Williams Tavern

They are the nicest folks. They always have a smile and remember your name. It is a great neighborhood bar. It can get packed so you may be standing but there are many smiling faces and it isn’t overpriced.

Great service … I haven’t been a while, the bartenders remember me, and wow what a great happy hour $ 5 for a beer and a shot. Great local spot. Oh yeah! And they have a jukebox

Nothing too fancy. Not much as far as décor goes but it’s still got a pretty lively atmosphere, not to mention a pretty badass happy hour special. ANY beer and ANY shot for $ 5…now that’s a business philosophy I can get down with.

Dirty, smelly, noisy, ugly dive bar. But at least this place knows what it is, and thrives as such.
$ 5 for you-​call-​it shot and a beer? Sweet.
Booths are uncomfortable, stools are too. I like coming here for a quick drink, peruse and people watch, then heading elsewhere.
It is fun, it is dirty, it is a dive bar. But sometimes that is exactly what you want.

Seriously how does this place make money? My work team frequents this bar a lot because. $ 2 WELLS!!! $ 5 FOR A BEER AND A SHOT– OF WHATEVER YOU WANT!
What are you trying to do to us, Williams? Do you enjoy seeing my team of working professionals become blubbering bafoons at 4 in the afternoon?
I hate and love this place because I have no self control. Don’t expect much if you are coming here, it’s definitely a «dive» bar, but if you want to let loose after workin that 9 to 5, this place can hit the spot.

Always weird… always wild. It’s not nice. You might see a convict… might see some boobs. You never know. Good times. Rob Finn owns the pool table. Send it. I am not even sure if I like this bar… I will be back though.

Terrible service and rude bartenders! Drinks are cheap but the bartenders are more at social hour than there job. They seem to only cater to a group of there own hipster/​bro friends. I have been there a few times. I have walked out twice do to lack of customer service and drinks not being promptly served or served at all. They werent to busy to get us drinks they were to busy not doing there jobs to get us drinks there is a difference. I always have problems with closing my tab with the bartenders. The bartender after losing my card told me to leave and check my wallet for my card. After I came in and showed him i didnt have the card in my wallet he took my wallet and my phone and threw them out the door! I had to cancel my card. I wont be back and I dont suggest anyone giving them your business. They apprently have a history of messing up tabs and losing debit cards. Read the other reviews. It is a bro bar and the regulars seem to have some feeling of entitlement. Worst service I have ever come across. Tried to talk to managment they were just as worthless as the bartenders.

If I’m in the mood to get drunk for cheap in Uptown and want to get away from the swankier bars, this is the place I go to.

I’ve been going to Williams often enough over the last year to where half the bartenders just bring my usual with a nod and a smile. It’s 5-​stars if I’m talking from the heart… and I am :)
Williams can best be described as a hole-​in-​the-​wall, neighborhood bar. It feels TOTALLY out of place in the neighborhood; you’d expect it flanking a suburb. It’s kind of an unpretentious lower class «Cheers» in the middle of uptown, surrounded by much higher class establishments. I would hold off on calling it a «dive» only because it’s slightly better kept, and if you’re familiar with dive clientel (think Nob Hill or the old Lancer Lounge), this place does not fit that description.
During the day, from opening until things ramp up into happy hour, it’s really just a neighborhood watering hole. You’ll be served immediately, the bartender will chat you up (if you chat first), and you’ll see a couple of regulars on lunch break (and maybe some crazy local phenomenon that will get people chatting).
During the evening (happy hour onward), it’s a mixed bag… weeknights, you have a good chance of getting a seat, maybe even at the bar. Weekends is when you have to really have a good reason to go in… the line at the bar (more of a throng, really) will be 3 – 4 people deep, TONS of drunk young people. It may feel like you’ll wait forever, and you will wait… but it’s not terrible — they have bar backs on reserve and at least two or three bartenders (USUALLY) and they do a pretty amazing job at handling the clusterfuck that $ 5 you-​call-​it on Friday night can be.
There’s a third party that sells grilled food almost every night and you’re allowed to eat it inside and pay what you want. They also don’t care if you have a pizza delivered or bring your own food inside. It’s also really easy to get a cigarette or two if that’s how you roll.
Happy hour is actually 4−7p, Monday through Friday — all day Sunday. $ 5 beer and a shot (pretty much ANYTHING you want… and I’ve seen Slow and Low whiskey /​Longhammer IPA on that list). They do pour famously heavy shots, almost like the old Lancer Lounge. No happy hour on Saturday (but a High Life and well shot is still $ 5.50, so whatever).
I have never seen anyone play darts here and if I were the proprietor, I’d just take the board off the wall. It’s kind of pointless in that setup. However, the bar pool table is great and almost always in use — get your quarters up if it’s busy!
Their jukebox has evidently been updated since some of the older reviews… they have a TouchTunes box now which you can control physically or with your phone, and have tens of thousands of songs, so that’s not an issue at all. You can pretty much play whatever you want.
Let’s quickly address some of the sophomoric reviews.
The bartenders here, 100% in my experience, are not rude or inattentive at all — unless you’re acting the fool or get too drunk to drink (or have wildly out-​of-​line expectations which should have been informed differently the second you walk in). You should not expect immediate service during «peak hours» as I mentioned above, and you should expect to shout your order and not mess around during those times, they’re doing the best they can. Additionally, it is not a «bro» bar by any definition — the clientel here runs the gamut from older gentlemen off work, husbands and wives, nerds and hipsters… every day and time. Yes, you’ll get «bros» on Friday and Saturday night, but you’ll get that at EVERY BAR IN DENVER with a drink special.
Anyhow, you should come here and have a great time — if you’re a neighbor, you can make this a local retreat very easily and save money at the same time.

100% dive bar! And that’s a great thing!
Williams Tavern is a sweet little chill bar spot in uptown. The best part about this place is the happy hour specials they do from 5−7pm.
$ 5 for a beer and a shot. Great selection of craft and domestic beers, and also a pretty good variety of liquor for shots.
Aside from the great drink specials? Always a unique crowd and friendly service. Bartenders are awesome.
Williams Is a must stop place when you’re in uptown ! Check it out.
Cheers,
Your Casual Neighbor

I will start this off by saying, I had to give them a star to leave a review, but Williams deserves a no star out of 5.
The blonde bar tender is fantastic on a Wednesday night when it is not busy, she pours huge shots, she charges you 3 dollars for a double gulper, you cannot have a bad time.
Fast forward to Friday and Saturday night, the place is packed with her hipster friends, you squeeze in at the bar, you have two options, either wait 45 minutes for her to get done serving her self righteous «bar tending is the hardest job in America» friends, or stick your hand out, shout, do anything to get her attention and present yourself to the hipsters as the biggest dick in Denver.
I’m not a dick, I just know that the shit hole dive bar serves $ 3 fireball shots and I want one ASAP so that I can leave the shit hole and move on to an aids free establishment.
I will not be back to Williams after the hat dude made me politely wait 45 minutes for a beer, then the blonde shorted me 2 shots and acted like a general b&tch the following weekend because I stuck my hand out to get and order.
Dear Williams Tavern, you can suck my balls, and I will not be returning. Way to suck at being a dive bar, you hipster, stinking shit hole. Btw no hipster will ever beat my big buck hunter score… Mic drop.

I would give this place 0 stars if that was an option. I stopped in for a quick drink on a Saturday afternoon and was blown away by the absolutely horrible service. The first drink was fine and the bar tender was friendly. However, by the second round the bar tender (let’s just call her «Melissa») had taken 3 Fireball shots with a group of «bro» boys and was completely tossed. It was apparent by her stumbling, a broken glass and her obvious challenges with a calculator that Melissa has a few things to learn about holding her liquor.
After a 15 minute wait for our tab (keep in mind there were only about 10 people at the bar), the bar keeper decided to «comp» us our drinks, told us «we were welcome» and told us to get out. There were at least 4 other people waiting for their tabs with the same frustration.
These drinks might be cheap but you get what you pay for. If you go, pay cash and order before the bar tender gets shmammered.

I won’t be back again, and don’t recommend this place.
It is a «bro» bar, if that’s what you’re into, and drinks are pretty cheap, with a patently «dive-​y» atmosphere.
Through a sea of flat brimmed caps and striped shirts, grunting and shouting bronies, I guess we were invisible to the staff? We experienced very poor service, even on a pretty slow night, took over 15 minutes to get attention while standing at the half full bar.
Given the atmosphere and the preference of the bar tenders to give high fives to their buddies rather than serve drinks, I think I’ll head to the much better establishments in the area.

Brought a large group here for my birthday last year and they accommodated everyone nicely! The bar is spacious and the bartenders are quick and friendly. The drinks are reasonably priced and they have a variety of bar games. I am planning on attending many baseball games this summer and will definitely be visiting Williams Tavern afterwards!

This is a drunken «happy hour» dream. Williams has, as I’m sure you’ve heard, $ 5 beer and a shot combo’s for happy hour. My normal is a «Fat Tire» and a shot of «Fireball». My friends opt for «a less worthy beer» and a shot of «Jameson». Just about any combo I throw at them they charge me five dollar bills.
They have darts, you should bring your own, theirs fly as straight as a bat in flight. I don’t know why they chose the mini darts with a real dartboard. They have a single pool table that I’ve been able to play every time I’ve been there.
Some nights there is a guy there that is cooking burgers for tips. I wouldn’t go here looking for dinner but the night I spotted the burgers I definitely didn’t pass on them.
They have a 10 dollar min on Credit and Debit cards. That’s not a problem if you want 2 beers and 2 shots but you should be ready with cash if not.
If you want a nice cheap spot to drink a few this is a great choice.
Cheers,

Love this place and I’ve never had a bad time there. Most everyone who goes here are pretty nice, the bartenders rock. Little dive bar in a neighborhood of hipster cool hang outs. You can’t go wrong. Happy hour (and all day Sunday) $ 5 for a beer and a shot… whoop whoop!

This is a somewhat difficult place to form an opinion on, if only because it’s so nondescript. It is an extremely standard tavern. But that’s ok, I LIKE standard taverns, hence the 4-​star review.
It features a fairly usual interior, with a pool table, darts, Big Buck Hunter, and a couple small tables. The bar staff is friendly, the booze is reasonably priced (although don’t expect the draft selection that us Denverites have become so spoiled with), and the crowd is usually friendly. Bottom line? You could do much worse.

There is nothing fancy about Williams, which is kinda refreshing when you look at what else is on 17^th these days. It is certainly a grittier crowd as compared to the Tavern or Ace down the street– and that’s the way I like it.
There is a dart board and big buck hunter (or some game where you kill deer) up front. A pool table in the back and a few seats in between. On the weekends there is a pretty good crowd but on a weekday its just you and a few regulars. The bar staff are always entertaining.
It’s just a low key kinda place when you’re in the mood for a low key kinda drink and a conversation with friends or a random patron who has also bellied up to the bar.

Not the most charming or asthetically appealing bar, however, it’s a nice change of pace from the rest of 17^th and Uptown. Somewhat dive’ish’, but probably can’t be classified as such by the demographic that frequents this joint.
Reasonable happy hour to get rather tipsy in a rather rapid fashion. Sure I prefer microbrews and more taste satisfying beers, occasionally retracting back to college years of consumming cheap beers is necessary from time to time. $ 5 beer and a shot special, along with $ 2 PBR’s and $ 1 High Lifes from 4 – 7 make for a cheap start to a Friday night out. Plus, with free bbq on Friday nights, what more can you ask for in preperation for the rest of your Friday night on 17^th?

Pretty cool. Easy squeezy. Dive.
When you walk in there’s a good possibility that local regulars will be hanging out at the bar chatting it up with the bartender (s). Sometimes it can take a while to get served but once you do the drinks are pretty good. Not expensive at all. I suggest the shot/​beer combo cuz why not? Live a little.
The old wood benches and tables aren’t comfortable but they work well for big groups of party animals. This is a good place to take straight folks who can’t hang with the gay bars along 17^th :-) But really, all in all it’s a good place to have some dranks. Small bathrooms but in a dive who really cares?
Too bad they got rid of the punching machine. You know the one — a punching ball comes down and drunkards who want to show how macho they can be swing and miss. So much fun, but no longer there. Still, the entertainment value of the clientele is solid.
Need a quick drink to wash away the workday? This is a good place to get just that.