Since 2023

An escape from the ordinary

Downstairs, off Larimer, in a room that changes with whoever walks into it.

Emerald Eye opened beneath Larimer Square in July 2023 — one flight down from Denver's oldest commercial block, behind a door that's easy to walk past. What we built down here isn't a theme. It's a room that leans bohemian: inventive drinks made by people who know what they're doing, and a night that shifts from quiet conversation to a DJ and a full floor depending on the hour and the crowd. Come to get lost. Come to be found. Both work.

Two cocktails on a table in front of the painted Emerald Eye sign

The block

How we got here

1880s
The 1400 block of Larimer goes up. It is the first street of the city and it spends the next century as saloons, card rooms, and whatever else downtown needed.
1965
Larimer Square becomes Denver's first historic district — saved from the wrecking ball while the rest of the block came down.
Before us
1403 Larimer holds a long line of bars and rooms. Our happy hour list keeps their names on the menu.
July 2023
Emerald Eye opens downstairs. Pouring with Heart's second Denver bar, and the one that goes underground.
Today
Craft cocktails, a zero-proof list built with the same care, and DJs every Friday and Saturday.

House lore

Things regulars know

The eyes in the leaf are the whole point. Once you see them on the logo you'll start finding them on the walls.
You have to go down to get in. Emerald Eye sits below street level at Larimer Square — the door is easy to walk past and that's on purpose.
Every happy hour drink is named for something that stood on this block before us. Soapy Smith really did run Denver from a Larimer saloon.
The back bar runs to the ceiling. Ask a bartender where to start and settle in.

Larimer Square

Of Larimer Square, not just on it

We are a block of independents, a historic district, and a lot of foot traffic that deserves better than a tourist drink. Emerald Eye is built for the people who work downtown and the people who came a long way to see it — the same room, the same list, the same welcome. When the Square throws something, we're in it.

Colorado distillers on the list year-round — Spring 44 gin and vodka on the house cocktails
A happy hour priced for people who actually work downtown
Denver DJs on the decks, not a playlist
Alcohol-free cocktails built with the same care as everything else

Step inside

Before you come down

The back bar at Emerald Eye: bottles stacked to the ceiling, trailing ivy and warm uplight — The back bar, full height

A tattooed bartender cutting an orange peel over the service mat — Mid-build, behind the bar

A guest raising a red coupe under green and red lights late in the night — Later on, when the lights come up

Five cocktails lined up along the bar top with the lit back bar behind — A round, lined up on the bar

Written up in

Westword"Transports you" — Larimer Square's newest cocktail lounge
303 MagazineBrings 1950s Caribbean mystique to Larimer Square
Colorado ExpressionPlayful modern cocktails, DJs and dancing

Come find the door

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