Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Fort Collins for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Fort Collins for grown-ups.
Ace Gillett's mixes cocktails in the basement lounge of Fort Collins' Armstrong Hotel, a supper-club room under College Avenue since the hotel's revival.
Signature drink: Classic cocktails
Food: Lounge plates
Tip: Happy hour runs 17:00-18:30; the street-level Ace Cafe upstairs handles daytime service.
Social pours an award-winning seasonal cocktail list in a Prohibition-styled cellar beneath Old Town Square in Fort Collins, open daily from 16:00.
Signature drink: Seasonal craft cocktails
Food: Small plates
Tip: Look for the stairs off the square; the Great Gatsby anniversary party lands 10 September 2026 and sells out.
The Mayor of Old Town runs 100 taps on Mason Street in Fort Collins, the deepest draught wall in Northern Colorado with pub food to anchor it.
Signature drink: 100 rotating taps
Food: Pub kitchen
Tip: The 100-tap wall rotates constantly, so ask for the fresh-on list; despite the name it sits on Mason near Laurel, not the square.
Tap and Handle keeps 74 rotating handles across three floors on College Avenue in Fort Collins, a national Top 100 beer bar with a real kitchen.
Signature drink: 74 rotating taps
Food: Burgers, wings, full menu
Tip: Wednesday's Smasher burger deal is dine-in only; the fire-pit patio stays welcoming well into the cooler months.
William Oliver's Publick House stocks over 400 world whiskies at its Timberline and Drake pub in Fort Collins, the original room it opened back in 2013.
Signature drink: 400-plus whiskies
Food: Pub plates and hot dogs
Tip: There is no phone on principle; walk in or email. Ask for the Snug, a semi-private nook for groups of six to eight.
Lucky Joe's Sidewalk Saloon puts an Irish pub in an old western saloon on Old Town Square in Fort Collins, open to 02:00 with green chili on the stove.
Signature drink: Guinness and an espresso martini chaser
Food: Home-cooked pub food
Tip: The Monday 4.99-dollar burger is the cheapest square-side dinner going; happy hour runs 15:00-19:00 on weekdays.
The Forge Publick House pours rotating craft taps in a brick back-alley room off Old Firehouse Alley in Fort Collins, trading quietly there since 2011.
Signature drink: Rotating craft taps
Food: Pie and snacks
Tip: Craft beer, brick building, back-alley drinking is the whole pitch; there is locally made pie when the case is stocked.
Elliot's Martini Bar has shaken classics and dessert martinis on Linden Street in Fort Collins since 1997, nightly until 02:00 with a back patio.
Signature drink: Classic and dessert martinis
Food: Tapas and meatballs
Tip: The Cucumber's Last Stand and Tequila Mockingbird are the house calls; the back patio is the seat to hold in summer.
Town Pump has poured in the same 416-square-foot room on College Avenue in Fort Collins since 1909, the oldest bar in the city and nearly its smallest.
Signature drink: Cheap Colorado drafts
Food: None; bring a slice in
Tip: Cash-friendly, cramped and proud of it; a GoFundMe raised over 57,000 dollars in two days to save it during the pandemic.
The Whisk(e)y lines up more than 2,800 whiskies behind its College Avenue bar in Fort Collins, one of the largest whiskey selections in Colorado.
Signature drink: 2,800-bottle whisky wall
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Happy hour runs all day Sunday and Monday; ask the staff to steer a flight, the list is genuinely unnavigable alone.
Pour Brothers Community Tavern deals craft taps, free darts and chicken bingo on Linden Street in Fort Collins, a neighbourhood room with tater tots.
Signature drink: Colorado craft taps
Food: Grilled cheese, pizza, tots
Tip: Chicken Sh!t Bingo runs the first and third Sundays; Thursday nights bring live music and Tuesday is trivia.
Trailhead Tavern holds down Mountain Avenue in Fort Collins as the Old Town dive bar of record, with cheap pitchers until 02:00 seven nights a week.
Signature drink: Cheap pitchers
Food: Bar food
Tip: It closes only for Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Sunday after the Super Bowl; expect a CSU crowd on weekends.
Magic Rat books free live music four nights a week off Firehouse Alley in Fort Collins, the Elizabeth Hotel's gritty indoor-outdoor stage and bar.
Signature drink: Creative cocktails
Food: Bar bites
Tip: No cover, ever; the calendar posts on the hotel site week by week. Enter through the hotel or the alley.
The Crown Pub is Old Town's English-style public house on College Avenue, pouring pints over hand-crafted food and staying open late weekly.
Signature drink: Pints of British and Colorado beer
Food: Full pub kitchen daily
Tip: It keeps proper pub hours, to midnight Sunday through Wednesday and 02:00 Thursday to Saturday, with the kitchen doing real work.
Bondi Beach Bar brings an Aussie beach-bar mood to Old Town Square, family-friendly on the patio by day and a club-style dance floor after dark.
Signature drink: Frozen and tropical cocktails
Food: Bar and grill menu until late
Tip: The wrap-around patio has the best sightline to the Old Town Square stage; Sunday opens at 10:30 for daytime drinks.