildings at Lake Kennedy and Yellow Fever Creek.

"So it's sort of informed by the current architectural work in 2024," Bryant said. "Kinda Key West."

Councilmember Dan Sheppard and Mayor John Gunter preferred option one.

Gunter said the design was the most pleasing for him.

Councilmember Keith Long liked option one and said he liked the Key West aesthetic.

Councilmember Tom Hayden liked option one.

Design two:

Option two is more informed by the current Yacht Club and would have a stone base and mid-century feel to it, according to Bryant.

"There's certainly opportunity to kind of further develop this option to have even more of the existing Yacht Club feel, but a different vibe, feel than option one," Bryant said.

He also said option two might be more expressive the closer they try to recreate the aesthetic of the old ballroom building.

Councilmember Jessica Cosden liked design two as it incorporated design elements of the old building though she lamented how similar it looked to the first design.

"I wish we could have done more, but I know it's hard with a two-story building, to make it look the same as a very unique one-story building.

Councilmember Bill Steinke said two would be his choice as well, but was wary of additional maintenance of natural wood products used in the design.

"As long as we can bring that aesthetic and keep the maintenance down, number two would be my choice," Steinke said.

Councilmember Robert Welsh said he could go either way, but he liked the look of two.

Design three:

This would be more contemporary and modern.

"Even with a more contemporary language, you can still have warmth, incorporating some wood elements and stone elements," Bryant said.

None of the council members expressed any favorability for the third design.

Inside the new community center

The Community Center will have an additional 10,000 square feet for a total of 47,000 square feet, a history room to remember the first ballroom building on the first floor, and more rooms for civic and community use on the first floor.

Additionally, the new ballroom has shifted slightly as the balcony area on the second floor has been expanded to wrap around the top of the building.

Jeff Lynne's ELO announce final tour: How to get tickets to Over and Out

Jeff Lynne’s ELO dazzled audiences with a show of sonic perfection when the band reappeared in the U.S. in 2018-2019.

Now, the melodic wizard and his ace musical comrades will hit the road a final time for The Over and Out Tour. A 27-date outing will commence Aug. 24 in Palm Desert, California and wrap Oct. 25 in Los Angeles. In between, Lynne and ELO will visit cities including Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Houston and Washington, D.C.

An ELO presale begins at 10 a.m. local time March 20, with the general sale starting at 10 a.m. local time March 22. VIP experiences will also go on sale at 10 a.m. local time March 20. Tickets will be available via livenation.com and details about the VIP packages at jefflynneselo.com.

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In addition to his prowess as a producer, Lynne was also a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. The collective also received a nod in the live production with a comforting rendition of “Handle with Care.”

Lynne was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023 and ELO ushered into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Jeff Lynne's ELO 2024 tour dates