Emerald Eye

Emerald Eye opened in July 2023 in the basement of 1403 Larimer Street, beneath the historic Larimer Square block, from Pouring With Heart — a hospitality organisation whose stated purpose is preserving existing bars and supporting the industry professionals who work in them. The concept is the Caribbean of around 1955, and the room commits to it: 303 Magazine described it on opening as "adorned with a dark tropical design from shining green tile, vintage-inspired lighting and botanical wall coverings", adding that "Emerald Eye brings a bit of mystery to the area". DJs play Caribbean sets at weekends, and the bar's own framing is a curated rum and agave programme with modern riffs on classic cocktails.

The non-alcoholic offering is modest by the standards of Denver's most committed zero-proof bars, but it is real, printed and consistent. The menu carries "NON ALCOHOLIC" as its own heading, with three house drinks at $12 each — a genuine price point rather than a soft-drink one, which reflects that these are built to order. The NA Piña Colada combines pineapple and passionfruit with lemon and coconut, keeping the tropical register of the rest of the list. The NA Margarita is drier and sharper, built from lime, agave, apple and ginger. The most interesting of the three is the NA Negroni, which uses a non-alcoholic aperitif and a non-alcoholic amaro with grapefruit — the bitter-aperitivo style is the hardest category to do without alcohol, and a bar that stocks two separate zero-proof bitter products to make one drink has made a deliberate choice rather than an improvised one. Red Bull and its sugar-free version are also listed for anyone who wants something else. Practically, Emerald Eye is useful because of its hours and location: 4pm to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 4pm to 1am on Friday and Saturday, in the middle of the downtown block most visitors end up on, in a room dark and busy enough that nobody is going to notice or ask what is in your glass.