PHOTOS
LOCATIONS
ARTCLE
Greenlight LAB
- Tues - Sat: 5pm - TBD
- Sun - Mon: Closed
Greenlight Lab is a hip, artsy, speakeasy-style bar that pours innovative drinks parlayed with a small selection of local snacks. This cocktail lounge is an intimate bar whose close quarters exceeds expectations of a night well spent.
OUR ARTICLE
BY: Alex Temblador Contributing writerDa Vinci, Copernicus, Edison, Tesla, Einstein, and Hawking are undoubtedly some of the most brilliant men of all time. They set an example to modern men, showing that experimentation can lead to innovation and legacy. To experiment with your job, style, food, workout, hobbies, passions – it’s all to help formulate, mold, and invent the man that you are meant to be. There’s so few places in this world that celebrates experimentation, which is why Greenlight LAB in Denver caught our eye – and we can’t look away.
There’s a speakeasy vibe to Greenlight LAB, which looks like another graffiti-laden brick building in Denver’s RiNo Art’s District. The only indication that it’s open is a brightly-shining green light bulb.
In a world where you may feel stifled by a job or routine, Greenlight LAB refreshingly lets you contribute and interact with the bar in a whole new way, and that’s inspiring.
At first look of the interior, there’s not much that says “experimental.” The low lighting, curved booths, bookshelf, and trendy lamps are similar enough to other cocktail bars. But if you look closer and visit a few times, you’ll notice something – the décor changes. It’s subtle at times, more obvious at others, but the stools, the art, tables, and chairs, all change occasionally.
Greenlight LAB owner Brandon Anderson is also the owner of design and architecture firm LIV Studio, and with Greenlight LAB, he’s created a space, a lab some might say, in which he can test out design elements. Anderson has created an experimental experience, one in which, you, are asked how you like the newest chair, art piece, table, or whatever it may be.
The experimenting doesn’t stop with the décor. It blends into the best part of the place, the bar. There’s two menus, the “Approved” menu and the “Beta” menu. The mixologists are given freedom to mix, blend, and create new and wild drinks, and like the décor, you get to rate what you like best.
The Beta menu is a constantly-changing menu of potions and brews like the Rhapsody in White, a two-drink deconstructed mix that alludes to a classic Ramos gin fizz. Other favorites include a drink with a hollowed orb of ice filled with a house whiskey blend and cracked with a hammer, or a cognac cocktail served in a beer can and paired with beer in a sidecar.
In a world where you may feel stifled by a job or routine, Greenlight LAB refreshingly lets you contribute and interact with the bar in a whole new way, and that’s inspiring. So, roll up your sleeves, relax in that chair that may be gone next week, and drink that peculiar cocktail that fizzes or smokes. It’s time to experiment.
FIELD TIPS
If you’re hungry they’ve got a small selection of snacks sourced from local suppliers
Walking distance to The Ramble Hotel. A great shelter after a night of galavanting through Denver
CYTIES recommendation: sip, relax, and trust the cocktail mad scientists behind the bar
Greenlight LAB is a great place to impress the squad or bring a date for an intimate evening
Leave it to the Fleet Foxes to serenade us visually amidst these chilly winter days. Robin Pecknold broke out the ol’ acoustic for the brand new Fleet Foxes music video for “I’m Not My Season” from the latest LP Shore. The video is shot inside Brooklyn’s St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church, and the performance captures the feeling of a pristine empty space—sure to give anyone watching some audio inspired goosebumps.