On a Thursday in early October, demolition crews were tearing down the building at 2922 Baseline Road. That building held the World Famous Dark Horse for five decades, and BizWest photographed the work as it happened. The bar had closed on March 14, which was its 51st birthday. The first full football season without it is now in its last month.
The bars set to fill that gap are not on Baseline. One is on Valmont Road in Boulder Junction. The other is on Arapahoe Avenue. The Dark Horse's own planned comeback is in Louisville, outside city limits. Boulder has two home games left this season, and they arrive while that new map is still filling in.
What goes away with 2922 Baseline
The Dark Horse building is coming down for a mixed-use redevelopment. According to BizWest, the Williams family owns the property. The family is demolishing the building, along with a handful of others nearby, for its Williams Village II project: hundreds of student-oriented apartments and nearly 60,000 square feet of commercial space. The building had already been spared once. In late 2025, Williams Family Cos. and city officials resolved a permitting snag that would have meant demolition before 2026 started.
The Dark Horse brand itself was supposed to return quickly. In April, its operators told Axios Boulder they planned to reopen near U.S. 36 and McCaslin Boulevard in Louisville in time for football season. By late September that deadline had passed. Axios reported that the bar had not answered recent requests for comment, had not posted a social media update about the project since spring, and still showed only a closed notice on its website. No street address or new opening window has been announced for Louisville.
So for the November games, the Dark Horse is not an option, and the replacements are being built in other parts of town.
Boulder Junction gets a bar with six lanes and a bike shop
The first replacement to arrive comes from a business that did not start out as a sports bar. The Werks is a Wheat Ridge concept that combines a brewpub, a bowling alley and a bike shop. Its second location, at 3390 Valmont Road in the S'Park development, was set to open Monday, Oct. 26, BizWest reported, citing the company's social media posts. The company announced it this way: "Burgers? Absolutely. Beer? You know it. Bowling? Obviously. A new bike you didn't know you needed? We won't judge."
The original Werks opened in January 2025 at 2625 Kipling St. in Wheat Ridge, in the former Paramount Bowl space. The Denver Post reported that it kept six bowling lanes and added an in-house brewery, a retail bike shop and a patio. The Boulder location's hours had not been published when it was announced, so check the company's channels before planning a game night around it.
Axios Boulder notes that The Werks gives Boulder its second bowling alley. The only other bowling center within city limits is the Connection, inside CU Boulder's University Memorial Center. The same piece calls The Werks a place where residents can spend a whole evening, not another grab-and-go stop. It also places the bar within Boulder Junction's growth into a walkable district around its future train stop. A three-and-a-half-hour game fits that kind of room better than a bar built around quick turnover.
Arapahoe Avenue's November target
The second replacement is the one built for CU fans. BuffHouse is an upscale, CU-themed sports bar moving into the former Harpo's and Ralphie's building at 2860 Arapahoe Ave. Westword identifies the business partners as Oscar Padilla and Joe Manzanares. Its plans call for 10,000 square feet, more than 20 TVs, 24 taps, a DJ booth, a patio and rooftop, and CU nostalgia in a room designed to feel like an Aspen lodge. The Daily Camera reported indoor capacity of 175 and about 300 total with the expanded patio, served by a kitchen of roughly 3,000 square feet.
BuffHouse first aimed for August or September and now targets November. Manzanares told Axios the delay came from two decisions: expanding the building's outdated bathrooms and adding a pizza oven. Both required more architectural and engineering work, and he said the plans went to the city for permitting in mid-September. He gave Axios Boulder the reasoning:
"We wanted to make sure that being the official partner with CU that we did it right the first time. It will be worth the wait."
Axios repeated the November target on Oct. 19. It is still a target, not an announced opening date.
Where each option stands in early November
| Venue | Address | Status for the November games |
|---|---|---|
| The Werks | 3390 Valmont Road, Boulder Junction | Scheduled to open Oct. 26 |
| BuffHouse | 2860 Arapahoe Ave. | Targeting November; no opening date announced |
| The Dark Horse | Planned near U.S. 36 and McCaslin Blvd., Louisville | No address or timeline announced |
| The Dark Horse, original | 2922 Baseline Road | Closed March 14; demolition underway in October for Williams Village II |
None of the three addresses still in play is on Baseline Road, and one of them is outside Boulder. If you used to walk to the Dark Horse, the trip on game day now looks different. If you live near Boulder Junction or along Arapahoe, the new options are closer to you.
Four games left, and two of them are at Folsom
Once the Oct. 31 home game against Kansas State is played, the rest of the regular-season schedule on cubuffs.com splits evenly between home and away:
- Saturday, Nov. 7: at Arizona State in Tempe, kickoff to be announced
- Friday, Nov. 13: Houston at Folsom Field, 8:15 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: at Cincinnati, kickoff to be announced
- Saturday, Nov. 28: UCF at Folsom Field, kickoff to be announced
CU's January schedule release listed the Houston game for Nov. 14. The Big 12's May kickoff announcement set it for Friday, Nov. 13, at 8:15 p.m., and the current schedule shows that date. If that game went on your calendar back in January, it is now on a Friday night.
The two away games are the bar games for most of the city. Nov. 7 and Nov. 21 are the Saturdays when anyone not traveling to Tempe or Cincinnati watches on a screen somewhere. With the Dark Horse gone, The Werks is the only one of these replacements scheduled to be open for the Arizona State game. The Cincinnati game on Nov. 21 is the first one where BuffHouse could be open, if its November target holds.
The Houston kickoff at 8:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 puts the pregame on a weeknight evening. UCF on Nov. 28 falls on Thanksgiving weekend. Axios framed the stakes in September: BuffHouse's November target means Boulder could get a dedicated sports bar before the football season ends. The UCF game on Nov. 28 is the last home date this season where a BuffHouse opening could still count.
A small addition on Pearl Street
One more opening matters for anyone who watches downtown. Costa Brisa, a Baja-inspired Mexican stall from SMŌK owner Bill Espiricueta, was set to debut Nov. 2 in the former Quiero Arepas space on the first floor of Avanti Boulder at 1401 Pearl St., the Daily Camera reported. Its listed hours are Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Weekends bring SMŌK's breakfast burrito. If Costa Brisa opened on schedule, the Saturday away games have a breakfast burrito option on Pearl Street. On the Friday of the Houston game, the stall closes at 10 p.m., less than two hours after kickoff.
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