Raise a Glass to Denver's Best Dive Bar, Whose Remaining Walls Will Soon Come Tumbling Down

It was fun...sometimes too much fun...while it lasted.

But in the next few weeks, the remaining walls of the Carioca Cafe — better known to lovers of dive bars everywhere as "Bar Bar," winner of Westword 's Best Dive Bar award in 2023 — will come tumbling down.

"I have mixed feelings," says Rich Granville, the musician/booker/bartender who did so much to keep the place at 2060 Champa Street going. "I knew it wasn't going to last forever...that's why I did everything i did for the past seven years."

Before the pandemic, that involved going from performer to regular to bartender. During the pandemic, Granville also became the bar's chief spokesman, protector, fundraiser, booker and license wrangler as the landlord let him take the lead in keeping the club alive. "He really gave me a