| Clubs in Aspen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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THE ST. REGIS The St Regis is located at 315 East Dean Street at the base of Aspen Mountain. Call 920-3300 for current entertainment listings. Their web address is: www.stregisaspen.com. This place started out as the Ritz and even under the new name continues to be one of the ritziest places to gather. The bar at the St. Regis usually has quite a few beautiful people rubbing elbows and starting social sparks. If you hear a big-name entertainer is in town, chances are they're at the St. Regis. Piano music is featured at the lobby lounge in the daily in the late afternoons and again at night. In the summer Whiskey Rocks, another nightclub bar at the St. Regis features live music daily from 4-8 p.m. The restaurant is good, and the restaurant bar is a surprisingly human place to have a drink. Ask if Grayden is serving - perhaps the best bartender in town. The J-BAR AT THE JEROME HOTEL It's at 330 East Main St., on the left side of the hotel. (970) 920-1000 A Playboy magazine pick as one of America's best bars, the J-Bar is where famous author Hunter S. Thompson headquartered when he ran for Pitkin County Sheriff. You can still see his "peyote-fist poster" on the wall. It's a classic bar with good food and all the history you can imagine. Try the "J-rita" for a margarita you'll remember - or not, however it turns out (blame the altitude). ERIC'S & THE CIGAR BAR East Hyman Avenue in downtown Aspen. (970) 920-4244. The ski magazines have taken to calling it "the compound" because Eric's is like three bars in one. There is the main bar, which features microbrews and a great selection of imported beers on tap. There is the pool room with top-quality tables for rent by the hour. And then there's the Cigar Bar where the beautiful people gather on overstuffed couches and wallow in the aroma of expensive smoke and sip icy top-shelf martinis. A barfly could spend a night in each room and never get tired of the selection of babes, bottles and banter. Eric's, like almost all Aspen bars, is down a set of stairs. The bar is right across from the Wheeler Opera House at 315 CANTINA 411 East Main Street. (970) 925-3663. It's a Mexican restaurant across the intersection from the Jerome. Go there for food, but it makes this list for its big happy hour margarita crowd. And, if you're here around election time, it's where most of the local politicos gather to watch the returns on the cable television system. THE UTE CITY BAR AND GRILL The Ute City Bar and Grill is across the street from the East End of the Hyman Avenue Mall at 501 E. Hyman. (970) 920-4699. The Ute used to have live, loud rock music, but a recent dispute with the neighbors has reduced the rocking to the tinkling of a single piano and the occasional strumming of acoustic guitars. If you like piano bar jazz the Ute has a historic mining atmosphere and a nice view of the people walking by. Get there early for a seat next to the windows that open onto the street. McSTORLIE'S McStorlie's is downstairs at 308 South Hunter Street in downtown Aspen. (970) 925-2028. The Irish know how to slurp stout beers. If you are looking for the right environment to slam Guiness, McStorlie's is a great bet. They have all the right stuff: The Guiness is kept separate from the regular beers in its own fridge, and they know how to pull the pint. They have other imports on tap, but you can't go to McStorlie's without at putting away at least one Guiness. And don't even dream of ordering a Coors Lite, they'll laugh you right out of the joint. Once in a blue moon the bar has live music, but mostly the prevailing sound is that of Rugby players slamming empty tankards down onto the bar and shouting for more. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||