My totally biased guide to:

Salsa Nightclubs of
Denver and Boulder, Colorado

Disclaimer: Please don't assume any of this information is correct or up to date.
The club scene changes a lot in Denver, and information can quickly become out of date.

(It’s current and pretty much complete as of March 18, 2008).

I suggest using this page as a starting point and calling the club before going to verify the details.

This page no longer lists the details for the clubs. It will just list my personal opinions about the clubs.
For detailed information about the clubs (location, times, price, etc.), see either of the following:

Salsa Central Denver

www.salsapower.com/cities/us/denver.htm

 

DENVER
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
DSOS Social	Rio Grande	Turnverein (social)	La Rumba	Blue Ice	La Rumba	D-Note
				D-Note (about once a month)	International Club	Teddy’s
					Avalon (about once a month)

 

 

BOULDER
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
		Purple Martini	Avalon	St. Julien (once in a while)	Avalon (about once a month)
		Amigutos (Salsaville social) (occassionally)

 

 

 

 

In ()’s next to each club name is the approximate percentage of salsa that they play.  Please note that this figure can change over time.

If a particular club is not listed below, that means I’ve never been there and don’t really know anything about it.

 

DENVER: (11 "clubs-nights" per week)

   

• Turnverein: Wednesday (85%) – 8:00-10:30pm

 

This is set up as a weekly “dance social” – meaning people mostly come to practice and it doesn’t have a “night-club” feel at all.  Many lessons from different teachers are given here.  The floor is huge.

 

  

• La Rumba: Thursday (65%) and Saturday (55%?) – live band usually on Saturday(?)

 

This place gets packed.  It’s the place with the most “Latin nightclub feel” in Denver. Get there early if you want good space to dance, or you can always dance in the front room (away from the stage) where the music is much lower. The main floor is awesome.  Thursday is probably better than Saturday for pure dancing, and as in a near-universal rule the world over, Saturday is usually the worst night out for pure dancing.

 

  

• Blue Ice: Friday (70%?)

 

Can get very packed. The place is on the dark side and somewhat smokey.  The last time I went they played a surprisingly large amount of salsa music.

    

 

• D’Note: Sunday (75%) – live band every week

 

Probably the best overall place for salsa dancing in Colorado. The floor is great, usually not too crowded to dance. Music is pretty good. The place is crowded early on with tons of people who a relatively new to salsa, and thins out later with more experienced salseros staying.

 

Unfortunately due to the acoustics/sound system/layout the bands don't sound nearly as good here as they do when they play at some other venues.  

  

 

• Teddy’s: Sunday (10%)

 

If you’re adventurous, try heading over to Teddy’s.  Although there are latinos at all the clubs in different amounts (10%-75% I’d say), in Teddy’s you might not see a non-Latino face in the whole crowd.  The place is packed and has a totally different energy than anywhere else in Denver.

 

 

BOULDER: (about 2.5 "clubs-nights" per week)

 

 

• Avalon: Thursday (90%)

 

Has a very large and very nice dance floor, in a very nice building. It’s not quite a nightclub, but is a very good weekly dance social.  

 

 

• St. Julien Hotel: some Friday’s (65%)

 

Must call hotel to find out what band is playing. These days it’s either Onda or Quemando. Onda is not the best for dancing (too fast and too much Latin Jazz). If Quemando is playing, the party is on! Very, very cool atmosphere. And even cooler in the summer.

 

 

·         Purple Martini (?)

 

Open dancing starts at 10:30pm. I haven’t been there yet. Hope to check it out soon.