I have a stack of places I've reviewed but it seems appropriate to make this one my first published piece.
Found on a search for vegetarian options on the way back to the airport, Sputnik offers the perfect combination of Local Dive Bar and thoughtful Vegan options. Like all downtown dining experiences the parking was awful and we almost ditched the plan completely to go to the arcade bar across the Street instead.
They had just opened for the day but the table still had water rings on it and the lighting somehow made the room feel darker. The art on the walls was modern abstract in that looks like space aesthetic. The bathroom graffiti was a wild mix of horny and nihilistic. The musical choices were muddled genres, intentionally chosen by who I am going to assume is a manager or owner based on how determined he was to ignore the two midwestern girls that wandered into his domain.
I was prepared to lower my expectations, but I maintained an optimistic mask for the sake of my less adventurous companion. Besides, we didn't have time to find anything else that wasn't a chain before I had to return to the airport.
The bartender we did get was fantastic but while he could tell us what ‘fee foam’ was he had no idea what a breakfast shot was.
It all made sense when Duran Duran started playing.
[Click Here to see the Spotify playlist of all the songs we heard while dining]
The food actually ended up being pretty good. They even had house made dipping Sauces and that's one of my favorite things to try - however these were a bit too tangy to make it onto my ‘best sauces’ list. Tots were very crunchy and the sweet potato fries had a good flavor to them. The vegan burger was just a Beyond patty but they had a lot of interesting plays on jackfruit on offer.
It was time to eat and I did the only thing I could do in a time warped hipster Vegan bar - I ordered the Cubano.
And it was GOOD. The mustard was yellow, the pickles fresh, and the ham covered the bread in one clean slice. Biting into it gave a satisfying crunch followed by the exact combination of flavors I was looking for. Definitely not Vegan.
Overall I’d say Sputnik is doing a great job of giving Denver Hipsters exactly what they’re looking for while confusing the tourists.
Sides not included. Sides not needed.
P.S.
They also had one of those photo strip booths, but this one was from the 70’s and still used chemical processing to develop the photos! It took almost 10 minutes for the photos to come out and when they did they were still damp. What a fun treat from the past!
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Sputnik
3 S Broadway, Denver, CO 80209