BurnDown — Restaurant in Denver

BurnDown is one of the perennial bars in the Denver area. It is so tastefully done and is a perfect mix of casual bar and above casual service, design and style, food, and drinks. I have been very impressed especially with its food selection and consistently worth-the-money quality. I have had every appetizer here and every one is a high quality option. I have had many of their entrees options but the item that got me to write this review was the cream brûlée cheesecake, the one of two dessert options. What an impressive addition to an already perfect dessert of cheesecake itself.

I have gone to trivia night every week for a few months. It is every Wednesday and is popular for a reason. The trivia is on pen and paper, a welcome choice of medium as it seems phone trivia is always plagued with glitches, and is in a way not welcoming to players due to its requirement of using a phone which we all use too much in day to day life in the first place - but I’m getting off track. What I mean is that the trivia night is fantastic, challenging, and rewarding to participate in. It gives people plenty of time to talk to each other in between questions and it always seems well paced. Music is played in between questions and Is most of the time very enjoyable with plenty of variety of genres represented. The hosts and MC are great and they do a great job of keeping it light and keeping the game going, and the question variety makes sure everyone can “know the answer” at least once or twice a game

The design of the restaurant layout is well done. Three large floors span throughout the building and is large but not intimidatingly so. The first floor is quiet and wait staffed, the second floor is open seating and is a walk-up style service (they still bus tables and ask if you need anything). The styling is not overwhelming but still charming and comfortable. Even the disco ball is a nice addition to give a little bit of dynamics and character. It features a projection screen for big sports games and the aforementioned trivia night. (Btw, all three floors can participate and utilize a very cute and clever bucket system to bring answers to the table.)

The third floor is a rooftop and has a decently good view of the front range (albeit blocked partially) and gives this bar a kind of “has it all” quality that keeps me coming back.

Come to this bar, it is the best Denver...

5/25/23 rough start. After trying to come yesterday and seeing a note on the door that they won't be open until today, was kind of bummed by today. Maybe they should have waited another week or so. But after ordering hush puppies and wings at the exact same time... The wings showed up but the hush puppies never did. We mentioned that to our bartender who put the order in, he said. After another 35 minutes we decided to go ahead and just cancel the hush puppies.

The weirdest thing about it was that the staff pretended that they did us the giantest favor that ever existed by removing the hush puppies from our bill. Yes, the hush puppies that we never actually got. And that we were told we're on the way on 3 different occasions.

I truly don't mind a new bar or restaurant trying to find their way. But I was really turned off by the strawberry blonde lady behind the bar. Who went way too far out of her way, to point out to me that I was off by 5 minutes by how long I've been waiting for the hush puppies and that she's still trying to figure everything out just like all of the customers.

Maybe all should have just waited a little longer. I will give it another try and consider changing my review after they have some time.

But I live right up the street and I own three businesses within 2 miles of here... So my staff and I would love to find an awesome spot that isn't as congested as the other parts of Broadway.

I was really excited for this place but I guess we will just see how it goes. I would imagine that the proprietors would be here every single day for the first 30 days. It doesn't seem to be that that is the case. Seems like a lot of money to spend to not make sure that the neighborhood accepts it out...

EDIT:

Per owner's response:

Your past Thursday was, indeed, "a little complicated," and indeed, your team "didn't communicate as well as they should've."

Your response, while admitting your shortcomings, yet offering nothing that might make me want to come back, certainly confirms my decision to NOT come back.

Popped in her for the first time on NYE for a drink while on a date. Absolutely fantastic ambience, great guitarist/ singer playing, and had a couple really killer drinks served up by a really killer bartender.

Came back the other day for dinner, and our experience this time around couldn't have gone much worse.

We were told to expect a 20 minute wait for a table, which turned into 45. Upon being seated, the hostess did nothing to explain to us that despite being provided silverware and menus we'd need to walk up to the bar to order. We sort of figured out that our on own after watching others over the next 10 minutes or so....

After I ordered drinks and food at the bar, the girl said "we'll bring this all right over to you," and provided me with a number.

About 10 minutes later, our food showed up, yet no drinks. When I asked this other girl where our drinks were, she said "oh you have to pick those up at the bar." Great coordination....

The "band" that they had playing the other night was some less than talented black kid with zero ability to read the room, who was frankly pretty obnoxious.

The space is absolutely incredible. A LOT of effort was expended saving this building from being razed, and the result is quite impressive. All that said, given how poor our last experience was, I'm not sure that...