When you walk into Sancho’s Broken Arrow on Colfax and Clarkson, you will probably hear Grateful Dead music blaring from the jukebox. The walls are covered with fuzzy wallpaper that looks like it is from the early seventies. The wallpaper is barely visible because the walls are plastered with rare concert posters, photographs, and murals from floor to ceiling. Even the ceiling tiles are painted, each by customers and friends of the Bianchi brothers.
Unlike any other bar I have been to on Colfax, Sancho’s has a lively feel to it. People go there for three reasons: the location, the music, and the people. Many people go there for a drink before going to a show at the Filmore, no matter who is playing. That is one of the reasons for their diverse crowd. If there is a punk rock, heavy metal, or even a hip hop show the crowd will find its way into the bar. Sancho’s has a way of continuing the spirited environment of the live concert.
Some of the regulars have been going there since it opened, but the new blood has found their third place, home and work being the first two. Sancho’s has managed to keep their original clientele while continuing bringing in new patrons who love the bar just as much. They say that they love the bar because of the cheap beer, music and the people.
The Bianchi brothers; Jay, Aric, and Phil, opened Sancho’s nearly ten years ago. This was not their first venture in opening a hippie-bar in a less-than inviting neighborhood. Their first bar, Quixote’s True Blue, on East Colfax, was reopened on South Broadway. Sancho’s Broken Arrow is across the street from The Fillmore Auditorium, two doors down, separated by a porn shop, was Dulcinea’s 100th monkey, now Pete’s Monkey owned by their previous bartender.
They opened Cervantes and the third Quixote’s on Welton St. in Five Points, which has been blessed with some of the best musical talent coming through Denver. Finally two years ago they opened Owsleys, which has now transformed into the fourth Quixote’s at 21st and Lawrence, just blocks away from multiple homeless shelters.
The newest Quixote’s is a venue to see live music, but it doesn’t stop there. Like Sancho’s, there are concert posters and artwork all over the walls. Most of the concert posters are from the previous Quixote’s that the Bianchis opened. In the main room is a large dance floor leading up to a big stage that could easily handle a band with ten or more musicians. The back room has another smaller stage wtih a small arcade room attached. The best part of the venue is the patio; it has the feeling of a Spanish courtyard, with awnings shading two of the walls and multiple picnic tables to relax and catch a breath of fresh air. People come for the venue and as a bonus live bands play seven nights a week.
The names of the bars come from the book The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha written by Miguel de Cervantes, where Don Quixote went on a quest to find adventure and beauty in the everyday. That is what the Bianchis are doing; finding beauty and adventure where you would least expect to find it.
Sanchos Broken Arrow
741 E Colfax Ave
Denver, CO 80203
303-832-5288
http://quixotes.com/
Quixote’s True Blue
2151 Lawrence Street
Denver, CO 80205
303-366-6492
http://quixotes.com/
