My Brother’s Bar may not be haunted. But it is full of ghosts.
Ghosts of previous owners who ran the restaurant under multiple former names. Ghosts of past patrons, some famous, some not, who grace the walls with their likenesses. Ghosts of a former way of life that My Brother’s Bar is clinging to with all its might.
You can feel them immediately, either remembered or imagined, upon entering the dark, signless time capsule of an establishment that wears its age on its sleeve the way few other Denver establishments can. Inside, the lights are dim and the decor is dimmer, marked by a deep, earthy, brownish-red color scheme shared by the shoulder-high wood wainscoting, textured walls, and stamped tin ceiling.
The floors are worn and scratched. The tabletops uneven and dimpled by years of use and thousands of elbows, worn through in places to the raw wood. Red-tinted seats and stools have the errant tear or rip.
You are not here for fine dining. You are not here for elegance or sophistication. You are here for burgers, beer, and nostalgia that only a 150 year old building can deliver. It’s a fact that David Newman, who, along with wife Paula and son Danny, bought the restaurant in 2017, considers the key to its enduring legacy.
“We wanted to keep the ambience and just the whole flavor of the place,” he said, “There was no reason to change it. It was a successful operation and that’s why we didn’t really make any changes.”
The Beat Generation Connection and Neal Cassidy’s IOU
The history starts with the building itself. While My Brother’s Bar opened in 1970, created by brothers Jim and Angelo Karagas, the building had housed several previous businesses dating back to 1873. The first was the original Highland House. Over the years, it changed hands and names, from Schlitz Brewing Company, to Whitie’s Restaurant, to Platte Bar, and then Paul’s Place.
Local legend has it that Denver resident Neal Cassady, the Beat Generation figure who inspired Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road,” was a regular of the bar during the 1960s, as suggested by an IOU letter still posted on the walls.
“At the corner of 15th and Platte Streets there’s a cafe called Paul’s Place,” it reads. “I believe I owe them about 3 or 4 dollars. If you happen to be in that vicinity please drop in and pay it, will you?”
Newman’s wife Paula was a longtime waitress and manager at the bar while the Karagas brothers owned it. When it came time for the aging brothers to retire, neither could bear to see the historical building sold to a developer. So the Newmans stepped in and now carry on the legacy today.
A Bar Filled With Classical Music, But No TVs
Maintaining this legacy means keeping the space intact as a sort of living museum to Denver’s past. For instance, adorning the walls are portraits of classical composers, a former conductor of the Denver Symphony, and several Denver Symphony promotional posters.
According to Newman, all stem from a former KVOD employee who also tended bar there, and would play the classical music station during his shift. The bartender is gone, but the posters remain, as does the classical pianist silhouette that serves as the bar’s logo. And to this day, the only music you’ll hear coming through the speakers is classical.
That spirit of preservation applies not only to what stays in, but what stays out. Specifically when it comes to televisions.
“We don’t have TVs,” said Newman. “This is a place where people meet. Some not having met before. They come in, sit, and ultimately have conversations. So we just continue to promote that.”
More Than 50 Years of Making One of Denver’s Best Burgers
The burgers at My Brother’s Bar are consistently ranked among the best in Denver, and for good reason. There’s no trendy smashburger here. The patties are thick, cooked medium rare by default, and taste of actual ground beef the way a burger should. The only catch, the bar doesn’t use plates.
All food comes served only in wax paper, which you open up to form your eating vessel. That’s just as well, because these can be messy burgers thanks to the standout toppings. The signature JCB stands for Jalapeño Cream Cheese Burger, which features exactly that, a mixture of minced jalapeño with cream cheese on a bun. Trust us, it works. Take it a step further, and the Johnny Burger adds American and Swiss cheese to the mix, along with grilled onions.
These burgers and more come with a condiment caddy that takes up the table, filled with bowls of green relish, pickles, banana peppers, and slices of onion. It also includes ketchup, mustard, and a healthy heap of much-needed napkins.
All are familiar items to My Brothers’ Bar vets, and there’s no sign that any of this is going to change anytime soon. In fact the only things the Newmans have added are an updated ordering system to replace the previous practice of simply yelling into the kitchen, and menus. Previously, the only menus were the poster-sized printouts on the wall, which remain, but with the prices covered to accommodate the need to update costs.
Keeping Denver’s “Old Days” Alive
This insistence on keeping things as they are, rooted in the “old days” seems almost counterintuitive to the bar’s new surroundings, where the Commons Park neighborhood has undergone a rash of modernization. Glass and steel skyscrapers loom menacingly over the bar’s weathered brick exterior. The neighboring building that once was an electricity generator for the city’s old tram system is now an REI flagship store.
Yet My Brother’s Bar in spirit stands tall against this encroachment. And in their latest act of defiance, the Newmans now have out back an old streetcar that they’ve converted into a food truck fully operational and ready to go once they get it staffed up.
Surviving 20 years or more in Denver’s restaurant scene is an accomplishment. Surviving 50 is rare. Few buildings, let alone businesses, have stood that test of time. But My Brother’s Bar is one of the scarce fraternity of Denver establishments to have endured against the odds. And the trick at least for this member of the club is to keep looking backwards rather than forward.
“Just keeping the consistency and staying true to the feeling that we have here,” Newman said, regarding the bar’s continued success. “[We are] not reinventing the wheel.”
Visit My Brother’s Bar Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to midnight; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. 2376 15th St., Denver, mybrothersbar.com
