O Brother, Where Art Thou?

One of the coolest things about Denver is the palpable sense of history.  Last week, we decided to capture some frontier essence and eat somewhere legendary.  I thought about it for a few minutes and realized that it was time to visit the oldest bar in the town, My Brother's Bar.  Originally established in 1873 as Highland House, MBB has been pouring drinks continuously for almost 140 years.

The real claim to fame, though, is the former clientele.  The bar was known as the local watering hole for two of most prominent figures from the Beat Generation, Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac.  Cassady, a Denver native, was the inspiration for Kerouac's On the Road (and later, the Grateful Dead's "The Other One" and "Cassidy.") Supposedly, they lived off greasy burgers served in wax paper, and ran up tabs in the dark, unmarked bar. 

So what can you expect, these days? We drove down to the River District, an area gentrified in the last decade.  The REI flagship store is down the block, and the hip restaurants of Highland right up the hill.  My Brother's Bar, though, involves no fanfare-there's not even a sign outside to let you know what you're getting into. When you walk inside, you witness a non-pretentious remnant of yesteryear, including a menu that hasn't changed in eons.  A nostalgic, slightly musty smell adds to the ambiance, and with a beautiful old bar and employees in ties, you realize that you're not in the hip new fusion spot that popped up on the corner.  I would call it "Sophisticated simplicity."  A quaint, dimly lit beer garden begs you to sit outside, but on this chilly June evening, we elected to soak up the atmosphere and sit inside near the bar and check out the highly-regarded pub fare.

The beer list is rather short-but that's fine when you've got good ones on draught.  We ordered a pitcher of Odell's IPA and waited for the burgers to arrive.  I ordered the Johnny Burger, which featured three cheeses and onions.  My girlfriend ordered the JCB, which stands for Jalapeno Cream Cheese Burger.  You couldn't go wrong either way.   Every meal comes with a condiment tray- an impressive box that will allow you to dress up your burger anyway you see fit.  We ordered fries and onion rings to accompany the meal, but frankly they were sidenotes to the amazing burgers.  Now these burgers are not going to wow anyone with gourmet twists; they will hit you instead with simple, in-your-face goodness.  The talking ceased, the burgers disappeared, and instead of dessert we opted for a pitcher of Fuller's London Pride (unexpected surprise of a session beer!)  Anyway, with our stomachs full, we vowed to return-SOON.

Now I hate to read reviews where people compare apples to oranges-the service is slow in this type of bar.  If you want fast, friendly service, go to Outback or Chili's.  If you want one of the best (if not THE best) burgers in Denver-and authenticity and a sense of place mean something to you, then go to My Brother's Bar and order a pitcher of beer and kick back.  Better yet, let me know and I'll go with you.  The food will arrive soon enough, and believe me-when it gets there, it'll be worth it.