If shopping leaves you hungry and thirsty, Garage Sale Vintage might be just the spot for you. This combination retail, tequila and taco bar operates a busy buy-sell-trade business on the east end of Pearl Street, occupying the former space of Ted’s Montana Grill since February 2024.
The original u-shaped bar is front and center, showcasing rows of mezcal and tequila alongside fresh, colorful juices that draw your eyes to the possibilities of what you can pair with its daily taco and weekend brunch menus. Guests can sit at the bar or at a few tall tables at the front of the store, or they can walk around and shop the vintage clothing, shoes, records and retro candy and gift selections.
Vintage is defined as anything 20 years or older, so they have polyester disco outfits from the 70’s through to (maybe still in your closet) low-rise, wide leg-jeans and other trends from the year 2000.
Garage Sale Vintage owner Josh Sampson calls his store/bar/taco restaurant “spicy hot vintage” because, among other reasons, the spot has a collection of 500 hot sauces. There are bar specials nearly every day, like Mondays where your roll of the dice determines the price of a drink, and the popular $2 taco Tuesday that applies to a few select items on the menu for a $10 minimum. The margaritas are special, Sampson said. They’re batch-made and aged, so they’re more tart than sweet, and served in vintage cut-glass tumblers, on the rocks.
Sampson said he started this business to bring things he loves into one experience.
“I think everything we do here is deep. The beer selection is great, it’s all gold medal winning beer. Same with the Mezcal and tequila. You’ll find everything that you really want. So everything we try to do is as high quality as possible,” he said.
The theme includes bringing people to a brick-and-mortar shop to see what’s available because they do not sell online.
“E-commerce, Amazon can have all that. I just try to keep it analog. This is a people business,” Sampson said. “While everyone else is going into AI, we’re trying to go the opposite direction.” That said, in the future, the shop might showcase one-of-a-kind selections online.
Analog includes music. They’ve hosted a bluegrass picking circle on Wednesday nights in April and are seeing how that goes. You may find some of their announcements on their socials, but your best bet is to stop by and get the latest local updates.
This is an all-ages place. Anyone can come in and shop, and for those under 21 who want to hang out on the food and beverage side, there are non-alcoholic drink options. There’s an open spot at the bar where bartenders give guests a laminated menu and erasable pen to write in their name and check the boxes for their order.
Sampson opened restaurants and bars in Brooklyn before moving to Denver. He talked about how that experience led to the store in Boulder today. “I’ve been a hoarder for a long time,” he said. “In many, many households, people don’t want this stuff. I like it. And then building bars back in New York, you had to be pretty thrifty to get these things open. You design them and put them all together. And then in that process I just loved that nostalgic piece of everything.”
Vintage Garage Sale also has locations in Denver, downtown Nashville and East Nashville. The Boulder location opened Feb. 8 this year, but Sampson signed the lease in July of 2021. His team was planning to open soon after, but was delayed by the City of Boulder requirements for new businesses in a relatively turnkey location, he said — a familiar scenario for small business owners trying to navigate the arduous permitting process that can go on for many months.
“It took a lot of time and energy and capital to get through it,” said Sampson. “We’re excited to be in Boulder though, it’s great. We love being on Pearl Street, and we’re excited for east Pearl to keep the positive progress.”
Garage Sale Vintage
Location: 1701 Pearl Street, Boulder
Hours: 10 a.m.–10 p.m., Sunday–Thursday; 10 a.m.–midnight, Friday & Saturday
Summary: Tequila and mezcal for custom batch-made and aged margaritas, tacos and weekend brunch, enveloped in a vintage buy-sell-trade experience on east Pearl Street.