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The advent of to-go cocktails was one of the few positive things that came out of the pandemic. In March 2020, Colorado legislature permitted restaurants, breweries, and bars to offer alcohol to go in order to maintain delivery and takeout sales and help them stay afloat during mandated business closures. In July 2021, it passed bipartisan House Bill 21-1027, making the measure legal until July 2025. The statute has proven to be quite popular among diners in the Centennial State and critical to the recovery of Colorado restaurants.
Now, to-go alcohol has been permanently legalized thanks to Senate Bill 24-020, which Governor Jared Polis signed into law on May 10—and just in time. With high inflation, rising labor and food costs, and hefty regulations, this new legislation comes at a time when restaurants in Colorado are struggling to stay open.
“It’s been such a challenging few years for restaurants, and knowing that they can rely on this extra revenue stream is a huge help,” says Sonia Riggs, president and CEO of the Colorado Restaurant Association (CRA). “Takeout and delivery orders remain a strong element of overall restaurant sales—much more so than before the pandemic—and being able to add alcohol-beverage sales to those orders is a win-win for restaurants and the dining public.”
More than 1,800 food service businesses in Colorado currently have an alcohol-to-go permit, and in a recent CRA survey, over 80 percent of restaurants who sell alcohol to go attributed between one and 10 percent of their total alcoholic beverage sales to takeout and delivery orders. That one to 10 percent could be crucial when considering about 3 cents is all that remains from each dollar spent at a restaurant after operators pay for labor, overhead, and food, according to CRA data.
To celebrate this new law, we’re raising our glasses to these local establishments offering beer, wine, and cocktails for pickup and/or delivery. Cheers!
African Grill and Bar in Lakewood has a takeout menu that features wine, beer, and cocktails like Ghana Must Go (with mixed fruits and rum), Palmfresh (with palm juice and rum), Old African (with whiskey and African bitters), and more. View the takeout menu; order in person at 955 S. Kipling Parkway, Lakewood
Archetype Distillery offers its premium gin and vodka drinks for pickup and delivery Monday through Friday and Saturday and Sunday by request. Its cocktail kits serve up to four people and include options like the Rogue (with Archangel vodka, Archrival gin, saignée wine, club soda, and lemon mist, served with chocolate-covered espresso beans), Archetype Tonic and Lime (with your choice of gin or vodka, house-made tonic, and lime mist), and more. Order online
Atomic Cowboy (Denver Biscuit Co. and Fat Sully’s) offers its entire line of specialty cocktails to go and for delivery at all locations, including its seasonal summer lineup of drinks like the strawberry rhubarb mule (Breckenridge vodka, house-made strawberry rhubarb jam, lime juice, and ginger beer), Smoke Show margarita (Tanteo chipotle tequila, triple sec, lime juice, agave and firewater tincture, and Tajín rim), and watermelon spritz (Tito’s vodka, Mavi aperitivo, lemon juice, and watermelon syrup, topped with Champagne). Order online
The extensive wine selection, cocktails, and northern Italian fare at Barolo Grill in Cherry Creek is available for pickup. Let the sommelier curate a three pack of wine for you, or choose your favorite bottles of white, red, or rosé. If you’re hankering for a cocktail, pick a classic such as a Negroni or Manhattan, or try the spritz kit (with eight ounces of Contratto apéritif, a bottle of Prosecco, and orange slices). View Barolo’s curbside menus; call 303-393-1040 to order
D Bar in Uptown is known for its desserts, but sweet tooths can order more than its pastries. Customers can get their array of wines and specialty cocktails for pickup or delivery, including creative concoctions like the Zen Garden (Soto sake, cucumber, aloe liqueur, green tea syrup, and lemon), Orange Dreamsicle (Three Olives vanilla vodka, Grove Street orange liqueur, orange juice, and brown sugar ice cream), and an array of martinis. Order online
Dio Mio in RiNo offers a selection of 20 different bottles of wine, six-packs of Outlaw and the Sauce IPA, and four-packs of Westbound & Down Italian Pils for pickup alongside its Michelin-recommended pastas. And on Wednesdays, customers can take advantage of a 50 percent off Wine Wednesday deal on select bottles of wine to go. Order online
The Emporium Brewing Company in Berkeley has 16-ounce beer cans available for pickup, including a build-your-own four-pack option that allows customers to mix and match any four brews of their choosing. Order online
Fruition, chef Alex Seidel’s farm-to-table concept, offers all of a wide selection of brandies, amari, digestifs, cocktails, beers, ciders, and wines by the glass for pickup orders. Specialty cocktails include the coffee martini, Fortunado’s Caveat (Amontillado sherry, apricot, white vermouth, chamomile, and lemon), and Goldrush (Weller Special Reserve bourbon, honey, ginger, and lemon). Order online
The entire menu of beers, wine, sake, and Asian-inspired cocktails at Glo Noodle House in West Highland—including the Garden of Words with gin, sake, génépy, celery juice, and lime and the Bubbles with carrot juice, tequila, lime, orange liqueur, and dill foam—is available for takeout. Order online
The refined-sugar-free cocktail menu at Just Be Kitchen is available for pickup and delivery, including the Lemon Drop Martini (vodka, agave, bitters, lemon juice, and lemon zest), Mary Mary (your choice of Ciroc or Keel vodka and the Real Dill Bloody Mary mix), and skinny margarita (tequila, lime, agave, and a sea salt rim). Order online
Machete Tequila & Tacos in LoDo has a large selection of specialty margaritas (like the Blood Orange with Cuervo Tradicional tequila, blood orange, fresh lime, and agave, and A Day in Tulum with Casamigos tequila, muddled cucumber, mint, fresh lime, and agave) and Mexican standards like paloma and Michelada drinks for pickup. Customers can also order the margaritas by the liter. Order online
Millers & Rossi, a posh cocktail bar and lounge in RiNo, has a selection of shots for pickup and delivery, including its 50/50s (an equal split of two spirits served as a shot straight up) like the Maserati with mezcal and Ramazotti and specialty shots like the Spicy Pickle Rick. Order online
Mizu Izakaya in LoHi, home to one of the largest collections of Japanese whisky and sake in Denver, offers a wide selection of alcoholic beverages for pickup and delivery, including sake, wine, beer, and cocktails. Order online
My Neighbor Felix in LoHi offers a large variety of margaritas and craft cocktails for pickup. Its margaritas come in flavors like elderflower, hibiscus, strawberry banana, and peach. As for other cocktails, customers can pick between options like the Muy Yum Paloma (Casamigos Blanco tequila, fresh grapefruit and lime, pink peppercorns, and agave nectar), Spicy Felix Fresca (Tito’s, homemade cucumber agua fresca, elderflower, lime, and jalapeño), Bloody Mary, mojito, and michelada. Order online
Park & Co in Capitol Hill will bring its beers and drag brunch cocktails to you. Get the Green Smoothie Tito Rita, Tickle Me Spritz, Fruit Loop, Serrano Bloody Mary, or a mimosa for takeout or delivery. And why not order one of their yummy sandwiches while you’re at it? Order online
The Post Chicken & Beer has crowlers of Post beer to go at all of its locations in LoHi, Rosedale, Boulder, Fort Collins, Estes Park, Longmont, and Lafayette (select locations offer delivery as well). The core four beers are always available (Top Rope, Howdy, Townie, and El Corn), as well as rotating seasonal selections. Order online
Postino offers bottles and cans of beer as well as bottles of wine for pickup at all of its locations, which play well with its beloved bruschetta boards. Order online
Ratio Beerworks in RiNo allows beer buffs to pick up six-packs, crowlers, and kegs of its meticulously crafted brews. Pro tip for saison lovers: try The King of Carrot Flowers saison and thank us later. Order online
Redeemer Pizza in RiNo is slinging more than just pies with its takeout wine and beer offerings. Customers can choose between 20 different bottles of wine and can also purchase six-packs and four-packs of beer for pickup. Plus, the pizza joint is extending its 50 percent off Wine Wednesday deal on select bottles of wine to go. Order online
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant offers its large selection of margaritas to go, including the classic rendition (which comes frozen or on the rocks, and in different flavors like mango, strawberry, and Manberry), Big Tex margarita (with Cuervo Tradicional silver tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh citrus), and margarita kits that come with everything you need to build your own margaritas at home. Order online or call 303-623-5432
Rosenberg’s Bagels in Five Points and the Stanley Marketplace offers a variety of canned alcoholic beverages like High Noon and Tip Top, and the Stanley Marketplace location also offers a Bloody Mary kit (which includes one liter of Family Jones vodka, one quart of Real Dill Bloody Mary mix, and one quart of Batampte pickles), mimosa kit (with one bottle of sparkling wine and one bottle of Natalie’s orange juice), Irish coffee and bagels kit (with a 750 mL bottle of Jameson, 750 mL bottle of Five Farms Irish cream, 12 ounce bag of Method Roasters coffee beans, plus 13 bagels and cream cheese), and wines from Attimo. Order online
Tamayo, chef Richard Sandoval’s Mexican eatery in Larimer Square, offers pitchers of sangria or traditional margarita with its taco and enchilada meal packages, which feed between two to four people. Order online
Walter’s303 Pizzeria & Publik House in Lowry and Uptown lets customers order a number of different canned beers for pickup or delivery—because what goes better with pizza than beer? Order online
West End Tavern, located on Pearl Street in Boulder, offers crowlers and cocktails for takeout, including the Alpine Sour (Fireside bourbon, lemon juice, agave, Breckenridge bitters, and ginger liqueur), the Colorado Cannonball (Dickel 15-year whiskey, coconut rum, pineapple, lime, grenadine, and angostura bitters); and a take on a paloma (West End Tavern Corazón tequila or Dickel 15-year, grapefruit and lime juice, agave, and Aperol); and more. Order online
White Pie, an East Coast–inspired pizzeria with locations in Uptown and Colorado Springs, serves up select cocktails and wine for pickup alongside its New Haven– and Sicilian-style pies. Order online
Woods Boss Brewing in Five Points offers cans of its beers to go with selections that range from light to dark and hoppy to sour. Order online
Work & Class, a homestyle Southern and Latin American restaurant by chef Dana Rodriguez in RiNo, allows guests to order any of the cocktails available to go, with creative flavor profiles like arrot mango ginger and grapefruit habanero rosemary. View the menu; call 303-292-0700 to order
