Where to Eat and Drink Before (and After) an Avalanche Game
Where to Eat and Drink Before (and After) an Avalanche Game
The Colorado Avalanche play out of Ball Arena at 1000 Chopper Circle, parked between LoDo, the Auraria Campus, and the Highland I-25 corridor. There’s no shortage of bars to drink at before or after a game — the question is which ones actually feel like Avs bars when the puck drops, and which ones are just nearby.
This guide is the ones that earn it. The bars where the room goes silent for a power play, where the Coors Light tap is honest, and where you can show up in a Hejduk sweater and not get a second look. Some sit a block from Ball Arena. Some are across the city and pull bigger crowds for a Cup run than the actual arena gets for a Tuesday in November. With the Avs holding the top seed in the West and through to the second round, all of them are worth knowing this month.
The Neighborhoods to Know
LoDo / Ballpark District — The immediate game day neighborhood. Ball Arena is a 5–10 minute walk from anything on Wynkoop, Blake, or Market. Bars here fill up fast on game nights, especially for 7 PM puck drops and weekend playoff matinees. Arrive early.
Downtown / 16th Street Mall — The wider walking radius. The newly redeveloped 16th Street Mall area runs from Civic Center up to Union Station. Easy hop to the arena, more options, later hours. Good for both sides of the game — pre-puck and post-game.
South Broadway / SoBo — A 10-minute drive south of the arena. Where the Avs fans drink even when they’re not at the game. The Czech-owned dive that owns this category lives here.
Highland / LoHi — Across I-25 to the northwest. A bridge walk or one light-rail stop from Ball Arena. Quieter than LoDo on a game night, which is the point if you want the game on without the pre-game scrum.
Cherry Creek and Olde Town Arvada — Two neighborhood anchors outside downtown that have built a real Avs viewing crowd of their own. Worth the drive when you want a hockey bar without the arena noise.
Table of Contents
Pre-Game Bars Near Ball Arena
Brooklyn’s at Ball Arena — Auraria
The most arena-specific bar on this list — Brooklyn’s sits across the street from Ball Arena and has done this song for decades. It’s the de facto pre-game stop for season ticket holders, the shuttle-free walkable option for anyone parking at Auraria, and the bar that turns into a pressure cooker about ninety minutes before puck drop. Bar food, cold beer, walls of memorabilia, and a line out the door for any playoff home game.
📍 901 Auraria Pkwy., Denver, CO 80204 — Map 🎟️ Walk-ins only — arrive 90 minutes before puck drop on playoff nights
Jackson’s LODO — LoDo
The biggest sports bar in walking distance, and the one most likely to feel like a stadium overflow. Jackson’s is built for volume — a sprawling room with 100+ TVs, two patios, full game sound on the Avs feed, and the kind of capacity that handles a playoff crowd without it feeling claustrophobic. Sunday–Thursday until 10 PM, Friday and Saturday until 2 AM, which makes it a real post-game stop too.
📍 1520 20th St., Denver, CO 80202 — Map 🎟️ Walk-ins fine; reservations recommended for groups
Society Sports & Spirits — LoDo
The newer LoDo sports bar that’s quietly become one of the better Avs rooms downtown. Society leans into the “tailgate” angle — open floor plan, multiple zones, a deep TV grid, and a layout that handles a crowd without getting chaotic. Sits within five minutes of the arena on foot.
📍 1434 Blake St., Denver, CO 80202 — Map 🎟️ Reserve a table
Wynkoop Brewing Company — LoDo
The original Denver brewpub, opened by John Hickenlooper in 1988 across from Union Station. Wynkoop is the LoDo institution — pool tables on the second floor, a brewpub menu that’s better than it has to be, and a calendar of events that runs through hockey season. Less of a “watch party” room than Jackson’s or Society and more of a “have a real beer before the game” stop.
📍 1634 18th St., Denver, CO 80202 — Map 🎟️ Walk-ins fine; reserve on OpenTable for the dining room
ViewHouse Ballpark — Ballpark District
The Ballpark District flagship of the ViewHouse family — the bar group the Avalanche have leaned on for official watch parties for years. Two-story room with a rooftop deck, a massive interior screen wall, and one of the better game-day food menus in the neighborhood. The Centennial location handles the official watch parties more often, but the Ballpark room is the one within walking distance of Ball Arena.
📍 2015 Market St., Denver, CO 80205 — Map 🎟️ Reserve on OpenTable
The Best Avs Bars in Denver
Sobo 151 — South Broadway
The answer to “what’s the best Avs bar in Denver?” — and it’s not really close. Sobo 151 is a Czech-owned dive on South Broadway that’s been the unofficial Avalanche bar for almost two decades. Czech beer (Czechvar, Pilsner Urquell, Staropramen when they have it), schnitzel, goulash, roast duck, fried cheese, walls covered in hockey memorabilia, and the kind of room that hits a different gear when MacKinnon scores. The patio fills before the puck drops. The fans here wear sweaters from every era — Roy, Sakic, Forsberg, Stastny, Landeskog, Makar — and it doesn’t feel performative.
It’s twenty minutes from Ball Arena. It doesn’t matter. This is where the Avs fans drink.
📍 151 S. Broadway, Denver, CO 80209 — Map 🎟️ Walk-ins only — outdoor smoking patio open in any weather
The DNVR Bar — Capitol Hill
The bar built by the Denver-sports-podcast network, on Lincoln just south of the Capitol. DNVR is the most overtly fan-coded sports bar in the city — the DNVR Avs crew records pre- and post-game shows from the room, “game sound on” is a sign on the wall not a request, and the calendar fills up around every playoff game. Food is decent, the beer list is local, and the crowd skews hockey-literate in a way most sports bars can’t fake.
📍 1320 Lincoln St., Denver, CO 80203 — Map 🎟️ Reserve a table — strongly recommended for playoff nights
Stoney’s Bar & Grill — Capitol Hill
A Coors Light–driven, Colorado-themed sports and music bar at 11th & Lincoln, ten blocks from the arena. Stoney’s has been on the official Avalanche watch party rotation for years — the Pride Watch Party in February and the regular-season closer at the Lincoln location were both Stoney’s events this year. Two patios, a music stage that runs late, big TVs in every direction. This is one of the most reliable Avs rooms downtown for a non-arena night.
📍 1111 Lincoln St., Denver, CO 80203 — Map 🎟️ Walk-ins fine; reservations for groups via stoneysbarandgrill.com
No. 38 — RiNo
Not a sports bar in the traditional sense — No. 38 is the indoor/outdoor RiNo destination with the largest patio in the neighborhood, fire pits, hammocks, lawn games, and a programming calendar that absolutely lights up for big Avs games. When the weather cooperates (which in Denver, even in May, can be daily), No. 38 is one of the best big-screen-outside experiences in the city. They put the game on the big patio screen, the room cheers, the crowd is mixed, the energy is right.
📍 3560 Chestnut Pl., Denver, CO 80216 — Map 🎟️ Reserve a table
Official Avalanche Watch Party Bars
The Avalanche’s official watch party program — sponsored by Coors Light during the regular season — rotates through a fixed group of bars across the metro, with playoff watch parties posted on the team’s Playoff Central page as the schedule fills in. These are the rooms with the most reliable Avs energy outside Ball Arena itself, where you’ll find official prizes, swag drops, and signed-jersey giveaways during regular-season parties.
The Sportsbook Bar & Grill — Highlands Ranch & Greenwood Village
The South Metro hub of the watch party rotation. The Sportsbook hosts Avs watch parties at both the Highlands Ranch and Greenwood Village locations, with a third opening in Parker. Locally owned, sports-bar fundamentals done right.
📍 Multiple locations — see thesbbar.com
Tom’s Watch Bar — Multiple locations
Tom’s is the national chain that’s gone all in on Avs partnerships in Colorado, with watch parties hosted at the Highlands Ranch, Greenwood Village, and Centennial locations alongside ViewHouse this season. Wall-to-wall TVs, full game sound on, the program built around exactly this.
📍 Multiple locations — see tomswatchbar.com
ViewHouse Centennial — Centennial
The South Metro ViewHouse hosts the heaviest Avs watch party schedule of any single venue — the December watch party against the Rangers and several major playoff parties run through this room. Visit Denver’s Playoff Viewing Parties listing is built around ViewHouse for exactly this reason.
📍 7101 S. Clinton St., Centennial, CO 80112 — Map 🎟️ Reserve on OpenTable
Bender’s Bar & Grill — Westminster
The North Metro watch party home — Bender’s hosted the Carolina Heritage Series watch party in January and stays in the rotation through the playoffs. Westminster locals’ bar, big TV grid, hockey-friendly crowd.
📍 Westminster, CO — bendersbarandgrill.com
Hoffbrau — Westminster
The other North Metro Avs spot, German-themed beer hall energy, hosted official watch parties throughout the regular season.
📍 Westminster, CO — hoffbrau.com
Best Rooftop and Patio for an Afternoon Game
For the rare weekend matinee, a couple of patios in the LoDo radius are worth knowing about. ViewHouse Ballpark has the most reliable rooftop deck within walking distance of the arena. No. 38 in RiNo is the patio play if you want elbow room and a big outdoor screen. Avanti F&B in LoHi has the skyline-deck pre-game option if you want food first and the game on second. (Avanti and the broader Denver rooftop scene are covered in detail in our rooftop bars guide.)
For Game 5 of the second round on Wednesday, May 13 at Ball Arena and any potential Game 7 on Sunday, May 17, weekend daylight + a patio is the move. Bring layers — Front Range weather in May does what it does.
Best for Groups and Playoff Watch Parties
For 8+, Jackson’s LODO is built for it — they handle the volume, full game sound stays on. ViewHouse Ballpark and ViewHouse Centennial both do private group spaces and have actual playoff-watch-party programming on the calendar. Society Sports & Spirits runs zoned seating that works for a 10–20 person crew. The DNVR Bar is the right call for the hockey-literate group that wants the post-game podcast crew across the room. No. 38 for the outdoor crew if it’s not snowing.
Pre-Game Food
Most of the Ball Arena-area sports bars cover the food side fine. If you want a real meal before walking over, the LoDo and Ballpark District options are denser than they get credit for.
Tavernetta at Union Station is the Italian sit-down with reservations. Avelina on Wynkoop is the wider-menu option a block from the arena. Tamayo on Larimer Square has a rooftop patio and a real kitchen for an early dinner. Wynkoop itself does the brewpub-burger-and-walk-over move better than most.
For something faster: Snooze on Larimer for a weekend afternoon game, or anything inside Avanti F&B for a counter-service crew dinner before the bridge walk to the arena.
Post-Game
Ball Arena empties fast. Here’s what stays open and stays good.
Jackson’s LODO is open until 2 AM Friday and Saturday — the most reliable post-game late-night room.
Stoney’s runs late on weekend nights with a music stage that keeps going after the game ends.
Society Sports & Spirits is the LoDo post-game pivot if Jackson’s is at capacity.
Sobo 151 is the post-game drive south if the night calls for it — they stay open late and the energy peaks after a win.
The DNVR Bar for the post-game show. The podcast crew is recording. The crowd stays.
Playoff Game Day Tips
The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs second round has the Avs facing the Wild. The full schedule runs through May 17. Game times are mostly 7 PM MT (TNT/truTV/HBO Max) or 6 PM MT (ESPN), with TBDs locking in the day before.
Plan for traffic and rideshare surge. I-25 northbound after a 7 PM home game is parking-lot bad until ~10:45 PM. Light rail to the Sports Authority/Auraria stop is the cleanest move from anywhere on the rail line.
Parking around Ball Arena runs $30–$60 for premium lots on a playoff night. Lots further west of Auraria Parkway and the surface lots near the Highland Bridge are cheaper if you don’t mind a 10-minute walk.
Game sound matters. Most LoDo sports bars rotate game sound across screens — ask the bartender to put the Avs on the main feed. Jackson’s, Society, DNVR, and ViewHouse all do this without a fight.
Wear the sweater. Every Avs bar on this list welcomes the gear. Sobo 151 specifically rewards it.
Round 3 and the Stanley Cup Final start in late May. The Stanley Cup Final begins June 3. If the Avs make it that far, the watch party calendar at every bar on this list will fill up days in advance. Reserve early.
Notes on the Scene
STIX in Olde Town Arvada — the longtime northern hockey bar — closed and rebranded as STIX Crafthouse at 5777 Olde Wadsworth Blvd. Same room, 20 TVs, 20 drafts, the hockey crew is still there.
Choppers Sports Grill in Cherry Creek — long a fan favorite for goal-siren energy — closed in early 2026 and the space is reopening as Soiled Dove, a live music venue. Watch this space for whether the new operators keep an Avs viewing presence.
The Avalanche & Ales program — the team’s broader partner-bar network — adds a rotating set of metro bars to the watch-party orbit through the playoffs.
More Denver Bar Guides
The Best Bars in Denver (coming soon): full pillar guide
Best Happy Hour in Denver (coming soon)
Best Bars to Watch the Broncos and Nuggets (coming soon)
Last updated: May 2026 — through the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Avs schedule and watch-party listings change game to game; we refresh through the playoff run.
Go Avs.
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