Denver Sweet
is Where the Bears Meet
by Denny Patterson
T
he wait is over. Denver Sweet has officially reopened.
Owners Ken Maglasang and Randy Minten were excited to welcome patrons back to Denver’s only bear bar over Pride weekend. According to a Facebook post, reopening was a success. Denver Sweet was first introduced last year during Memorial Day weekend. “We are a bear-inspired, LGBTQ-friendly bar that is always welcoming,” Maglasang says. “Randy and I wanted to open a bear bar back into the Denver community. The Denver Wrangler was the predominant bear bar for 21 years, and when they closed, it left a big void here in the Denver nightclub scene. Randy and I at the time were resident DJs over at the Wrangler, so that kind of gave us a push to pursue opening Denver Sweet.” Sweet was a signature dance party that the Wrangler used to do monthly. They would have various themes with the honey paw logo. “We really loved the branding around Sweet, so we asked the former owner of the Wrangler if we could take Sweet and make it our own and make it even better to be an actual bar,” Maglasang explains. “The owner let us take it, and we gave the logo and branding a total uplift. That’s how we became Denver Sweet. We felt that there were a lot of good takeaways with the Wrangler for many years, so we really wanted to capture some of those good elements and make it even better. We wanted to be the bear bar that is involved with the community, gets involved with different cultures, and provides a very friendly and welcoming place for all.”
people in the community as entertainers, so we really wanted to change that dynamic and set a new precedent for the bear bar. One that is with the community and stands forward with that and works together. That is our new mantra, and since we have opened, we have really broken that stigma. We offer a very friendly and welcoming environment. We are the bears you want to party with. Our staff also sticks to those values.” “Anybody we bring in here to work has to understand that our culture is inclusive,” Minten adds. “We are many things, and our guiding principle here is to serve the bear community and be all-inclusive to everyone.” Denver Sweet was immediately embraced by the community. When Maglasang and Minten were in the beginning stage of constructing Denver Sweet, they envisioned a bar and nightclub offering two floors of entertainment. “Down in our main bar, we do a lot of music videos,” Maglasang says. “We are kind of a video bar with various themes. We also have a full dance floor, so we have the capability to bring in DJs. We have poker nights, trivia nights, drag shows, and we added a pool table. So, we are really offering a multi-use space here, but our biggest highlight is, we have one of the nicest rooftop bars here in Denver. We are in the old Funky Buddha space, which was a pretty predominant, straight nightclub 10 to 15 years ago. We felt it was really nice to put this type of rooftop bar into the community, an open-air venue for socializing. Unfortunately, in the current world, we have to social distance, but we do have the room to do it. We feature the same type of multi-use experience.”
In the past, Denver bear bars have been known to be sexist, transphobic, and unpleasant. Maglasang and Minten’s goal is to be the complete opposite.
Denver Sweet officially closed March 16 due to COVID-19. Before reopening, Maglasang and Minten worked hard behind-thescenes to ensure that they would be compliant and follow social distancing guidelines.
“We knew this, but that is not mine or Randy’s culture,” Maglasang says. “Especially being DJs, we work with a lot of
“The CDC guidelines are pretty clear as far as social distancing,” Minten says. “We are placing tables six feet apart; make sure
1 2 \\ J U L Y 1 , 2 0 2 0
