Right below Colorado Craft is The Archives. They are shooting for a speakeasy feel to the bar. We felt that when it came to the cocktails, for sure. They have a menu that is a mix of standards and their own creations.
The food, essentially paired down from the Colorado Craft menu, did not align with the speakeasy vibe that The Archives is going for. It felt a bit disjointed to pair complicated hand-made cocktails with nachos or wings. We also noticed that the service also seemed a bit disjointed. There were four people behind the bar and we clearly didn’t “belong” to any one of them. That would be ok if they were on top of their game and we belonged to everyone; instead it meant we were asked by all four of them for our drink orders and still had a long wait, with empty glasses, to get our check.
This spot is relatively new and many of their bartenders are early in their careers it feels like. Surely they will only get better. The core concept they are going for is a good one and the drinks were GOOD; they just need to iron out the kinks.