Last call at the Dark Horse: After 51 years, a Boulder institution closes its doors

On Saturday afternoon, the line stretched outside the weathered building on Baseline Road, past the parking lot and toward the sidewalk. Some had driven in from out of state. Others had grown up coming here. Many simply wanted one last look.

After 51 years, the World Famous Dark Horse Bar and Grill closed its doors on March 14, ending the run of a place that had become one of Boulder’s most recognizable gathering spots, a dimly lit maze of memorabilia-covered walls, neon signs, arcade games and late-night rituals.

For generations of residents and former students, it was less a bar than a backdrop to college years, reunions and stories that blurred with time.

“While this is not the path we would have chosen for this historic location or our business, we are deeply grateful to have been part of Boulder’s culture for more than half a century,” the owners wrote in a message to patrons earlier this year. “Every laugh, story and shared moment made has built the legacy that will live on long after our doors close.”

The closure comes as the property prepares for redevelopment. Plans approved by the Boulder City Council call for the demolition of the current building to make way for Williams Village II, a mixed-use project expected to bring 427 housing units, new commercial space and a redesigned site layout to what is now largely a strip mall and parking lot.

The owners have not announced whether the Dark Horse will reopen elsewhere, though earlier redevelopment plans suggested the possibility of a future location within the new project.

For now, customers came simply to say goodbye.

Matt Kuerbis had flown in from Oregon to meet up with a group of old friends, a tradition they have kept for decades. Another friend had traveled from New York, while two others still live in Colorado. They had been coming to the Dark Horse together since the early 1990s.

“We all come back for football games once a year, and this is where we come, but no longer. We gotta figure out where we’re gonna go,” he said.

The group lingered outside, laughing about memories that felt increasingly hazy with time.

“For the most part, we remember coming to the Dark Horse, but we don’t remember what happened in the Dark Horse. We stole an antelope head one night out of the Dark Horse. We don’t know where the antelope head is now. It was up in our house for a while,” he said. “At the end of the night, we would go and find quarters on the floor, upstairs at the bar, and then we’d stop at Taco Bell on the walk home.”

They pointed to a case of beer someone had left outside for strangers waiting to get in, saying it was “the ultimate Dark Horse story.”

“We’re glad we got to say goodbye to the Dark Horse,” Kuerbis said. “We hope it comes back.”

For some patrons, the connection stretched back even further.

Jessica Sherwood stood outside the building Saturday afternoon, debating whether to wait in line. She had first come to the Dark Horse as a child after it opened in 1975, visiting with her mother for Shirley Temples.

Later, after getting a job down the street at the Safeway on Baseline Road, she became a regular.

“I worked in the deli and I’d be done at 10 o’clock [p.m.], and every Wednesday after I was done I’d come here. They had Jagermeister shots for 25 cents, beers for 25 cents,” she said.

Those days are behind her now, but she said she still stopped by occasionally over the years. The last time had been about a year ago, “just to check it out during the daytime.”

The Dark Horse is known for its eccentric decor. Cartoon murals, hanging bicycles, stuffed animals, road signs and other oddities fill nearly every inch of wall space. For some patrons, the unusual decor was part of the appeal. For others, it was simply a familiar gathering place.

Father and son Lorenzo and Robert Jaquez stood in line for about 45 minutes Saturday afternoon waiting to get inside.

Lorenzo, who now lives in Longmont, said he had been coming to the Dark Horse since 1982, when he first came to Colorado from Mexico.

“It’s sad that they’re taking it down,” he said.

His son Robert had grown up coming with him.

“It’s an historical landmark. It’s been here for forever,” Robert said. “I remember coming here as a kid, playing games, playing pool. It’s a unique place.”

The two reminisced about one of the bar’s more unusual traditions: crab races. Small crabs would be placed in a circle while patrons cheered them on, sometimes with spray bottles.

“We used to bet money on the winner,” Lorenzo said.

“They’ve got cartoon paintings in there around the bar to remember that,” Robert added.

By the afternoon, the line outside the Dark Horse had become its own kind of farewell gathering. Friends told stories. Former regulars tried to remember their favorite booths. Some took photos of the building before stepping inside.

One by one, people stepped through the doors for the last time.