Ohhhh Zanzibar. Pool tables + random bar eats + loud music + decent drink specials + fun staff & awesome owner + a million holiday themed parties hosted here each year which feature an actual bubbling hot tub in the middle of the bar area + my drunk ass getting talked into "drinking for free" if I got into the hot tub wearing only my bra and panties = HOLY....FUN, CRAZY, WILD. **I have not returned since this random occasion on St Patty's day 4 years ago. awkward.** read more

If I'm in the mood for 1. Having a fun time getting drinks with friends and 2. Playing some pool against some folk, this is the #1 destination to go. Fun bar read more

Great little pool hall and bar. When the Retro Room was absolutley packed during the Santa Claus Pub Crawl, we opted to get a beverage here instead. I'm so glad we did. The daily special was a $6 Long Island Iced Tea that was delicious (and dangerous). The place was a bit dead, but our group livened up the place a bit ;) There were lots of pool tables available. And, the decor was really interesting, eclectic in a very funky and fun way. I will definitely back with some pool playing friends in tow. This is a great, laid back bar where we can kick back with some beverages and not take ourselves too seriously. read more

For a pool bar, this place is legit. It's nothing fancy but expectations should be pretty low for a authentic pool bar in my opinion. We came on a Tuesday night so it wasn't too crowded but we ordered drinks right away and there was a pool table open. The volume was tolerable and the crowd was a little loud but very friendly. I'd definitely check this place out if you are looking for a grungy pool night. read more

New to town and wanted some food and a drink - a sign on the window said 'get a burger or sandwich between 11-7 and get a free beer'. I thought this sounded like a good deal. I paid for a drink first then ordered a $13 burger, and then mentioned the promotion advertised and the bartender said 'oh no that's next door'. I thought oh okay I must have been wrong. When I went outside for a smoke I saw the sign was right on their window so I showed it to them. She said she only worked twice a week, and had never heard of it, but removed the sign. Brittany I believe is the bartenders name, and aside from telling me that she wouldn't honor it, she was very rude. The burger was dry, and the bartender was playing pool the entire time and would make her guests wait long periods of time before returning. I'm just surprised how I spent $22 dollars on 2 drinks and a burger, and honoring a free beer that was advertised and the reason I went in was such a big deal. I was nice about it and told her I would turn to yelp. She said she didn't care. read more

Visiting from out of town, went from bar to bar and wasn't impressed. However, Shelby was the most accommodating bartender I've met in this entire city. Come here and ask for her. Thank Zanzibar!!! read more

I dropped by for happy hour to get a okay price on beer and free Billiards. Service from the bartenders was okay, the regulars seemed kind of cold, but hey, free Billiards! read more

I've walked by this place on numerous occasions. We figured we'd wander in, check it out & split. Well... that didn't go as planned. We had so much fun we stayed a solid hour playing free pool & enjoying decently priced drinks. The music was great which is always a bonus. That's a big feat to occupy my time like that with sooo many other options downtown. We''ll definitely be back. read more

Zanzibar Billiards - Pool Halls Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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The worst service experience I've ever had in my life. Seriously, do not ever go here. My friends and I were hopping around, and decided to give Zanzibar a try. There were maybe 30 patrons at 10pm on Saturday in their huge space, which probably should've been my first red flag. I went in with a group of 5 friends, and three of them got served right away. My friend and I went up to the bar, and were actively ignored by the two female bartenders (pictured) and a male bartender. Everyone else was served, and they even served people BEHIND US. We waited for 25 minutes, tried waving down any bartender, and still nothing, while the bartenders took shots with their friends, were on their phones and vaping. It got so bad to the point where the bartender went up to a girl next to us, and the patron even said "serve them first, they've been waiting forever", and the blonde bartender responded "yeah I'll get there" and continued to ignore us. Then, the staff/security guard came up to us and told us to stop pressuring them. My friends who had been served had finished their drinks, and we still had not even been approached, so we left without anything. I truly have never been treated in such a disrespectful manner, and would rather go home than ever go back into this disgusting establishment. No wonder you can't get a good crowd on a Saturday night, your staff is horrible. read more

Zanzibar Billiards - The bartenders who ignored us for 25 minutes and served everyone else. - Pool Halls Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Decent bar, but when you start a tab, they keep your credit card. Which would normally be fine, except when we went to close out, we learned they gave our card to a stranger who had used it at multiple more bars before we even knew it was gone. Didn't really seem too concerned but the bartender did say "they called them and they will bring it back tomorrow." Not sure how you call a random customer. read more

Super dumpy drunk frat boy crowd here on any random Night and way way too long of a wait for a pool table! The crooked sticks alone are enough to keep me out of this place but the questionable waitresses only add the problem!!! Bad mixed drinks that are too small and over priced! read more

Maybe John Taffer should come back....mouse in the pool area. No one was concerned, stay away read more

Zanzibar Billiards - Mouse. Self explanatory - Pool Halls Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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Fun place to go. Yes, service can be slow, but I've seen 2 bartenders max here and it's usually busy. Drinks are strong and cheap, pool is free. They have a handful of others games as well. read more

After they redid the floors they didn't balance the tables so none of the tables shoot straight read more

Zanzibar Billiards - Tables are so slanted that they tried to fix it with napkins... - Pool Halls Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Three stars for the awesome staff and clean bathroom... I'd give about one star for the drinks, though. And these drinks were apparently designed by some guy with his own TV show? The whole bar was redesigned by this guy? I don't know who he is, and I don't care to find out. The drinks are completely uninspired and the feel of the place is nothing special. They do offer free pool as long as you're drinking, so that's cool. They've also got a dartboard and air hockey. Not a terrible place to spend an afternoon, but not the best either. read more

Absolutely disgusting. There was puke all over the pool tables and the bathrooms were nasty. Worse than any porta potty I have ever been in.

Wow. Came 4 the cheap drinks and stayed 4 the awesome staff. Brought some buddies in here last night 8/4/22 for a bachelor party and had the best time. Billiards tables r great and the drinks were made perfectly. The tall female bartender was awesome and kept us laughing all night. I would come back again if we lived in the city because of the bartender. Good place to grab a cheap drink and shoot some pool. Stop in if you find yourself in Denver.. read more

Just like most people, after watching bar rescue and passing through Denver, I decided I was going to take a peak and watch the crazy owner run around and get way to excited (as he was shown on tv) I was expecting the place to be chaos, when in reality, I was welcomed with a 'hey' and a smile by a hot barmaid, and asked what I wanted. Almost instantly, it was sitting in front of me... Super speedy service. We ordered food, and within 10-15 minutes, I was enjoying it greatly. The place has been changed since bar rescue, but in my opinion it looks great. After the staff had finished with there shift, they came to talk to us and hung out for a bit. Very nice, friendly and sexy bar staff. I got a chance to talk to the owner and I was expecting a crazy man, when in fact he's very polite, welcoming friendly and I'm looking forward to seeing that place again soon on my next visit through Denver. 100% recommend this place! read more

Zanzibar Billiards - Hanging out with the staff awesome times! - Pool Halls Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Fun place to play pool! Plenty of tables so you don't have to wait for too long! Nice bar, good atmosphere.

I come by quite often as I live in the area but everytime the bar seems to be a mess. Especially the red headed bartended who acts more like a drunk patron than an employee. No wonder this bar is such a mess when their employees are taking shots and getting drunk read more

Went there before an afternoon Rockies game a couple weeks ago to eat some lunch and play some pool. My buddy and I don't drink these days but we did order sodas and lunch. Not drinking clearly made us unwelcome...despite the fact that we ordered food. There were less than 10 customers in the bar, and the service was HORRIBLE. After we paid four our food and had been playing pool for 5 minutes, a small section of lights (that just happened to be over our pool table) turned off and we were playing in the dark. The rest of the bar was lit up just fine. We told the bartender and she just blew us off. Really? You're not even going to wait for us to eat the food we paid for before you drive us out? Fed up we finally left, and had to wait 10 minutes at a COMPLETELY UNATTENDED bar to get my ID back. read more

Disgusting. Not only smells a bit off, it's a place for meat-heads and bottom-feeders. Super sketchy. "Music" is super-crappy hip-hop and you even get some lame political signaling here. There are way better billiards available around town anyhow. We'll wait until this space is repurposed into something much better. read more

Watched Zanzibar's Bar Rescue episode, "Empty Pockets," a few days ago. I make it a habit to check the Yelp reviews for the made over bar at the end of every episode to see how the bars did after Jon Taffer left. When I went to search for "Solids and Stripes" I was surprised to see that the owner didn't keep the name change and stuck with Zanzibar, which is both confusing and carries with it a bad reputation, as witnessed by my girl friend's rolling eyes when I mentioned I wanted to go check the place out. I was also surprised that there were no "Post Bar Rescue" Yelp reviews so I knew I had to go to see for myself at some point. We rarely go downtown these days so I figured it might be quite some time before I could go check it out but as luck would have it we had a birthday party to go to that Friday night at The Ginn Mill, which is literally across the street from Zanzibar. After the party wound down we headed over to check out Zanzibar at about 12:30am. The first thing I noticed was a drink board on the sidewalk advertising obnoxiously cheap drink specials, which is great, but was one of the issues Jon Taffer had with the place from the get go, which is that the owner is practically giving away his booze. As we are ID'd by the doorman a couple smoking on the patio randomly starts talking to me about Bar Rescue, and they inform me that the owner is still up to his old ways of giving away mass quantities of booze... this should be interesting. Once we walk inside the first thing my girlfriend notices is the smell, "OMG! It stinks like Casa Bonita in here!" We're not exactly off to a great start... We were shocked at how few people were in the bar on a Friday night especially considering the bar we just came from was uncomfortably packed from wall to wall, and it's probably 3-4 times the size of Zanzibar. So we take our pick of the many open seats at the bar. We were greeted instantly by a cute, young bartender. I decided to order something off their new drink menu and went with "The Break," mostly because it was $4.25. My girlfriend, who rarely ventures out of her Bacardi & Diet comfort zone, decided to order a Moscow Mule. Which was quickly shot down when the bartender informed us that they only had one copper cup in the entire bar, and she was unsure where it was. She then goes back to the old standby of Bacardi & Diet as she looks to me and wryly says, "Jon Taffer would not be amused." No, no he wouldn't. However my drink, The Break, which is Iced Cake Vodka, OJ & pineapple juice was outstanding and incredibly refreshing after a long night of bourbon and sprite! Queue the owner, he is frantically running around the bar looking for someone to bestow free drinks upon. "Where's the Birthday Girl!?!" he bellows. Once he finds her he pops a champagne bottle with a kitchen knife and empties the entire bottle into about 8-10 glasses. Total Bar Rescue Deja Vu. Maybe if he didn't give away so much booze he could buy another copper cup so my girlfriend could have her beloved Moscow Mule. The drunk munchies crept up on me so I decided to order something, the bartender informs me that the kitchen is closing in 5 mins so I have to order ASAP, so I went with the meatballs. Meatballs show up and they were cold, I guess the kitchen really did close... As we walked out the owner was doing a magic trick for a pretty girl out on the sidewalk, Bar Rescue Deja Vu times two! Bottom line is this bar has really cheap drinks and pretty nice bartenders, but besides that it is pretty pathetic and there is nobody to blame but the absent minded, if not affable, owner. You can't really beat the location, The Ginn Mill is absolutely crushing across the street and it is nothing special, it's just run by someone who knows what they're doing, and the professionalism shows, just as the lack thereof does at Zanzibar. If you want cheap drinks and to shoot a little pool downtown, Zanzibar is the place for you, if you are looking for a little more from your evening, keep on looking. read more

For no real reason, we wandered into Zanzibar looking for the basics: beer at a bar. Decent bar with an average selection of beers and plenty of pool tables. Not too far from Coors Field, so it could serve as a pre or post game hangout spot. But they also have a hot tub. Smack dab in the middle of their "dance floor" is a hot tub. Yes, a hot tub. The occupants were 8 horny dudes in baseball caps and a dumpy gal in a sports bra. I've never walked into a bar and thought: "hey, this joint needs a HOT TUB". But somebody else has. I don't think the place needed a hot tub and it gave off a ghetto vibe. Nobody brings their swimsuit to a bar, so I was kinda' repulsed at seeing drunk people in their undies climbing in and out. Sure, chlorine is added to the tub, but I could imagine the occupants also added their own brand of "chemicals". And here I thought public pools were full of scary stuff. read more

I'm a professional athlete and I play billiards and snooker seriously. I came to this place due to bar rescue and was looking for a good pool hall in Denver. And I've been here 3 times between Sept and Oct 2013. PS: If this is John Taffer's work in "remodeling", I have to say it's pretty sad. *Staff* The only person I had to deal with was a thin man who has slightly longer hair and he seems unmotivated and unhappy, which makes me feel a little unwelcome and it tells me that the place isn't doing great financially or the owner isn't treating him right. I don't drink, so I don't have the personal encounter with the bartenders. *Food* 3 out of 3 times, I actually think the food here is 4 stars. So is the plating as well as pricing. Doesn't taste like frozen food at all and I hope that is truly the case. You normally find this good of food in a higher class pool hall or place. So it's a little contrast. *Pool hall atmosphere* I like the table near the window, it has plenty of space, the ones by the wall you'll have no space for the cue stick. This place feels like it can and has the potential to be a lot better, better decor, better quality, better atmosphere and slightly cleaner. Zanzibar truly has the potential to be a 1st class pool hall in downtown Denver. But for some reason they chose it to be the typical bar scene that attracts some typical patrons. Sometimes I wonder why it's so empty and the decor / furniture doesn't compliment that of a nice pool hall as well as they lack furniture. I think they need to hire a pool hall designer to help them with this. And yes, I know, because I have been to several real upscale pool halls and was a member at a big one back home. I feel that the owner wants it to be a great place, but perhaps he's just lost as to what to do to make it happen. *Tables* They have nice tables, 9 of 10 tables are actually very clean and don't have food or beer stain and they don't look old at all, which is what I like. They also roll true, so no flaw on the flat surface. Balls will curve and spin true. They just need to fix some of the holes on the pockets on a couple of the back tables. I was there during Oct fest around 3-5pm and there was this group of disrespectful, loud, drunk, crude trouble makers who not only brought McDonalds food from outside but ended up spilling beer all over the table. He was kicking the table, chairs and cussing at the staff. I almost throw him out myself, because the staff didn't do anything, which I think is a little sad. If it were my establishment, I'd have banned them from coming back because it'll affect my other customers and give the place a bad name as well as attract the wrong people, AND I'd have charged them for damaging my property. *Final thoughts* Maybe I'm expecting too much out of a bar, but it hurts to see a place that can be a 4to5 star being wasted like this. Total waste of potential. I only gave this place a 2 star because of the above, but I will still come back here and hopefully have a better experience. I want to be a regular at a classy 1st class pool hall / bar which this place can become if they work hard at it. Because nothing beats being able to be here from lunch to late dinner, eating and drinking, focusing on my game techniques without being worried about the hourly pool rate. Let's hope in the near future I'll change the 2 star rating to 4 or even 5 stars. read more

Went to Zanzibar after visiting Denver. 1st he should've kept the name change because the old name makes no sense and it sounds like an old dive bar. Addition to that, the drinks are too heavy and the crowd is bit what was portrayed like it was on Bar rescue, it has too many undesirable people now and it's a mess. When I visit again, never going back there...I recommend to go to better bars in the area. This one sucks. read more

On a recent date night Sir Nicholas and I decided it had been long enough since we challenged one another to a friendly game of pool and not really wanting to deal with any crowds (it was about 8 pm on a Wednesday) we decided to give Zanzibar a shot. It was definitely un-crowded - there were at least half a dozen tables open. And there was only one bartender working as far as I could tell. We got our balls and drinks from the bartender and picked an open table to play on. For about two hours and two drinks a piece our tab was under $20. I think they must not have been charging for pool tables during the time we were there, which may have made this the cheapest date Nick and I have been on. If you are looking for a pretty casual place to play a game of pool or grab a standard drink Zanzibar on a Wednesday night is a good spot to try. read more

Terrible service. When we arrived the bar was less than half full. It took 10 minutes for the bartenders to acknowledge us after talking amongst themselves. We ordered two appetizers and played pool. They forgot to put in one of the apps and we had to go back to order again. After pool we ordered 4 drinks. One was a boddingtons, the bartender, she gave the name "Jenny", dumped the can in the glass and walked away. When we asked for a new beer without a can in it she argued with us about how to pour a boddingtons, dumped out all of the full drinks we had just paid for and had the bouncer escort us out. I have never experienced such rude service in my life. We wont be returning. read more

It was the perfect place to sit down with a double vodka, a plate of wings, a bad attitude and an iPhone--whereupon I proceeded to text the living hell out of someone. Good times. read more

Cool decor, but what a dump. We were the only people in the place for lunch, and I can see why. They shouldn't even bother if they're going to do a crap job. Everything originated in the freezer and a couple of items were still frozen in the middle. The woman who took our order was on the phone the entire time behind the bar. Never checked on our table, had to go to the bar to request water, more drinks, and then a check. This location must be cursed, because businesses come and go, and nobody makes it work. Zanzibar is a big fail. read more

Interesting mixed reviews from other Yelpers. I stopped by here for the first time on Saturday night. Promoter Ryan Dykstra had a little VIP area and invited myself and some of the DJ's from Twenty42 Entertainment out to shoot some billiards. LOUD music from DJ with a decent sound system kept the energy going. Lots of billiard tables (not pool- there is a difference people!!) What REALLY makes this place unique is the HOT TUB in front of the DJ booth!! What a great idea!! I will be back to check out the food and barstaff another time soon. read more

This is an interesting pool hall hangout spot that seems to have an identity crisis. It either needs to decide to become a grown-up Chuck-E-Cheese and commit to it or aim for a higher-paying crowd and make an effort to draw people in. There are pool tables everywhere: that I expected. Then there is air hockey. And shuffleboard. And hunting video games. And god knows what else. Then there are the "throw a shot down my throat and dare me to puke" barber chairs clustered against the wall. The beer selection is good, but the bartender knew nothing about them so I had to play Colorado Roulette with the taps. The bar also had some rather out-of-place lighting on and under it that would seem to indicate a nicer environ than the frat child playground that the venue seemed to have dissolved into. I heard there was a Bar Rescue shot here. I would never in a million years have guessed. read more

I can't hate this place but it is less than stellar. No white wine, no cranberry juice for drinks and service is meh at best. On the other hand, beer is cheap and they gave us free play on the shuffleboard table. However the shuffleboard table us so bad (uneven and not level) you wouldn't pay to play on it. Maybe the pool tables are better. Might try it again sometime. read more

In a Bar Rescue place after the 'rescue'... they should have put it out of its misery.. is it Zanzibar? Is it Solids and Stripes? Both signs here... Stars and Stripes theme with cheesy, ratty international flags on streamers?? A guy orders a vodka and red bull, no red bull.. one of the most popular drinks and they instead have a generic energy drink in the soda gun? A water jug like you are on JV track?? Duct taped shuffleboard table? 25 minutes to change a bud light keg? Don't waste your time Edit addition after the owner/employee response.. Going thru a facelift? You were recently revamped and it is this bad in 3 years? A little concern on maintenance would show. There was none. You have drainage tubes from the draft beer area going to a BUCKET... I did not even mention filthy windows, beer not to temp from the draft traps, crap under the taps, and mop strings hanging off walls and bathroom fixtures. The best thing was a customer who spoke more than the staff. Your bartender sticks the pour spout into the drink. Talk about unsanitary.... you guys need a serious reality check.. I am now at a clean, upkept and properly run bar further down the block, spending money you could have had. Lack of 'give a crap' is easily spotted... ownership and management cares about as much as a psychopathic hermit... you don't run down after a full makeover that fast without callous disregard for everything read more

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Back in Kansas City we saw this place in Bar Rescue so we decided to visit. I'm sorry we wasted the money. There were a bunch of older men there, made me feel like my dad would meet friends there to play pool. Got our drinks, I ordered 'The Break' and it honestly tasted like nothing. It had Smirnoff iced cake vodka, pineapple and orange juice, but still it tasted so bland. We decided to play some pool (it was free) and the first table we played on wasn't level. Moved to another table and played another game but them we decided to leave, nothing worth staying for. read more

Stopped in here on a relatively drama-free, (ok, I'm lying - high drama, drunkards sitting stupified in ice puddles and guys playing eukelele's in their cars) We were trying to go to the Irish joint next door, but apparently Irishmen close early on Sundays. So, Zanzibar it was...there was all of one customer. He was the bartenders boyfriend. A couple other people rolled in later in the night, service at the bar was good and we wound up getting the thought of the stupified drunkard out of our heads and the sound of eukelele's. Oh, the hot tub has left the building...or at least it had on this particular night. read more

I can't imagine how it was worse before Bar Rescue. I was trying to think of how to categorize this bar... Divey came to mind, but with a "Dick's Last Resort" attitude. Uggh. read more

The new staff is awful. Use to be a regular and didn't come in for a couple months and this place has gone down tremendously. Tarantulas is much better!!!! After reading the all other reviews..... obviously it's the crappy service read more

Updating my review now because the girl that would harass me off duty at other bars and clubs has been fired. This place is amazing and the staff is awesome, the food is great for the price especially if you want a quick burger or mozzarella sticks with your friends while you drink. read more

Still the same. I went on a week night. There were only three customers in the whole bar. The bartender stood behind the bar talking on her cell phone ignoring us while we waited. Does this place go out of their way to hire the most rude wait staff in Denver? When my friend went to get another drink after only about 20 minutes she really had to ask his name on the tab because five customers is apparently far too many and actually looking at someone's face when you're serving them is too much to ask. We played pool for a little bit and as usual their cues and equipment were bent and trashed. The entire place was filthy and looks like its been decorated by a hoarder. There were still dirty ads/posters up advertising Octoberfest... That was two months ago! Good to know how often the staff doesn't clean. Gross. Only come here if you enjoy rude service, dirty facilities, and playing shitty games of pool! read more