Recess Beer Garden

Cool spot stopped in here for some food and drinks. The staff are super friendly and very efficient. It super hot out that day so stayed inside with the AC, but the patio area looked amazing. It was a Sunday they had a DJ that was really good. Great spot for solo or groups. Prices are not outrageous for the area it's at. Definitely going back to try more food and enjoy the patio. They have board games and do trivia

Loved it! The atmosphere is so much fun! The food and beer is great. Trivia was a blast. We had an issue using an old gift card that was registering. We sent them an email and they comped our dinner, no questions asked. Great people! Look forward to going back!

Recess Beer Garden in Denver is a fantastic spot with a vibrant atmosphere, great food, and an impressive drink selection. The outdoor seating, string lights, and fire pits create a relaxed vibe, perfect for gatherings. The menu goes beyond typical bar food—try the burgers, truffle fries, and pretzel bites. Their rotating craft beers and creative cocktails are a treat. Service is friendly and attentive, even on busy nights. With events like trivia and live music, Recess is a must-visit for a memorable time!

I ordered something (beef) with dip. I don’t recall the name of the dish, but it was so delicious. Customer service was amazing. Clean bathroom and nice outdoor. Waitress were very knowledge about their menu. I think you have to pay for parking but I am not sure. I did not pay for parking when I was there but there was a parking meter down the street.

3.5/5. Great beer garden with good food and a great atmosphere. Stopped by here to do some work with a friend. Very fun “slider flight” entree I tried. It was a fun tasting course, but half of the entree + 1 beer was over $20 before tip. A bit expensive in my eyes personally.

This place is perfection! From size and atmosphere, to service, food and drinks; just everything was phenomenal!! We had a most amazing beautiful Colorado autumn day eating and drinking at this incredible place. The wings, the smothered tots, the nachos, all amazing!! Lisa was most attentive and friendly and patient and prompt; great server!

Great selection of beers and decent food. While it was quiet when we were there in the middle of the week I'm sure this beer garden is popular on the weekends and even offers shuttles to nearby concert venues. Our waiter was very friendly and took great care of us

The smash burger is really good, and I like the skinny fries. The Frito pie is pretty good, too.

I enjoyed my time here so much! It is lush and cute, with a dynamic field thanks to the stairs and levels that are built into the ambience. You immediately get an indoor outdoor field, with lots of picnic table style seating, some high tops, and mister to call you off from the hot day. It feels extra tucked away and cozy with the trees built into the entire atmosphere, the location was my favorite part of this place I thought their drink selection was pretty good, I tried a Riki tequila, seltzer, which I had never had before, and was delightful, and at 7% alcohol was the perfect level of strong, but manageable. We wanted to play one of their board games, this was my biggest issue with the place, most of the games were missing pieces, the markers were all dead, and most of them really weren't playable. We got a deck of cards from the bar by giving our ID as collateral instead. There isn't really any table service, it's a seat self type of situation and you can just go back to the bar whenever you need a new drink. I'm not sure if they have food as we did not order any, but the vibes were good. I just wish they had more seating with actual chairs. picnic tables and chairs with no back are so uncomfortable for me and a real pet peeve when hanging for long periods of time.

Love the vibe of this place for a good patio/outdoor meal/drink and appreciate the multi level layout tucked away off the main street. Honestly didn't expect much food-wise - seems like the place you go for the vibe and expect subpar bar food but honestly one of the best chicken Caesar wraps I've had and the tots were *chefs kiss* will def be back!

Recess' concept is one of a kind. The spacious outdoor seating (or should I call it a patio area) that is shared with the restaurant right next to it makes this place (and the other place) so unique. This symbiotic arrangement can be seen at other restaurants in the Denver area but this is the special feature that attracts many to this eatery. I know you can't really sit outside in the dead winter but the warm temperatures are still lingering (as of the writing of this review, late September of 2024.) Take advantage of this as long as the weather allows you to do so. Friendly staff members are what you might notice first as you will most likely be greeted by one of them upon arriving. I was at this restaurant today for a training session for my second job. The food was paid for by my company and was served as a buffet style. The fresh green salad had all kinds of of green in it along with slices of tomatoes. All the ingredients were beautifully placed in a large bowl for us 12 to eat. French fries and sweet potato fries were exceptionally tasty but what I was impressed the most were the portobello mushroom wraps. Spinach leaves, avocado and mushroom were marinated in some sort of sauce/dressing (a bit salty to my liking but it tasted so good.) This item is, of course, on the regular menu (Grilled Portobello Wrap $15 Grilled marinated portobello mushroom, spinach, avo-chimmichurri sauce, diced tomatoes, wrapped in a spinach tortilla are the ingredients.) Aha, avocado chimmichurri sauce!! Now I know what that was. This is a must order item off the menu.

I wish I could rate this less than one star. I was in a wedding in Denver, we all headed to Recess after. I'm from Wisconsin where when you turn 21 your ID does not change to horizontAl. I was told to either produce my birth certificate/ passport or download an app to gain admittance to the bar. Wisconsin has no app to produce this so I had to watch the security allow minors with illegal IDs into the bar while I called an Uber. Not sure where this rule originated but id love an explanation. Happy to take my legal money elsewhere, have fun with the minors who don't have jobs and can't tip!

We had a great time at recess! Sat outside and watched the opening game of the nfl season. We had really nice cool weather had cover over our heads in case of rain! We got the Buffalo chicken wrap and the lemon pepper wings. Both were spot on! The tater tots were crunchy and salty! The wings were tender and had a nice little crisp to them. They needed a bit more seasoning/flavor but the integrity of the wing was 5/5. The wrap was bangin! Not too spicy, had some greens for crunch and the cut up chicken was a nice touch! We had bar service but there were no lines so we got our drinks and food very quickly! Definitely will be back

Great patio vibe on a Friday afternoon/night! Good food! 2 points... 1 - top the nachos better! 2 layers of toppings will do! Great toppings but too many bare chips! 2 - For $6 extra, I need more chicken on my cesear salad! Taste was phenomenal though! Fun tourist visit :)

Love the ambiance here, clean areas, great music, love the heaters when it's a cold morning or just in general certainly a nice to have. Also TVs everywhere displaying the various sport games on. They have great drinks here as well so definitely will come back for them! And of course your doggos are welcomed here! Plenty of seating options here and the waitress we had (shoutout to Lisa) was amazing and she even brought us a pup cup for our doggo Wookie, which was really sweet of her! She also had great customer service in general, especially for how busy it was when we arrived here. Parking is on the street as a heads up, if it gets really busy it may be hard to find somewhere close/right next to the restaurant but still not a crazy bad walk or too far especially on a nice day! 4/5 because the food prices (specifically for the appetizers) are overpriced for the sizing you get and overall texture/flavor of their appetizers, the few pretzel bites we ordered was $14 which was like barely anything and just not that great tasting in general.

Came here for the night bar scene and it's my favorite lively bar in Denver so far. Crowd is a bit older than what you find at Avanti and other bars, with still the same fun vibe. Indoor area is more crowded and fun while the spacious outdoor decks allow for more standing room and audible conversation- it's a nice balance. Everyone was nice as well. Will come back

Wonderful beer garden! There is a ton of out door seating & the service is great. Great music and vibes. They also have gluten free beer which is great!

Fun place to watch football outside and food is great for a sports bar! I loved the Buffalo chicken wrap and wings paired well with a beer. It's a whole vibe!

Best place to be! The surrounding area has so many restaurants so I stopped by here before and after eating dinner. Drinks were great! Got a Moscow mule, and it went down smooth. The bartenders and security were very friendly and outgoing. I think Recess has one of the best outdoor seating areas I've been to - it beats a lot of places downtown and in other cities. Would definitely come back.

Such a fun area to meet with friends for day drinking. I also heard the night life is fun as well. There is plenty of patio seating for a nice day. The staff were very kind and quick even though it was so busy. I ordered a buffalo chicken wrap that was quite delicious. I didn't have any of their cocktails but they looked interesting!

The food was great everyone loved their food and it was great portions and reasonable priced as well. We all got bloody marrys and the waitress got the impression we were olive fans so brought us a whole cup of olives which was a nice and funny touch. Ambiance is cool and is a nice place to hangout with friends. Only problem was that our drinks and food took a while to get to us but other than that great experience!

Our waitress was good. The decor/ambiance was fun. The food was just mediocre. Definitely more of a place to go hang out and drink. It was pouring outside so we didn't get to play any of the games or anything :(

A beer garden with great space and friendly service! Docked a star because the food is hit or miss. The space includes an awesome tiered outdoor space that's great for large groups to hang out and enjoy drinks. Smaller indoor space with a couple of tables and the bar. Drink options are diverse and include good cocktails. Half of the group enjoyed the food, the other half felt it was only okay. The chicken caesar wrap was tasty but very simple (mainly lettuce and caesar dressing). The fish and chips were a solid choice too. They load up the side with crunchy, flavorful fries though which is a big plus. The people who didn't enjoy their meals as much ordered the french dip and cuban. Overall, a great place to hang out, but eating before/after is your best bet.

I was surprisingly charmed by this beer garden on a recent March Madness outing. While it can definitely get crowded, there's a lot of different seating options throughout the property and I felt like there were good food / drink offerings. Parking can be a bit of a bear, so keep that in mind! Might be better to Lyft.

Cool, fun place on the edge of the Highlands. This is one of Denvers Hotspots for good bar food, good drinks,and good-looking people. As soon as you walk in, you're carded at any of the 3 entrances. There is a huge bar that has on opening to the outside and indoor area. The kitchen is to the left of the bar and cracks out great bar eats in lighting speed. There is a huge outdoor seating area some partially covered & with additional tvs to watch sports. The servers & bartenders are friendly and quick. It's somewhat connected to their other establishments so it just seems like 1 big fun loving beer hall. If ya want a great scene head on down on a hit sunny day & drink up with friends.

The place had a good feel to it and it was packed. We sat at the bar and the crowd seemed to be mostly in their 20s and were all friendly and talkative. Since it was so busy, the food and drinks were understandably slow. My friend ordered a double gin and tonic and it was strong: I could smell the liquor just sitting next to him. I tried the Korean burrito. The meat inside tasted great, but I didn't care at all for the plain tater tots. I'd order something different next time.

Great service, food and such a fun place!! They were so good to us and our fur kids. Very enjoyable for all!!

Great day drinking spot, but eat elsewhere. The food is terrible, but the patio is great. Dog friendly, partial sun during the day, and good for large groups. The service is good even on the patio typically too. I can never keep up with what the connected bar/restaurant is doing, whether it's open or not, serves food or not, is dog friendly or not? But all in all the vibes are good and go often.

I went to this place with some friends from work and it was a nice place to hang out. We sat outside so I cannot speak to how it feels on the inside but the outside seating was perfect. It was nicely shaded, they had misters on (it was hot out even for 6 PM) and overall just had a nice vibe. The drink prices were on point. The selection of beers wasn't super vast but they had a drink for every kind of person and the waitress was good at recommending favorites. The food probably came last for what I liked about this place but that is okay, it is more of a place to chill and less of a place that you are going to want to sit down and enjoy a meal. The food wasn't BAD by any means but pretty forgettable. I got the Korean Burrito and the beef had good flavor but the rest of the burrito was pretty much nothing. The fries were pretty flavorless but I will eat a whole plate of fries without realizing so I ate everything hahaha. If you are looking for a place to hang out with a small or large group and get some drinks, look no further!

Fun spot to catch up with friends and enjoy beers and cocktails. I got their green chili bowl lunch, and it was a great serving size and flavorful. The outdoor seating has heaters too which is nice in the winter. The staff was extremely friendly, and I would definitely return.

Beautiful tiered decks, nice atmosphere and upscale bar food and appetizers. Service was very good and drinks were excellent. It was busy on a Friday evening and table time was limited. But we had plenty of time to share a few appetizers and some drinks before our dinner reservation at a nearby restaurant. The fried pickle chips were excellent, some of the best I have had.

Love recess! I've been back many times. They have a great happy hour and their bartenders are always ready to help you get your order fast. The basket of tater tots is a favorite snack of mine.

I went into the women's bathroom (I'm a gay man) with my best friend after she was put in a compromising situation and there was nowhere else safe for her to go. The bouncer immediately dragged me out, aggressively grabbing me by my collar. When I spoke to the manager, he threatened to sue me unless my driver's license explicitly stated nonbinary. It's 2025--how about not being discriminatory? The world is a spectrum, my loves. xx

Such a fun spot to hangout! There are so many options of places to sit either indoor, outdoor or a mix of the two on their covered patio. I love the vibe at recess with all of their lights and awesome decorations. They are especially fun right now for Halloween! They had a nice selection of beers on tap of some local favorites. We also snacked on some pretzel bites and sweet potato fries and they were delicious. All aspects come together to make it a perfect spot for a Sunday funday!

Oh wow. Recess totally reminds me of the bars I used to frequent in college, back when I didn't prioritize the quality of alcohol... I just wanted to party. Not that it's a bad thing but not my first pick as a 30-something. I had dinner with a friend next door at Postino. We had time to kill before an event we were attending, and I've been meaning to check this place out. We weaved our way through the rowdy crowds and ordered a basic Lagunitas IPA at the bar. Nice staff that always seem to be on the move. We wandered around the massive outdoor patio until we found seats at a communal bench. Food looks like typical munchies. I feel like this place is packed every time I'm in the area. Good for them overall!

Oktoberfest specials are good! I love this bar in general though. The food is always delicious and the vibes are always top notch. It definitely gets busy, but that's half the fun to me! Huge outdoor patio where dogs are typically welcome. I'd recommend the pretzel bites and the Cuban!

This was my first experience at Recess Beer Garden! The server was very nice upon arrival and we walked to the patio area to pick our own table! We opted for shade, but missed out on the misters leaving our location still very hot with no where to relocate. This restaurant is very popular! There were tons of friend groups and lots of fun, high energy! We were also meeting some friends to catch up and the level of noise made it almost impossible to hear each other. So, if you're looking for a place to grab a drink and have a more airy/light atmosphere... this is it! Also, everyone brings their dogs... so you get to dog watch and melt over all of the cute pups around and hope that their little ears can handle the bumping tunes! Aside from that, the food was tasty! I really enjoyed the dry rub wings with everything seasoning! I would come back to this location for this wings alone! They were juicy, smokey, packed with flavor and cooked to the perfect temp! The wedge salad was good, but I definitely found myself wishing for more of the ingredients on top... ex: more blue cheese, avocado, etc. But, the lettuce was crisp and fresh which was a definite win! All-in-all this spot is great for a group of friends wanting to drink and order a bunch of dishes to share. It's not ideal for friends looking to catch up... it'll be difficult to hear each other. I would go back for those tasty wings though! Maybe I'll have to catch Recess at a slower time in the day to get in without the crowds!

We had a ton of drinks here, fries and wings too. Everything was delicious all cocktails were yum. Service by bartender Taylor was great. There's inside and outside . The place blends with fieldtrip

Not returning anytime soon. The only patrons this establishment seems to want, or serve, are young women under about 30. I went for lunch today and sat on the outside patio. There was only one other party already there and being served. I waited, and waited, for a server to come by, in vain. The apparent bar manager saw us, but did not bother to cause a serve to come over. After about 10 minutes of being totally ignored, a group of four young women arrived and sat down at a nearby table. Magically, the server was over to them in moments, not minutes, with water, service and ready to take their order. He did not acknowledge us at all, did not say in passing he would be back, and when I pointed out to him that I had not gotten any service and had been waiting much longer, the waiter said nothing. No apology. No suggestion that he would be over. Nothing. My experience today would certainly suggest that Recess Beer Garden may have a service policy illegal under Colorado law of discriminating by age and gender. Even if it does not have such a formal policy, it clearly offers preferential treatment to certain customers based upon demographics. I will not be going b in back. There are far too many cool, friendly, good places to eat and drink in that neighborhood to abide these shenanigans.

Amazing patio spot, dogs are welcome. Let me just say this. The wings are smoked and might be the best wings I have EVER had.. OMG. I didn't order it but the Cuban looked to die for as well. This place is a definite place to stop and check out!!!

The customer service was above and beyond. I was served by a gentleman named jordan and he was busy and shit but still took care of my needs. The entire team was service oriented! I appreciated the love and respect i received through and through. I will be back

The vibe of this bar is very nice. Especially in the sunny weather. I came to meet up with a bunch of friends who had arrived earlier. I love the Apricot Dry Dock beer which is rare to see at some places. However, my friends did have some things to say about other drinks and food. Apparently the margaritas were bad. Which was pretty disappointing as I have friends that live trying margaritas at new places. I suppose they won't be trying them here again.Other cocktails that were drunk were mediocre. As for the food, my friends tried the falafel, Mac n cheese and the sliders. Again, I was told were all mediocre. I guess they won't be coming back here for the food or cocktails. For me, I was just here for a few beers. The atmosphere is awesome but I don't think I'll be coming back here for anything besides beer.

Mike & Xavier are the goats. Best bar in the world & can't recommend enough. Pretzel bites are amazing

This place is awesome. The tacos are great highly recommend the French fries. Staff is also great

I typically don't leave negative reviews, but the complete disrespect from the staff at this establishment was something I've never experienced before. I have truly never felt so disrespected in a place. A friend and I waited at the bar for 45 minutes while four bartenders blatantly ignored us (one specifically) and continued to provide service to at least 20 customers who arrived at the bar way after we did. Other patrons coming up next to us had even called it out to us that we were waiting for so much longer, yet the bartender continued to ignore us. A friend finally got her order in and didn't tip due to poor service (bc again, we waited 45 minutes while the bartender refused to acknowledge us while servicing others surrounding us). The bartender pointed at her and shouted out to the entire bar that she didn't tip. But aren't tips earned through good service? As two women who also work in the service industry, we understand and know how hard it can be to work with the public, but we were 100% sober and chatting about reality TV while we waiting and staff purposely ignored us and refused to provide service.

Recess is quite possibly the coolest beer garden I've ever been to. We visited on a warm and sunny November afternoon and took advantage of the multi-level decks outside. There are many seating options outdoors, from tables and benches, to little nooks around fire pits. This is a very chill environment and we loved our time here. The draft list features a variety of local brews, and we were surprised to see a Russian River sour on their bottle list, so we splurged and ordered that. Our server was very attentive and friendly, as were other employees we interacted with. While we came only for patio beers, I would like to try their food next time we're in Denver.

Food was fine. Nothing special. Drinks were good. Fun vibe, great to meet with friends. However, seating was confusing. There is no hostess and a waitress said to sit wherever. Place was busy but we found a spot and then were told no one would serve us where we were sitting so we had to wait and then claim a table. Just a little confusing.

Such a fun vibe. The outdoor beer garden is perfect for a relaxing weekend day. It is very dog friendly and our corgi enjoyed it here. We both got burgers fries and beers and it hit the spot. Burger was cooked well and the toppings were unique. Also enjoyed the craft beer selection. This place is more about the atmosphere and drinks than the food but you will not be disappointed eating here either.

Right next to Postino and Bamboo Sushi... Lots of outdoor space with a great selection of beer on tap. Meh on the food or it's ok bar food but you come here for the M-Th HH before 6pm. They have a 2 hour table limit but if it isn't busy - they kind of let you slide.

You guys need to fire the girl who was working last night, brunette long wavy hair wearing a white tank top, dark lipstick. This wasn't my first negative experience with her but she was especially awful tonight. So rude to me and my friends and even the people we didn't know next to us were confused on what her deal was because she was rude to them too. One example She literally took my card and put it in her bra and then when I asked for it back she yelled at me and told me she didn't take it and it took me asking her to at least look like 20x and then she pulled it out of her bra. No one wanted her to take their order because she was so rude to literally anyone. Pls fire her. She was definitely drunk or on something

Two servers were rude as fuck. Two girls in white tank tops. Very rude, very dismissive. One had my friends card and yelled at her

Went here for Recess Street Fest to see CeeLo Green and it was so fun! We got the snow cone cocktail from the recess bar tent and it was good but really strong since the alcohol is mixed with the ice and I had to put lots of the sugary syrup on top. I liked the reusable cups. The event was super awesome though and we got a good view of CeeLo near the front. Would totally go to street fest again if I like the artists next year!

Worth coming here. The outdoor area is really nice and the inside wasn't bad either. Really great atmosphere and great service. The salsa guacamole trio was on point. The food is great in general as well. No complaints.

This one is overall very good. First the atmosphere, which is a solid five stars. Lots of great pleases to sit outside with good shade trees and large doors that open up to connect the inside areas with the garden area. Beer selection is very well curated with a lot of unique local selections- both micro and nano-breweries. We enjoyed a ginger cider and an IPA. Beer list was a little difficult to manage with the QE code system. A chalkboard or backup listing system would be useful. Service was on point- prompt, friendly and efficient with good teamwork. The burger we order was notch above typical bar food but not particularly memorable. The wings on the other hand were outstanding- our favorite thing on the menu and one of the highlights of our Denver trip. We ordered Buffalo style and there was a very right layering of mesquite smoke which perfectly complimented the spicy Buffalo sauce. I'll definitely be back if I'm in the area, at least for the wings and a quenching adult beverage.

Average food & service, but great atmosphere and seating! I came here at 5pm for happy hour with some coworkers on a Monday. There was no wait time and we sat ourselves at a table of our choice. Initially the wait staff were great and attentive, but slowly became less and less so as it got busier. We had a hard time flagging down staff to ask for water and the check so we went and tracked one down. Although they did accommodate a few special requests, for example we asked them to bring out champagne when a coworker of ours arrived since she was getting promoted. We also asked if they were able to turn down the music for us to make a FaceTime call to other coworkers to congratulate her, and they gave us a limit of 3 minutes to turn down the music despite no one else sitting in our area. There is plenty of seating to choose from here and a great atmosphere for big parties to come and socialize. For some reason the music got louder as the night went on and we found ourselves yelling across the table, but overall a good vibe. We ordered the chicken tenders with fries and tots, and pita and artichoke dip. The house fries had tasty seasoning, but everything else was pretty average and bland. They had a good beer selection and the happy hour pricing was decent! I would definitely come back with a group of friends

I've been here countless times, usually just for drinks it's a great summer spot, and they accommodate with outdoor heaters in the winter- I ordered food this time and it was so good! I have been dying to try spam musubi and it did not disappoint. The Mac and cheese (this was a side portion) was also really good! I had a piece of the pepperoni frebch bread pizza and it was perfectly crispy and so flavorful!

Our visit to Recess on 6/25 was highly disappointing. Every server and bartender seemed grumpy and acted annoyed being asked for anything. You'd think they'd want better tips. One male server even told me to stay out of the way while I was standing at the head of our table with ample space behind me. Not "excuse me" or "do you mind giving a little more room," just to stay out of the way. Two beer taps in particular were also lukewarm, while the "freshly made" pickle-infused shots (from a jug) were puke worthy. Surely someone messed that recipe up. I doubt we'll be back, even if our first two visits were better than the third.