Every road trip needs a proper send-off. Not a gas station burrito and a lukewarm coffee, a real send-off worthy of a long adventure on the road. Something that sets the tone for the miles ahead and gives you a reason to linger just long enough before you hit the highway. The Old Man Bar in Broomfield, sitting right on the way out of Boulder, has been doing exactly that for the kind of people who know where to look.
The name isn’t ironic. The Old Man Bar leans into its identity the way a good dive bar should, no apologies and no craft cocktail menu with seventeen ingredients. Step inside and you get neon lights, low ceilings, and bartenders who move with the quiet confidence of people who’ve been doing this a long time. The regulars look comfortable here. So will you.
What you get here is cheap drinks, cold beer, and barbecue that could carry you through the Rockies on sheer caloric goodness alone. The brisket and ribs are the real draw, the kind of low-and-slow barbecue that earns its reputation by not needing to say much about itself. Order before you leave. It travels well.
While the food is great and the atmosphere is exactly what you would want, the thing that keeps people talking, and keeps them from actually leaving on time, is the beer garden. It’s one of the largest you’ll find anywhere in the metro, a sprawling outdoor space that somehow manages to feel both wide-open and lived-in. At the far end, a massive screen anchors the whole scene, broadcasting whatever game is on to a crowd that’s genuinely invested. On a Sunday before a long drive west, that screen has delayed more than a few departures. Add in darts and a pool table, and the garden stops being a patio — it becomes a destination in its own right…