A new watering hole is coming to LoHi this spring, and its owner couldn\u2019t be more excited.<\/p>\n
Pam Proto knows the corner of 15th and Platte streets — she\u2019s been operating her Denver Proto\u2019s Pizzeria Napoletana there for 17 years now. But the pizza restaurateur, who owns six Proto\u2019s shops in the Denver and Boulder areas, has long wanted to change things up a little.<\/p>\n
Proto decided to keep it simple and go old school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done pizza for a long time, and I\u2019ve always said, someday I just want to have a bar,\u201d Proto told BusinessDen. \u201cJust an old-school bar where you come, hang out, doesn\u2019t matter who you are, what you do, just come. The space became available last year next to my Denver Proto\u2019s, and I jumped on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proto laughed as she described the space she\u2019s opening her new bar, dubbed Nearby Bar Drinks and Eats. It\u2019s directly adjacent to the Proto\u2019s Pizza at 2401 15th St.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the tiniest place you\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d she said with a joyful cackle. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to open first week of May.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bar, kitchen and bathroom will occupy a space listed on permits at 665 square feet.<\/p>\n
Old school won\u2019t only describe the feel of the diminutive space, Proto said. That ethos will also be represented in the decor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have a cool inside, paying homage to that neighborhood and what it was back at the turn of the century,\u201d Proto said. \u201cIt was really still a red-light district, so brothels, derelicts. We\u2019ll pay homage to that on the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
With simple food from a small kitchen in the back — Proto plans on roast beef sandwiches, Italian grinders and the like \u2014 as well as access to the larger menu of the pizzeria next door, Proto said this feels like a dream come true.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how excited I am,\u201d she said. \u201cI knew someday that perfect space would arrive, and here it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name, Nearby Bar, is intended to capture the spirit of simplicity with which Proto hopes to imbue the spot, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re in the neighborhood, where should we go?\u201d Proto said, supposing a conversation between friends or coworkers looking for a spot to relax in LoHi. \u201cLet\u2019s go to Nearby Bar. Where? No, to Nearby. Haha, it\u2019s right there. Right nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proto said she envisions Nearby Bar filling a gap in the neighborhood that\u2019s existed since the closure of, well, a nearby bar some time ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Monkey Bar, I loved that place,\u201d Proto said. \u201cBut it was redeveloped. There\u2019s just not a bar, and I want this bar to be for anybody — anybody \u2014 to come get a drink. I don\u2019t care who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former pet food store has been gutted and is on track for its intended spring opening, Proto said. But it was quite the journey to get to this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the city closed down, oh the permit took forever,\u201d Proto said. \u201cBut honestly, it\u2019s been a blessing in disguise. If everything had gone according to plan with the city, we\u2019d have opened five months ago in the middle of a pandemic and that would\u2019ve been a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Proto said that her loyal staff at the pizzerias hunkered down over the last year of pandemic-induced strife, never closing entirely for business for even a day, but shifting nimbly to take out-all the time. It was hard, she said, but she\u2019s proud of her crew. Now, she said, she\u2019s ready for some good news.<\/p>\n
\u201cI pray we\u2019re really coming out of this,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was really hard. But we did it, and only because I have incredible people working for me and great customers.\u201d<\/p>\n