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The Buzz |
Best Social Melting Pot (2003):It's hard to believe that one can actually find a bar with some diversity in a town teeming with rich white frat boys. Everyone from toothless locals cadging ciggies in the penalty box (smoking room), to burly Air Force guys out for some rugged homo-social bonding, to poor graduate students taking advantage of the free pool (until 10 p.m.) can be found here, rubbing elbows in perfect harmony. The jukebox, while schizophrenic in its selection, functions well as social glue: Pool players across the room can be heard singing along to Johnny Cash one minute and Radiohead the next. It's a beautiful sight, but remember: No matter what your race, color, or creed, don't put your damn feet on the pool tables. -- WestwordBest Place to Smoke in Boulder (2000): Haven't abandoned that nasty habit yet? Don't worry, we won't tell anybody if you're still sneaking drags in the new, Boulderized Sundowner smoking section. We'll all miss the good old days of every-15-minutes announcements that "Boulder city ordinance requires that you extinguish your cigarettes." (Sniff.) But from your votes, we guess the new fishbowl hasn't discouraged those hard-cores who are willing to give up their hard-fought pool table for a quick nic-fix. And to our old pal the Sundowner, well, more power to ya for taking the Best of Boulder cake both pre- and post-renovation. -- Boulder Weekly This Pearl Street Mall hangout brims with locals. Do not let the [Sundown's] entrance turn you away. While a dark stairwell leads to this underground hideaway, the inside is friendly and fun with six pool tables and a big screen television. The bar pours a variety of beverages including an assortment of local microbrews. -- Yahoo Travel This raucous dive is a C.U. institution. In a spacious basement on the west end of the Pearl Street Mall, pool is the pastime of choice and the drinks are reasonably priced. -- Frommers.com The barfly's bar, where everything has been done a thousand times before, maybe once by you. There are hundreds of Boulder ex-pats strewn across the country in more debased, possibly more interesting, towns, who secretly reminisce about some Pabst-soaked revelation at the Sundown. It might be a flashing image of Roy, a long gone ZZ Top lookalike, slamming his hand down on the table at 2 am, or a never-to-be-repeated triple bank on a corner table while that pretty hippie chick looks at you like you're God, or something that really drunk Ph.D. guy said about particle entropy, or the sinuous drinkslinger, Sarah, whose alluring smile can knock you back to your senses long after you've taken leave of them... Back in the day you would hear mostly Merle Haggard and Patsy Cline on the juke, but now it is mixed liberally with the Pogues and Freakwater, and damn if that platinum blonde you sneered at a second ago didn't just put on Steve Earle. Long helmed by Manager Kevin and ace barkeep Matt, it's the place for your inner biker to come out and play. A dark basement bar that digs elusively deeper toward some glowing magma, you will remember every sticky carpet thread, even if you forget.-- The Boulder Outsider If you're a "shot and a beer" boy searching for a tattooed beauty who'll screw you in two, there's always the Sundown Saloon. -- Boulder Weekly
A rowdy time is guaranteed at the Sundown Saloon (1136 Pearl St., (303) 449-4987), a downstairs beer joint and pool hall that's always packed with college kids. Order a jug of PBR and check out one of the most electric juke box selections in the city; avoid the Sundown's smoking room unless you're already dedicated to that lifestyle, as it tends to get a tad smoky. -- The Daily Camera
An institution on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall for almost 20 years. Regular, old-fashioned pool hall and saloon frequented by people from all walks of life (really!). Six pool tables. Six local beers on tap (Pabst Blue Ribbon, too). Most eclectic jukebox in town. Big, comfortable smoking room with wide-screen TV. Popular with locals, students and tourists. -- Barcrawler
After dinner, I made my way into Boulder. Just sort of made my way to downtown by pure luck. Parked, and walked around their outdoor mall area. Was really looking for a movie theater, didn't have much luck. Decided then that I wanted to find a dive bar. I knew there had to be a one somewhere around there. Something that didn't feel like a bohemian brewpub (which are cool, but not what I was in the mood for). Sure enough, I found the "Sundown Saloon". Place had a great jukebox, a big stack of "The Onion" (print form), and they even had Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap! One thing I discovered in Nevada (where we went to many dive bars), it is very difficult to find a place that serves PBR on tap. Stayed there for a few drinks, then decided to head out, as I still needed to figure out where I was going to park for the night. Once I got back to my car, I noticed that they didn't start checking the meters until 9:00 am, so I just set my alarm and slept there. -- a guy named Marco at Thermaleye.com
Best Blue-Collar Bar in a Yuppie Setting (1995): At the end of a long flight of stairs beneath Boulder's very un-blue-collar Pearl Street Mall sits the Sundown, a place where surly men rule the dozen or so pool tables and workmanlike pitchers of Pabst Blue Ribbon are the alcohol servings of choice. Out of place? Nah, just different--and beautiful. -- Westword
About 15 feet below Pearl Street, a stout man with a shaved head and oriental tattoos creeping out of his shirt sleeves leans against a pool cue, cursing at the table. As he bangs the cue casually against the steel toe of his boot, a lanky kid with dreadlocks and a frayed, tie-dyed shirt comes up and says, "We ain't got shit, man." Meanwhile, Johnny Cash is playing on the juke-box; "... And I burned, burned, burned, in a burning ring of fire ..."
The rest of the bar is filled with a variety of people that resemble what a national conference of American sub-culture might look like.
The Sundown Saloon at 1136 Pearl St. is one of a handful of clubs and bars catering to the alternative culture in Boulder.
Having been largely a biker bar years ago, it has developed into a haven for those wishing to avoid the cliche and the mainstream. "We have a very mixed crowd here," said Kevin Kauper, a bartender at what is affectionately referred to as "the Downer." "We've got students, locals, bikers and lawyers. We also have an extremely varied juke-box. It has all the greatest hits from the '40s to the '90s." The Sundown Saloon consists of seven pool tables, a large U-shaped bar and a section of tables and chairs. Waitresses wander the bar, selling microbrews and pitchers of Pabst for and occasionally putting their two-cents into a conversation. -- Campus Press
I was somewhat leery of meeting Bleary-Eyed Reader Matt K. at his favorite local bar, the Sundown Saloon (1136 Pearl Street, Boulder), because you'd think I'd have better things to do with my time than meet a complete stranger at a bar thirty miles away... On the drive to Boulder, our excitement had built to the point that we walked right by this little hole-in-the wall bar. Turned out that the Sundown is in a basement, which always gives me the feeling that I'm descending into hell -- or worse. On the other hand, as my senior researcher noted, "There aren't enough basement bars."
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