By John Moore
Jan. 20, 2013
The face of any hip neighborhood is always changing; that’s part of what makes it hip. But Baker just got more than a face-lift. It got a whole new face. The Punch Bowl Social is bringing up to 900 more people into a thriving, independent shopping and entertainment strip that takes pride in being the anti-LoDo. “This isn’t just a little change,” said Jim Norris, co-owner of the nearby 3 Kings bar and rock club. “This is a drastic change.”
Read my full freelance essay that ran in Friday’s Denver Post, along with Ricardo Baca’s glowing bar review of the Punch Bowl Social.
On that score, let’s just say you won’t be finding my friend Ricardo and me killing time together in a club that is instantly twice as big as any other entertainment offering in Baker. I did not last 5 minutes in my first visit. Why? Because the Punch Bowl wants to serve its meat — and be a meat-market, too. The franchise is predicated on social interaction – from bowling to cubbies where you can play board games from Trivial Pursuit to Clue. But it’s also a grossly loud nightclub. And who wants to play Trivial Pursuit when you have to scream, “WHAT FILM INTRODUCED AUDIENCES TO A MOGWAI NAMED GIZMO?” to the person who’s seated just 2 feet next to you?
