The Cooler

Great beer & prices, delicious food, sexy staff, and a perfect view of the gorgeous Denver skyline over Sloans’ Lake! Love the neighborhood atmosphere :)

Was very upset with the staff. I purchased a song on the Jukebox (TLC waterfalls that’s my jam!) and the staff went over and turned off the jukebox in the middle of my song to accommodate a rude woman at the bar that had been complaining all day about the menu and service. They turned up the game for her and I was forced to listen to a game that I had no Interest in and what upset me the most was that I had to listen to commercials as well. Very rude! Why have a jukebox?

Awesome little dive spot. Holy beer selection, let me rephrase that holy canned beer selection! Was craving a hoppy IPA the bartender was great and helped pick a really hoppy one, I hung around long enough for dinner, really good bar food! Burger hit the spot and they usually have daily specials happening. I found my new hang out when I’m in town

I used to love going to the cooler it was my favorite place but these last few times I’ve gone in their service stunk. I wanted about 20 min before someone greeted me, mind you I was standing at the bar. I just wish it would go back to the old cooler.

We used to live a few blocks away and came here weekly (often twice a week). The food was good, service was great, etc… We had our first baby and had not been in in a couple of months.
When we returned the food and staff was VERY different. Cheese sauce on the nacho appetizer instead of, you know, cheese. The menu options were cut in half. A little side garden salad added to your meal was $ 5. Yup $ 5 to add it. The staff was all new and didn’t seem all that happy… ever.
We stopped going after that experience.
It’s been about two years since we were in and, believe it or not, things got worse.
We were in the mood for some wings, so we ordered the wings appetizer to start. I was pretty hungry and for $ 12 wing appetizer, I expected a decent amount of food. Boy was I disappointed when she set down the plate and there were 7 wings on it. No, that’s not a typo, I said 7. We blew through our $ 2/​wing appetizer and ordered our food.
I ordered the italian sausage sandwich with fries. Never mind that when she dropped it on the table, it was ½ a link of sausage on a hoagie with one trip of onion and 1 strip of bell pepper and chips. I let her know that I had asked for fries, not chips.
Her response (with an attitude) «really, I had chips written down».
Me: «Well, I asked for fries».
Her: «Well, I had chips written down, but I’ll get you some fries».
Maybe it’s just me, but as someone who waited tables for 6 years, I thought the appropriate response would have been «Oh, I’m sorry. I must have heard you wrong. I’ll get some fries for you». But hey, that’s just me.
We got the quesadilla appetizer for our 2 year old. There was barely enough cheese in it to make the tortilla stick together.
Needless to say, we wont be back!

Not usually the kind of person who writes bad reviews, but I didn’t have a great experience here. Overall the food is mediocre, decent beer selection but pretty horrible customer service. We had a large party and our waitress (who said she was the manager) just snapped at one of us for having a sip of someone else’s beer. Not sure why she didn’t just ask him for his id or if that was even the issue, but she was so loud and angry for whatever reason we just ended up paying for whatever we had eaten and cancelling the rest of our order. This could have been an isolated incident with an unhappy employee. For the record the bartender was really nice and apologized, but I definitely couldn’t recommend this place to anyone else.

The change in management and staff is awesome. Food is alot better and red beers nice.

Decent beer menu, but not much compared to other places in the area. Anyway, the waitress forgot about us. We ordered food and drinks and never got our food. She never even came back to our table.

I first came to the cooler shortly after it opened and I loved it! I would come in every weekend, recommend it to everyone, and often bring my friends to enjoy the great food.
Not anymore… The food has taken a very sharp decline, resting on, ‘eh, it’s bar food’ status. And that is if you can even get served. The last three times I have come, I’ve had to walk out after 20 minutes of being ignored. Now, I can’t say why my guest or I was ignored, it could be that we were wearing sneakers instead of flip flops, or because we didn’t bring children or dogs with us. Or some other tell-​tale sign that we were not the upper middle class, Colorado native hipster/​douches that the bar wants to pander to. Maybe, sitting at the bar saying hello, making eye contact, wallets and id’s in hand wasn’t an obvious enough gesture to pull one bartender away from the shots she was swilling down, or the other from taking his eye off the game while he fumbled around the register for several minutes.
Who knows? What I do know, is that there are dozens of much better bars to enjoy.

Dude! Hire someone with a personality because these guys still suck! Not Busy and I know why.

The food and drinks are expensive for what it is. There was only 6 people at the bar tonight and it took me 20 minutes before I had to ask for my bill. The staff just kept passing me by, never once asking me if I needed anything else suing my dinner. I just had to make due with the tiny cup of sauce they gave me with my dinner. Not impressed…

Rude management, shitty service, flat beer. My 25 year old out of state friend got denied service for having a vertical license. Ruined Colorado’s reputation for him.

Well I have to say I enjoyed my time at The Cooler. However, after being double charged my view of The Cooler has changed. To rectify Christina’s mistake (being double charged) I had to call repeatedly for 2 weeks.
The General Manager (Christina Fahey) is not respectful, timely or an adept person. After Christina’s low-​grade service I will no longer chooses to visit The Cooler. Please check your bill or don’t waste your time/​money.

The initial service here was friendly, and I had no complaints. I was, however, displeased after I hadn’t received the drink I had ordered after nearly 20 minutes. After reminding the waiter he apologized and brought it immediately.
The drink, a double amaretto sour, was extremely watered down and tasted like it mainly consisted of sour mix, but I said nothing because I figured it would be a $ 4 — $ 6 drink tops. The nachos were of mediocre quality. There was a surprisingly small amount for the price and the ingredients all seemed old.
Upon receiving my bill I realized that the drink was, in fact, $ 10. This amount seemed ridiculous. I spoke to the waiter and asked if it could be adjusted, because I was not informed of their abnormal pricing structure for a basic drink. Needless to say, if you’ve seen my one star atop this review, nothing was done and the waiter mainly scoffed at me, refused to get his manager, and was quite condescending.
I felt that I deserved at least a slight adjustment, if not at least for the forgotten service of the drink after I had ordered it, but no dice. I felt like tipping nothing, but I did end up tipping minimally. I will not be returning here any time soon, which is a shame because I think it definitely had potential to be an awesome place to hang out after work on a regular basis (with my anywhere from 10 to 20 co-​workers). We’ll find a better place.

I would give it a zero star if I had the option. Went to The Cooler the other night and needless to say, will never go back. It was actually the General Manager who did not have the decency to be at least polite. When we asked her a question, she just rolled her eyes and she continuously mumbled rude comments under her breath. She does not belong in the service industry. I am utterly appalled by her. Not only did the food take more than 30 mins for delivery, she blamed it on us with nonsense reason. I pity those who have to work with her.
We didn’t even enjoy our food because it was ruined by the awful behavior of the General Manager. I will never frequent at this bar and I will not hesitate on telling my friends and family of our experience.

The décor inside is nicer than it looks from the outside. I was pleasantly surprised with the selection of beer — they had a lot of craft cans to choose from that were $ 3 on happy hour.
I had a burger — it was a pretty standard burger. It was cooked perfectly, but there was nothing particularly standout about it. It’s nice to know you can get a decent meal here.

As someone who carries a beer coozie in her purse, I approve the The Cooler’s «all cans» theme. These days, canning beer, rather than bottling it, is becoming more popular, so to have a bar that only serves cans doesn’t really limit the selection too much.
I was able to get several craft beers all in cans. Plus, the cheese curds were good, as were my fries.
The place is clean and for the most part pretty chill. It has the feeling of a suburb bar more than a city bar, but I really enjoyed my evening here.

Good local spot… love the beer selection… if I was a beer junkie…
noetheless cool place to chill, drink, and shoot pool.

The Cooler is not a bad spot, but I wouldn’t clamor or lobby for one in my neighborhood. I’ve been finding myself in this strip mall pretty often lately, and there are always a few weirdoes hanging out around the doors and on the patio.
The beer list is surprisingly pretty good. As their schtick is beer in cans (and a lot of craft beers are coming in cans these days), their selection includes offerings from Oskar Blues, Ska, and Maui Brewing Co among the old-​school kitschy favorites like Olympia. Beers are $ 2 or $ 3 during HH which goes until seven.
Food is also surprisingly not bad. It’s reasonably priced and it’s evident that they make their own salsa and guac for the nachos.
As Tiffany W mentions, service can be spotty. Sometimes you’re inundated by servers… and well… sometimes you’re not. And when you’re not, it’s usually time to settle up and leave.
But seriously, what is up with the rump-​thumpin’ booty music? On our last visit, our booth was vibrating from all of the bass. It’s not LoDo, it’s Edgewater. Take note.

Yay! I’m Still a Fan.
Had amazing BBQ sannie at The Cooler last week!
Food has never been a disappointment and the barstaff recommended the BBQ= another hit.
Service is always prompt and reliable.
Oh yeah– with the $ 1.50 pints for Happy Hour you will want to have more than one btw… just sayin