The Best Bars for a First Date in Denver

Meet before or after dinner at Forget Me Not, an upscale Cherry Creek cocktail lounge whose website lists date night among its occasions.

A white picket fence, exterior custom mural, and purple bar seating suit a happy hour as well as a nightcap. Bills include a 20% service charge. Book through the reservation widget on the website if you want to arrange a spot.

Keep a first-date drink relaxed at Gold Point, where craft cocktails are served in a laid-back industrial room. Beer, wine, and small bites give you other options if you want a snack alongside your drink.

The bar has a string-lit garden patio and an extensive whiskey list, with happy hour running until 8pm.

Try espresso martinis at Monkey Bar, part of Welton Room in Five Points, for a date with a social, slightly sensual atmosphere. Cocktails are carefully made.

Prices are on the higher side and spaces fill up, so reservations are advised.

Take in city views between drinks at 54thirty Rooftop, downtown's tallest open-air rooftop bar atop Le Meridien Denver Downtown. Order charcuterie alongside spiced cocktails or something from the signature list.

Seats are first come, first served, and guests must be 21 or over after 6pm. The rooftop operates weather permitting, so check conditions before planning around it.

Meet over classic-style cocktails at Union Lodge No. 1, which takes inspiration from late 19th-century American bars and pre-Prohibition specialty drinks.

Tables go to whoever arrives first, so you may have to wait. The bar opens daily at 5pm.

Have craft cocktails in Death & Co Denver's grand lobby setting at the Ramble Hotel in RiNo. The bar offers full-room table service and its own Denver menu.

For a smaller setting, try the intimate Suite 6A lounge with plush chairs. Dinner is available, with snacks only until 5pm. Walk-ins are welcome for parties of up to 8, alongside a limited number of reservations.

Settle into conversation at Run for the Roses, a cozy, sociable underground lounge in the Dairy Block. Seasonal cocktails sit alongside classics, rare spirits, and snacks.

Enter through an alley door, where roses cover the floor and an elevator takes you to the lounge.

Find space to flirt over craft cocktails at Room for Milly, where plush velvet couches and bold wallpaper set the scene. Bites are available alongside the drinks.

Drop in during happy hour, 3pm to 5pm, since walk-ins are highly encouraged.

Meet in the Cruise Room's candlelit, moody setting inside the Oxford Hotel in LoDo. Glowing red walls give the room an art deco feel, with classic pre-Prohibition-style cocktails to match. It was the first Denver bar to open once Prohibition ended in 1933.

Have a first-date drink at Sotto Voce, the downstairs lounge at Jovanina's Broken Italian in LoDo. Craft cocktails are served from a cart in the Prohibition-era-style room, alongside local beer and wine.

Explore the wine list or absinthe program together. For food beforehand, the restaurant upstairs serves handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza.