1982 Interior, Roslyn Grill
Interior, Roslyn Grill
The Roslyn Grill stood on the corner of East Colfax Avenue and Grant Street from 1989 until 2009. During that period, the tavern wasn’t exactly a place you’d head out to for a Friday happy hour with your co-workers. The Roslyn was really more like a place you might head to for a drink before work, if you know what we mean.
What you might not know is that the Roslyn occupied not one, but two different locations before landing in the heart of East Colfax. The bar moved to its Colfax location right around 1989 after being displaced from its previous location on 724 14th Street when the Colorado Convention Center was built. (That’s where noted Colorado historian Tom Noel took this picture in 1982.) Before that, it enjoyed a solid run at 619 14th Street.
Before the Roslyn Grill shut for “remodeling” in 2009, the always objective reviewers at Yelp! provided some insight into what the bar was like.
One reviewer who identified himself as Chad H said:
This place is very cheap and I think it attracts the wrong clientele.Not for anyone looking for a classy bar. Can you say ‘crackhead central?’
Chad’s review pretty much sums up the Roslyn Grill experience in just a couple sentences.
East Colfax has changed a lot since the 1990s, and it’s even changed a lot since the Roslyn shuttered its doors once and for all in 2009.
These days, you’re more likely to find brew pubs and mixologists on Colfax than the folks who frequented the Roslyn’s infamous 9 a.m. happy hour.
The changing face of Colfax and the loss of establishments like the Roslyn are great examples of the ebb and flow of city life.
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