Tight End, a sports bar built for Denver’s gay community, has officially opened at the East Colfax address previously occupied by Streets Denver.
Owner Steven Alix took over the space this month after Streets closed at the end of March. That two-decade-old bar had faced a particularly difficult final year in the pandemic; its owner John Elliott died in November after his second COVID-19 diagnosis.
RELATED: Streets of London owner John Elliott dies after contracting COVID-19 a second time
Now Alix, who also owns X Bar and Squire Lounge, wants to create an intentional gathering space in the former punk rock venue. (When Elliott had purchased Streets in 2018, he also sought to change its more recent reputation as a neo-Nazi hangout.)
The new Tight End will partner with gay sports leagues across Denver, Alix said. And while a giant Streets of London awning still covers the front of the building — “We’re working on that.” — the inside features nine TVs and a full bar, and opens onto turf-covered front and back patios.
“All the big cities have these sports bars and ours didn’t,” Alix said. “Plus, we’re a huge sports city anyway, we have all the big national teams here. It seemed like the perfect match.”
1501 E. Colfax Ave., 303-861-9103, 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 2 a.m. Sunday, food available from 3 Guys Pies next door, tightendbar.com
