ESPN Zone
Categories: Sports Bars, Arcades, Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Northwest, Lodo1187 16th St
Denver, CO 80202 (303) 595-3776
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m.
Sun 11:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Garage
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Music: Live
- Best Nights: Mon, Sat, Sun
- Happy Hour: Yes
17 Reviews for ESPN Zone
I actually work at ESPN Zone, so here's the inside scoop.
Food is mediocre and slightly overpriced. Go with the appetizers or Ribs. Pizzas are awful, salads are decent, pastas are hit-or-miss, and the burgers are decent and huge. Cocktails/beer are also overpriced, so be warned. Happy hour is lame. The arena (games) is very overpriced and not really worth your time unless you have small children that are easily entertained. There is a good selection of retail items downstairs that make great gifts.
You can find parking at the Tabor Center, but call ahead to see if we validate at certain times. I believe we do after 4pm for up to 3 hours. If you park there during the day you are looking at a $17 parking tab, which is no fun.
If you want to see the BIG game, come in early, or join the MVP program for free online and make reservations (cannot make reservations otherwise). Always call ahead to see if your game is showing at the Zone. We do show a lot of games/events that aren't carried anywhere else. We don't show live boxing events or UFC because it is too expensive or either too violent for a Disney owned business.
The atmosphere is quite electric during major sporting events. It's worth checking out especially if the game you want to see is on the big screen.
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You would think some place called the ESPN Zone would be the place to catch a football game that wasn't being broadcast on local TV or cable, especially when it boasts 200 screens, but it is not. We repeatedly told the staff, "We're here to watch the Niners v. Rams game," and were given a uniform response of, "You can watch in the screening room, or in the general bar area."
We sat in the bar and after the appointed kickoff time, it became clear that the Niners game wasn't on any of the screens in the general bar area. My husband asks our waitress what screens it's playing on, but she never returns with an answer. I went back to the host. "Do we need to get into a screening room to watch the Niners game?"
"...uh, it appears so."
WHY didn't you tell me this 20 minutes ago when I first asked you?
I stand in line to get on the wait list and somehow the guy standing BEHIND me is 2nd, but I'm 3rd. They also said they could give no estimate on the wait time.
I peeked behind the mysterious black curtain to the screening room, and I see the Niners game on a wall with 12 feeds. We're going to wait an indefinite amount of time to pay $60 to watch the game on a puny screen with no audio?
We ditched the ESPN Zone and found a restaurant/bar (Earl's) that was playing the game on HD screens. It was way less crowded with competent staff and we were guided to leather seats right in front of the game we wanted to watch in an area almost to ourselves.
Skip ESPN Zone and watch the game at Earl's.
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Overpriced. Terrifying. Awesome.
ESPN Zone is all 3 of those things.
Overpriced because the food and games are just that. Way WAY overpriced.
Terrifying because the food would make homeless people think twice about eating it.
Awesome because it's sports, video games, sports, beer, and more sports. I watched the Red Sox lose to the Yankees here, which always makes for good memories in my book.
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I am torn as to how many stars to give this place. I dislike Sports and chain restaurants, but I love yelling and drinking. I also love good food and hot ladies, and also like a lot of televisions all on at the same time.
ESPN zone has all of these things.
ESPN zone has my money. And my yelp review.
God damn you Michael Eisner. You are a brilliant, sexy man!
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Come early on a Sunday during the fall. Skip church. Get here early on Football Sunday and grab a huge recliner in front of the huge screen for the dining area. With a waitress serving your drinks and bring you better than home better than movie theater nachos, you'll only have to move to scratch yell and to use the bathroom.
Food is actually tasty, with the steak salad being a favorite of mine. Burgers are juicy, nachos are crisp but soft with all the toppings. If you're nice to your server, the chance of having a strong drink is in your favor.
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Like leather, balls, meat, and remotes?? Woah--that sounds like a party! No, not THAT type of party--geesh! A sports bar party--ya know, leather (as in recliners), balls (as in base or basket), meat (as in hamburgers, sandwiches, and wings) and remotes (as in remotes.)
Come to ESPN Zone anytime there's a game and it's either sold out or raining. Grab a booth or a recliner and sit down. That's it. There's about 10 different screeens surrounding the main screen on the wall and at your table is a TV as well where you can even change the channel!
I don't have a favorite meal, just a favorite experience--every singel time I'm there!
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I like Greg P.s description of the place: a chuckee cheese's for 20-40 year olds. However, since this place has a bar, I'm going to have to go with 21-55.
In any case, this place has a restaurant, arcade, shop, and bar...and even escalators.
But yeah, the Coor's field bottle cap replica is pretty cool, and gives this place its 4th star.
Nonetheless, the fact that the arcade in the place is pricey as all hell really lowers the place in my opinion.
Ah well.
A sports fan's Valhalla.
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One of my favorite Espn Zones. There are 8 in the US, and I been to 7 so far. What sets this one apart is that it is very focused on Denver. There is a replice of Coors FIeld made with just Coors bottlecaps and beer bottle wrappers. The bar area is good and not too hard to find a seat. Food is excellent. The games area is a good size and has the big football throwing and boxing games I love. A 20-40 male year old chucky cheese.
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Alright, the ESPN Zone is not my natural habitat, nor is it a place you'll find me hanging out at very often. That said, I love this place. When I'm there I feel like I should come back every day. The food is nothing special. The beer selection nothing special. But the sports theme is nice. Come to think of it, maybe it's just the effect of branding that makes this place so great!
One thing I can say with certainty is that is has some of the best bathrooms in the downtown area. I've seriously frequented this place just to use the facilities. Plus, they've got TVs in the bathroom (YAY) so you don't have to wait for a commercial to go tinkle.
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the boys loved it, the girls loved it, drinks & sports & more drinks & more sports, oh and a good burger - we'll be back when we want to scream
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As an out-of-towner on vacation, I was really looking forward to going to a sports bar and watching the Niners-Rams game. I thought ESPN Zone would fit the bill and be a fun experience. The host told me the game would be shown and we grabbed a seat. Our waitress told me that I could catch the game "soon" but couldn't tell me which screen the game was playing on. She came back several times to take our order and I kept sending her back to find out where to watch the game.
While I waited for our waitress to finally answer our repeated question, my wife went to see if we could get into the special "screening area" which would have cost us a minimum of $10/hr per person. She peeked her head in and told me they were almost all small screens and there was an unspecified wait time to be seated anyway.
What a crock. The constant pressure to order felt like a bait-and-switch. I couldn't care less what I had for lunch, you could feed me a bucket of dirt, I just wanted to watch the game! After a wasted half-hour of this, I left my cash on the table for our drinks and left. We were able to catch the start of the 2nd quarter at a non-chain sportsbar down the street who treated us great and we were able to watch our favorite team win on a big HD screen.
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I decided after work to have some friends meet up to watch the Rockies play-in-game for the wildcard against the Padres. I figured HD, big screen, good drinks, decent food and sound. When I want to watch a large sports game away from home I expect some amenities that home doesn't always provide. EPSN is a fun place to watch the game, the TV's in the bathroom is kind of cheesy, but cool, HD when they have it rocks, the sound system is solid and their beer selection is good. I would recommend the "big daddy" size beer during happy hour until 6:30 PM which is a good deal. I've herd complaints about the wait staff being pesky if you don't order anything and just watch a game for 3 hours, this is kind of understandable, but I have never been bothered or feel pressured into having to order more food or beverage. There food menu is decent and they have options for everyone. The staff is courteous and they try to stay out of your way. They have a game room too and it is smart to by a few extra points as you get more for you money. They also validate parking from the tabor center parking lot below. One thing I have noticed is that there is always some reckless fool that gets too drunk and emotional over the game. Often times they talk sh*t to the staff and get thrown out, this is distracting and unfortunate, reminds me of the live games...don't be a fool!
Had a fun dinner here with some family friends. Fun place for children to go nuts in the arcade center. I thought it was btter than Dave & Busters. Smaller but better, who would have thought?
I loved the fact that my hotel (The Westin) was connected to this place, being that was I in town during a very busy sports oriented weekend and all. I didn't have any of the food, but did have plenty of their drinks which were OK. I was bothered by the bar staff more than anything, they took FOREVER to acknowledge that we were even standing there ( I would understand if the bar was busy... but it WASN'T) I thought maybe its because I'm a girl and so was the bartender, so she might prefer to serve guys, come to find out she treated my friend (who is a guy) the same way when he was ordering our first round. Either she was just a *itch or she didn't like Mexicans, whatever the case was, it was really BAD service! After getting my drinks, I hand her a $20 and I swear, she damn near threw my change at me! I value good service, and therefore consider myself a good tipper, that damn bartender got a $0.50 tip and I'm even regretting giving her that much.
Aside from the bad service, everything else was great. I had fun playing all the games and loved having all the screens around, just what I needed to keep me posted on all the happenings in college football. I would go back, but hope to encounter better service.
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this is the espn zone! you're here to eat, drink, and watch the broncos win. not play video games!
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booze, food, and sports... what more can a man want?
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