A dive bar by definition is a is a drinking establishment (or sometimes a restaurant) with a dated or ramshackle appearance and atmosphere that provides its patrons with cheap drinks and rowdy company. The Stadium Inn delivers all that and a bag of chips (after a couple drinks you will find yourself asking the bar tender for a bag of funyuns or Cheetos) Located within stumbling distance to the University of Denver, The Stadium Inn has been a hidden treasure to both college students and locals alike. With its darkly lit interior and plethora of new flat screen TVs The Stadium is the perfect place to spend a day watching basketball or football. Anyone will tell you that the drink to get is a Beam & Coke and the staff jokingly refers to the strong libation as their "house wine". The vibe here is laid back and easy going and you will most likely find the same group of people packing the bar every weekend. Rich, the bartender was voted readers choice for best bartender in Denver by 5280 Magazine this year and will keep you constantly entertained with friendly banter and his famous Dirty Bong Water shot. So if you are looking for a place to get a strong drink without the fussy attitude head down to the Stadium and get yourself a Beam & Coke, oh yea don't forget the funyuns because it's all part of the experience. read more

THE place to go before and after Pios hockey games (located just a drunk stumble up Asbury st. on the DU campus, the Stadium Inn offers cheap and strong drinks. Service is great -- the bartender, I'm not gonna lie, looks like he'd be a complete dick, but he's totally cool and friendly. I've only ever seen one waitress in there, but they both get the job done. The decor is old, crappy, the floor can be stick, it sometimes smells, and it's usually kinda dark and dank. It's a Dive Bar and doesn't try to hide that from you, so be aware. In back there's golden tee and pool and silver strike and maybe even a foosball table, I don't completely remember. That's one great thing about this joint -- you'll never completely remember anything about being there! Which is good because it's the most mismatched bar crowd I've ever seen. From twentysomethings direct from DU to...older folk. Sometimes whiskey tango old folk. But, it's a good mixed crowd that usually leads to some rowdy fun. So if it's college hockey season, buy yourself a ticket to the game and drop by the Stadium Inn beforehand -- it'll prove to be a good decision. read more

I've got to be feeling pretty rugged to set foot in here. That said, I've set foot in here several times. It gets way crowded, service can be slow, and I think I drag the average age up a couple of years by simply walking in. On a positive note, they're open very early and I think they have Newcastle on tap. read more

This is the single greatest dive bar in all of Denver. I love Stad so much it's amazing. From the bathroom troughs to the free pool at happy hour, this place is the bomb 24/7. I love Stad, god bless. read more

I went to Stadium Inn last week to meet up with a friend. Because school wasn't in session yet, the bar was mostly deserted (which I guess is a good thing, given previous reviewers' opinions!). They have a HUGE list of happy hour specials, so we settled in for some draught PBRs. Very nice bartenders and waitresses, couple of pool tables, and a dive-y vibe. I don't have any complaints...though maybe I'll refrain from returning when the students are back. ;) read more

Oh, the Shadium... I moved to the neighborhood a few years back and have visited the Stadium a handful of times. If you are going to try to define a dive bar, head to the Stadium and you will get it right away. The drinks are cheap: $2 Jim Beam drinks all the time, cheap beer, decent specials, and free drinks from the girls that work for the drink companies on Friday and Saturday nights. I have a fun time going to the Stadium during summer vacation and off peak hours. On Friday and Saturday nights during the school year, I would avoid it. There can be lines to get in, it can be uncomfortably packed, and the crowd is very young. (Word is that you can easily get in with a fake ID) It's self proclaimed nickname, "The Old Standby," is accurate. You can always head over and grab a drink with friends and have a reasonable good time. However, if you want to take it easy on a weekend night, you might head up the road to one of the more "grad student" bars. P.S. Beware the $10 credit card minimum read more

Local watering hole. Cheap drinks, TVs, pool, and skeeball. Not really an inspiring tap selection, but they do have some decent bottles. But that isn't really why you came to the Stadium Inn. You came for the $3 Miller High Life Tallboy, or maybe the $2 Jim Beam. Con: in the men's bathroom there is a pee-trough and then a toilet behind a separate door. The problem is the sink is also behind aforementioned door. I do not want to stand around in the (small) bathroom waiting for someone to wipe so I can wash my hands. How can that not lead to awkwardness? Con: $10 credit card minimum. I am not generally offended by credit card minimums but $10 seems high, especially since at this place you have to order 4-6 drinks to hit it. Bring a friend. read more

This place is known by a lot of people as "The Shadium", and rightfully so. I've got nothing against dive bars, and I hit them up a pretty fair amount. But this place is a little dumpy for me. The bar service is horrendously slow, unless you're a female flaunting a certain part of your body. I was standing at the bar for 10 minutes easy with no dice-a member of the fairer sex walked up armed with some cleavage and the bartender made a beeline. Really?! I know it happens a lot but that's pretty ridiculous. The design of this place is not the greatest-there are two pool tables, but they're literally right in the middle of the room with tables around. What does this mean? I have to get out of my booth every few minutes so I don't get clocked in the head when someone's taking their shot. Awkward, and weird planning. And the bathroom? If Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs had put in a toilet, sink and trough in his basement, this is what it would look like. I'm not usually one to complain about bathrooms but man oh man... I went to The Stadium because it was my brother and his friend's call...but personally, I wouldn't make this a choice for going out. By the way, $10 minimum if you wanna pay with a card. They don't tell you that until after you order a drink, so there's a heads up for you. read more

Great neighborhood bar, cheapest drinks around that area, sweet pool deals, and friendly staff. Knocked off a star for the musty smell, crappy bathrooms, and the unpredictable crowd haha Ashley is the best server, she talks to everyone and makes people feel at home there. There's a special everyday! read more

The bar tender was a huge prick even though we walked in with our masks on and sat at the table he told us to sit at. He said we didn't follow the rules which were not stated anywhere and proceeded to ask for our drinks as though it was a huge chore. I noticed he was being rude to my whole party so i asked him if i could help or make things better in any manner. Instead he insulted us again so we decided to leave and i tipped already because i was paying for the group so i told the others this guy was mean so no need to tip. He then decided to confront me after i left to insult me and offer to assault me. read more

Love this joint, can smell the pisser when you walk in and has the feel of a good dive bar.

Stadium Inn bills itself as a DU college bar - but earlier in the evenings it is anything but. It attracts an older crowd (40s-50s) plus some local yokels until about 10p in the evenings, when the college kids and grad students start rolling in. The cool thing about college kids and grad students is that they keep to their groups and don't try to start fights just because that was the main plan for the evening. Aside from the clientele - the drinks are cheap as hell. $2 Jim Beam cocktails, and the bartenders pour heavy. That is usually where I stop, but they have good deals on other liquors and beers as well. It is also a good place to watch the game with huge flatscreens behind the bar and plenty of seating in the front area. There is also pool and foozball in the back, and you can watch the games from there as well. The men's bathroom is pretty ridiculous - the giant trough makes you want to take your chances with the bushes outside. However, fueling a wild night for only $20 (including generous tips) makes it all worth it. read more

The Shadium! Pros: Great if you shammered, want to save some cash or all of the above.... but thats bout it Cons: Smells like a giant DU urinal cake, cant walk ANYWHERE once packed, 10$ credit card minimum (what?! who does that anymore?!), and getting a drink is next to impossible unless your sporting a fine set of female assets. Your standard set of collar poppin weirdos will continue to clog up the chill spots by playing pool despite it being busy and somehow an alarming rate of underagers love to find their way into the bar. Oh well if your looking to get pissed at a place that smells like piss nowhere better the the Shadium! read more

Staff was very unwelcoming and rude upon entrance and doesn't understand-gender rules at all. Very highly under educated and not a place I'll be taking my business anymore. You'd think a DU dive bar with the likes of Paul Stasny would have high expectations. Rip read more

Much like its cousin the Border, the Stadium (or "Shadium") is a part of DU life. While the Border is more of a "dive," the Stadium is far more "college." It gets more crowded, but it is more booze-drenched than rowdy. The crowds (and the Stadium is deceptively small) can slow service down quite a bit and if you have a low tolerance for college kids, the Stadium is not for you. The silver lining to the crowding issue is that when school is not in session, or when the DU undergrads are theoretically in class or studying, the bar is a pretty pleasant place. During these "off-peak" hours, the clientele is a pretty interesting (and friendly) mix of locals and pool sharks. It is worth noting that Jim Beam and PBR are always on special. Obviously, these are not "choice" liquors, but I've always felt that both get the job done are far from the worst things you can drink for $2. read more

Cheap, well-poured drinks and friendly staff keep me visiting here on occasion. I am really glad to have this establishment in the area. The only reason I sometimes avoid it is the $10 minimum on cards (encourages drinking too much!), and the noise level and crowds on weekends (but it's first on my list if that's what I'm looking for!) However, I still rank this as one of my favorites in the area. read more

I have been to many a bar in my lifetime and I have never experienced such rude service. The woman behind the bar was just terrible. She talked about other customers behind their backs all within earshot of those at the bar. She was inattentive, not even caring to make eye contact while doing something else while taking your order. If she wasn't in the back doing dishes, or cleaning something. Terrible. If you care about service do not go here. She should not be involved in this company's workforce. I've heard of bad days but leave it at home. read more

Stadium Inn - Bars Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Great place close to DU for playing pool and having drinks. Their special $2 run and coke rocks and if you get there before 6 you can play pool for free. The taco truck parked outside made it easy to get some food. read more

Stadium Inn - Great place close to DU. Keeps the us older ones happy along with all the college students. - Bars Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Hella just watched the bartender have his associates back when some loser cheap drunk college kid didn't tip her at the end of the night when they closed his tab and they embarrassed the kid and threw him the hell out of there! Big props and so much respect for you guys! I don't see anything wrong in educating these kids on life lessons that their parents obviously didn't before sending them off to college.... you have the money to go out, well then you damn sure better have the money to tip!!! Gtfoh! Hate seeing lame people giving customer service employees a backhand to the face! Way to be Stadium employees! See ya soon! read more

Staff was heavily intoxicated (one could not even stand up straight) and were very rude to my friends and I.

Know what it is and what you are going for... and it could be what you have been looking for. A bar. No food, except when they bring in pizza for customers. $2 beer, $3 Jameson all the time. If you are looking to catch a buzz at a cheaply priced dive bar, look no further. If you are a hip hop head you can catch the grand wizard of such trivia behind the bar when lucky. The staff, overall is solid and then you won't likely go empty. Two pool tables, beat up booths, college over crowding at times. Just right if you are staying off the radar or trying to get AM start. read more

This business, if you could call it that, seemed like a great place to relax. That was short lived by the bartender on wed night 9/2, very rude, wont be back read more

Justina is an awesome bartender and miss carol is so sweet ..what a great little place to watch a game or just hang out and shoot pool. Everyone the seems like family. Check it out! read more

The Stadium is hands down the best bar in town! Unless you are a pretentious prick who thinks you are better than everyone else, you will thoroughly enjoy this place. The bartenders and staff are all amazing; I'm not going to name-drop anyone to show that 'I'm cool like that with them', but everyone there is great. I've been going there ever since I moved back to Denver in 2009, and its within stumbling distance home for me. I've taken several of my good friends and family there (I'm impressed they always remember my Pops when I take him in there), and they all universally agree that 'this is your kind of place Pete.' Damn straight it is! They have everything I require in a bar: 1. A jukebox that they always let me rock (I used to be a DJ for 3 years in Prague, but that doesn't mean that I'm cool by any stretch of the imagination, I'm writing a 'yelp' review for Christ's sake). 2. TV's everywhere there needs to be TV's. Also, being a Die-Hard Cubs Fan my entire life, they have ALWAYS put Cubs games on for me, even when they were terrible and the games were meaningless, but it was a game I wanted to see on the MLB Package they have, they ALWAYS would put it on for me (sometimes it backfired and the bar would give me shit for being a Cubs fan, but I've heard enough of it my entire life that I'm immune to it. Plus, they just won the World Series, so suck it!). 3. They have two pool tables at and its free to play during happy hour (until 6pm everyday, free on Sunday). I've spent several days turning into nights there living on the pool tables and hustling douchy frat boys in front of their sorority girlfriends and embarrassing them. It's hilarious! Overall, if you like shiny things and consider yourself a connoisseur of fine French Wines, JUST LEAVE! DON'T BOTHER COMING AND LOOKING DOWN ON PEOPLE!!!! STICK TO YOUR TRENDY YUPPIE BARS IN LODO!!! STAY AWAY!!! On the other hand, if you enjoy meeting real people from all walks of life during the day, by all means, go! Countless times, they have gotten my mind right after a long day at work and I just needed to cut loose, play some pool, and enjoy a few cocktails and rock the jukebox while watching whatever sports is on that time of year. The Stadium is #1 in my heart and I know I'm not alone. read more

Making your way in the world today, takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name. --I sing this song in my head a lot when I come here... Rich, Cody, and Kyle are the mans with the plans. It's nice to go to a bar where people actually know you. Cody gave me a homegrown tomato once. Find me a bouncer that gives his patrons fresh tomatoes other than Cody, and I will tell you that you are a big, fat liar. You get what you pay for though, this place is the definition of dive bar, but we love it. THE KICKER- $2 Jim Beam's, all day, every day. You can literally get tanked and walk home with a 10 dollar bar tab. Don't change Shadium, don't change. read more

I graduated from DU and went here a few times. I now live a block from here, and I still don't go--the bar itself is fine (for a divey atmosphere), but the packed-to-the-gills clientele of DU kids keeps me out. Some of the pool sharks trolling for college girls are pretty funny though. read more

Its a dive. No problem with that. It is cheap and noisy and I love that. There is, however, no excuse to be dirty to the point of not being sanitary. Bugs on the floor, dirty walls and that bathroom need some attention. I love a good dive, but it delivers that quality a little to well. read more

This bar is incredibly friendly and accommodating. I spent many weekends here during football season and never regretted it. It is incredibly affordable with 2 dollar beers and shots all day. They often give out free beer and promotions to anyone in attendance including jersey giveaways. Free pool and free pizza on Sunday's! They are very generous and you will be recognized quickly by the owners and bartenders. There's a reason it has been here so long! Go to stadium!!! read more

$2 PBR and friendly service. Bit of a dive, but still fun to people watch!

I would give 0 stars if I could!!! My 2 friends and myself went to this bar for a couple of drinks to celebrate us moving to the east coast next month. Then we were randomly accused by another customer for stealing his phone. We never noticed the man's existence nor did we speak to him until he started staring at us aggressively and eventually accused us of theft. We told him that it wasn't us and he insisted that it was. He said he was 100% sure that we stole his phone, so we spoke with the bartenders to have them look at the camera security footage to prove that we didn't. The lady bartender was understanding and cooperative, however, the male bartender (Rich) handled the situation very poorly and even insinuated that we may have stolen the man's phone. The customer who was accusing us was drunk and kept harassing us the whole time we were there. He also called us "niggers" twice, he also started making fun of how we looked. When we expressed this to the male bartender, he pointed out that we may be racist too after we expressed our frustration about the customer calling us racial slurs. Though they eventually kicked the guy out (after being harassed for over an hour), we were treated as if we were in the wrong and were scolded for being understandably upset. I will never go back there again and am convinced that the male bartender (Rich) is racist. read more

This place is pretty gross but has very cheap drinks. If you are looking for a good balanced gender male to female ratio...you will not find it here. Drink here...go somewhere else for people and fun. read more

Old standby of the DU bars. Full-bar and generally an always happening place. Nobody can beat the all day, everyday price of $2 jim beam and coke! The beer prices are really reasonable as well probably running you an average of $3/bottle. The mixing of locals and DU college students can make for an interesting crowd but fun nonetheless. If you haven't tried it, I suggest you should. read more

This is the place if you like the smell of urine, intermingled with the smell of vomit. I would have given it 1 star, but it does have cheap drinks. The server clearly thinks she is hot and shouldn't have to work for a living. "Security" guy needs to dial it down a notch. I hope the sticky stuff on my table wasn't organic. read more

Home sweet Home. Wish they would of not painted the men's room tho. They used to have $2 beans all day everyday but now they have Evan Williams $2.00 all day everyday as the new house wine not bad but I still prefer being I guess I'll pay the extra dollar now. No matter what happens this place will always have a little piece of my soul. read more

The stadium has great drink deals... if you can get the bar tenders attention.... the staff isn't that friendly... The DU crowd is well a college crowd... Not the place to go for a quiet drink read more

A lovely little college dive bar. Not as dirty and/or smelly as you'd expect! Great drink specials, pool if that's your gig, big buck hunter and incredible people watching. Definitely come here for cheap drinks and good times. read more

In a perfect world, I would give the Stadium 4.5 stars. The minus .5 of a star for the weird people who come into this place, but hey, that's not really the bar's fault. I love the Stadium as it is everything a dive bar should be. They fulfill every requirement to the fullest, from sticky floors, to lubriciously strong drinks, to bartenders who come off friendly but don't take any s***. I have been going here for a while now but I prefer going during the week as it's not as ridiculous as it is on the weekends. I was in on Wednesday and Joey was bartending. He was very friendly and attentive, as most of the staff here is. If you are looking for a good old neighborhood dive, look no further than the Stadium. read more

It all depends on what you're looking for, what time of day you're going and whether or not DU is in session. If you want $2 Jim Beam every day all day, this is your place. If you want a non-crowded place on the weekend, look elsewhere. Rich behind the bar is great, but the young crowd can be a pain. read more

Great student bar, cheap drinks, generous measures, great staff especially Lia he is brill!!

Went there last weekend and had a great time. Took my family who was in town there and the "manager" Rich was VERY unprofessional, even the door man said he was out of line. Used very choice wording after a gentleman we did not know threw his drink at us and walked out. Rich said "you're a b*tch why don't you take this outside" along with many other inappropriate wordage. This will not be the last time this place here's from me and the BBB will definitely be hearing about this. read more