About The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch began with a phone call between two old friends. Steven and Iain had known each other for years — they'd met standing in line for coffee most mornings, and became friends over time, both of them living and working in the same neighborhood. Steven owned a building on South Broadway, and when the space inside it came open, he picked up the phone.

Iain had been out of the bar and restaurant business for about a decade by then. Before that he'd opened and operated Americatus and Dada Art Bar, both in RiNo. Opening unique spaces and making them work is what he does, and Steven knew it.

The idea itself came back from Thailand. Steven had just returned from a trip taken on Iain's recommendation, and he couldn't stop talking about the cocktail bars he'd found there. The question that followed was a short one. Why not put one here?

The name arrived somewhere less expected. During an ayahuasca medicine circle, a goldfinch kept presenting itself to Iain, not as an idea but as a presence. Two days later a real one turned up in his backyard. Cultures around the world read the bird the same way, as a harbinger of joyful spirit and good hospitality. At that point it stopped feeling like coincidence and started feeling like an assignment.

The room earns its keep twice a day. Mornings are light and airy and full of sun, with coffee from 6:30, free wifi and a power outlet at every table. Then the sun drops and the room turns darker, moodier and a little electric. Same four walls, two entirely different places.

Nothing quite like it existed around Platte Park, so they built it. The Goldfinch is a neighborhood place first, though plenty of people drive across town for the DJs or for the cocktails. The bartenders are genuinely talented, and the menu doesn't hide it.

Just as important was that nobody should need a big night's budget to sit here. There are serious cocktails, and there's also a highball list that won't hurt, plus specials running most of the week: Neighborhood Night on Wednesdays, spritzes on Thursdays and Sunday afternoons. Come for one drink or stay for the whole night.

What Steven and Iain are proudest of is the team they've built. Eva cooked at Americatus and has worked with Iain for more than fifteen years. Emily started behind the bar almost two years ago and runs the place as general manager now. Megan came on in the second month and still runs brunch alongside her boyfriend Tanner, who's been here over a year himself. Travis started right after the doors opened, left for a while to open another concept in southern Colorado, and jumped straight back in when he came home. Alex came up from bartender to bar manager, and his wife Emma, a genuinely gifted barista, is taking over the coffee program.

Most of the staff have been here more than a year, which is a long time in this industry. It's less a roster than a little family that chose each other, and that's what you're walking into.