This article is a part of Denverite's Street Week: Tennyson series. We're exploring the area by way of the history, people, carp-filled lakes and weird houses that define it. Read more Tennyson stories here.
It's karaoke night at the Berkeley Inn on Tennyson Street and the drinks are flowing.
On this Saturday, the crowd sings in unison to Taylor Swift, The Killers, Britney Spears and 4 Non Blondes.
The bar itself is nondescript. No theme. No frills. Wooden tables and chairs adorn the space. A calmer crowd surrounds two pool tables in the back, and the chatter of buzzed bargoers fills the air when the singers aren't belting out a tune.
This commercial strip of Tennyson where the Inn sits can feel quaint with its cute boutiques and mix of high-end and low-key restaurants but the swanky vibes are there with new-age apartment buildings going up all around.
Tennyson, for the last 13 years, has been in a state of heavy change. Early on, long-time businesses closed and became housing. Now they face closing and being replaced by national chains that can afford the high rents in this gentrifying neighborhood.
But the Inn remains on the corner of 38th and Tennyson in its small yellow and blue building that's easy to miss. A classic tattooed pinup girl painted on the front looks down on bargoers with a big ol' smile as they enter.
There's no menu. The bartenders aren't serving espresso martinis or setting drinks on fire.
The Inn is anything but over-the-top and posh, and that's just fine with new owners Sarah Kinney and Andrew Peterson. Regardless of the changes on Tennyson, the Berkeley Inn has remained the area's neighborhood bar.
"We're not trying to do something different," Peterson said. "We're not trying to become the next trendy thing. We just want to keep it in the neighborhood and keep it a neighborhood bar."
Berkeley Inn's slogan is 'Denver's Original bar on Tennyson.'
The Inn is the second longest-running business on Tennyson, younger only than the Oriental Theater, which opened in 1927. (If you're curious, the third oldest business is Chuck's Barber Shop, which was taken over in the '60s by Charles Floyd.)
Kate M. and Earl Shepard opened the Inn after the end of prohibition in 1934, according to Phil Goodstein's book "North Side Story: Denver's Most Intriguing Neighborhood."
It was your typical neighborhood watering hole until about the '60s when it became known as the Berzerkly, an "outlaw biker bar." It was then owned by Chuck Perito who, Goodstein wrote, knew when to "crack down" on the biker's behaviors.
"Word was out that anyone who valued his safety should stay away," Goodstein wrote, adding that police claimed the bar "was the most dangerous tavern in the city."
Gang colors appeared in various corners. Bikers used to ride through the front doors and out into the alley. The booths disappeared because no one wanted to sit with their backs exposed.
In the '60s, the Inn was also part of the "Beermuda Triangle," a trio of bars on the corner of 38th and Tennyson comprised of the Inn, Beer Depot and Tennyson's Tap, which closed during the height of the pandemic.
But as the neighborhood changed, so did the Inn. Goodstein said the bar was completely remodeled in the early 2000s, becoming a dive spot on a stretch of storefronts where getting a beer for cheap was becoming a fantasy.
Kinney and Peterson are the newcomers to the block and the bar's history.
They purchased the bar in August 2021 from long-time owner and previous employee Lisa Sanchez, fulfilling their long-time dream of owning and operating a watering hole.
The pair met in 2004 at a San Diego bar where Kinney worked while Peterson was serving in the United States Marine Corps. One of their commonalities was the bar hospitality industry. Kinney's been in the industry either as a bartender or manager for more than 20 years, and Peterson dabbled in the trade here and there.
One of their shared dreams was to own a bar but the pair split for a while putting a halt to that goal. When they reconnected in 2021, the vision was back on and they began to search for a bar to purchase. It was love at first sight with the Berkeley Inn.
"When we found this place, we walked in and I said 'Oh, this is definitely our vibe. This is the bar we like to go to. This is the bar we like to drink at. This is where our friends meet. This is ... this is the bar,'" Kinney said. "This is the type of bar that we met in when I was a bartender."
Kinney and Peterson agreed that they felt a comfort and familiarity at the Inn that they didn't get in other places. It had a third-place vibe, even though the pandemic closures and distancing protocols were still in effect.
Becoming first-time bar owners in the middle of a pandemic was risky. The hospitality industry was rocked by the pandemic and was barely in a state of recovery in the summer of 2021. Many businesses that closed were replaced with larger chains that could afford to ride the instability.
When Kinney and Peterson approached Sanchez about buying the bar, she was wary of selling the place to strangers of the neighborhood who may turn it into a coffee shop.
But that was never their plan.
"I love a good coffee shop but that's not what this neighborhood needed. They didn't need another coffee shop. They needed that place to go. That home away from home, you know, stop on the way after work to decompress," Peterson said. "We were very clear that what we wanted together was a neighborhood bar, something that was a part of the neighborhood ... It was a big jump but also a really good opportunity for us to keep something in the neighborhood."
So, three weeks after Kinney moved to Colorado to fulfill the pair's dream, they purchased the Berkeley Inn.
Their goal is to remain the neighborhood go-to spot for a quick cold one as long as the locals will have them.
"We don't want to turn into condos," Kinney said. "We're going to be here as long as we can. This is our first bar together and honestly, we love this bar. We love the people. We love the street. I really couldn't think of a better place for us to have landed."
The neighborhood has been receptive and the duo have immersed themselves in Tennyson's camaraderie.
Mondays feature all-day happy hour because many of the hospitality workers on the block have that day off. To keep patrons coming by on Sundays once football season is over, they created Sunday Funday Matinee, an event that invites local bands to play live and early in the afternoon. They also started open mic nights on Tuesday to promote local music. The move was an ode to bar Local 46, which closed about a year after Kinney and Peterson took over.
Karaoke nights, which take place Thursday and Saturday, are when you really get to see who the Berkeley Inn is serving, Kinney said, especially with the music choices. It's the young and the old, people who live around the corner or who live in Cap Hill. The tradition remained after the couple bought the bar.
"From 21 to 81," Kinney mused. "And with the younger generation, they're singing older songs. They're singing songs that I remember from my high school days, but they were born when I was in high school."
And the usuals and newbies came out in droves on a recent Saturday night. The weather was great and so were the drinks.
A group of ICU nurses celebrating their Friendsgiving headed to the Inn for karaoke, a recurring experience.
"It's divey. There's karaoke. Everyone's very nice. I come here during the week too and it's very low-key," one of them told us before they kept partying.
Tom McGrath and Mark Wolcott, who both frequent the bar, said they'd be sad if it closed. They gave a shout-out to the bartenders and Annie Regan, the karaoke host from Rosefly Productions and Queen Bee.
Regan, during a break between singers, belted out all the parts of "Lady Marmalade." The Lil' Kim portion, she said, is her favorite.
"Berkeley's our busiest bar by far," Regan said, as folks inside the bar sang along to "Inside Out" by Eve 6.
She'll give you suggestions if you're unsure of what tunes will get the crowd going.
Joseph Bleier, Andrew McGuan and Oliver Groner all grew up in Berkeley and noted the changes the neighborhood has gone through. The trio agreed the saddest change, for them, was when Elitch Lanes bowling alley closed down to become a Natural Grocers, which is across the street from the Inn.
"I don't want to say there's a loss of community but in that sense our parents used to walk around here and say hello to everyone, but now there's a whole new wave of people. There's a loss of tightness," McGuan said.
The three all recently turned 21 years old and see the Inn as a close spot to chill.
"Usually when we come here, we're the only kids our age. We're hanging out just playing pool. You meet the best local community people here. Every time I come it's the same bartender," McGuan said.
As the trio went inside, Bleier said he was going to sing Chris Stapleton's cover of "Tennessee Whiskey."
That sums up the essence of Berkeley Inn. It's the old and new. From biker bar to Swiftie stans, it's always been a place for everyone and that's the whole point of a neighborhood bar. Kinney and Peterson are hoping that feel stays that way.
"I really feel like this place is the entire melting pot of the community here," Peterson said. "We have everybody from the people who have lived here their entire lives to the people who come back to visit their parents and their grandparents who still live here. To the new generation of young adults who are moving into the new condos. They all come through our doors at some point, which is great.
I mean that's what being a bar is all about. Everybody coming together and everybody being here."
