“Imbibe in Style,” they say, and I can’t imagine anything more stylish than The Cooper Lounge at Denver Union Station. This is a place to get swanky and chill out with some quality cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. As someone madly in love with train travel and completely fascinated by the Orient Express, The Cooper Lounge captures that mystery and magic for me, and serves it up on silver plates.
The place is gorgeous, and situated in the mezzanine overlooking Great Hall, and within the part of Union Station where The Crawford Hotel is located. If you do stay at the The Crawford (which I strongly recommend), a visit to the Cooper Lounge is an essential part of the experience. A marble counter, cool light fixtures, comfortable furniture, and a bar that backs up against 28ft. tall arched cast iron windows provide the most wonderful visual effect, especially at twilight when outside is cobalt blue and inside glows orange.
Views
The Cooper Lounge is just above Terminal Bar, so you can see the bustle going on below in Great Hall, but you don’t hear it full force. You can also see parts of downtown Denver, but for me, the best views are inside. And up on the balcony, you get really close to one of the chandeliers, which for me was a thrill.
Craft Cocktails
We sampled a couple of different cocktails. Drinks are served beautifully in ornate glassware and on silver trays with tiny bowls of nuts. Because of the couch opposite chairs with a coffee table in the middle, you kind of feel like you are in someone’s elegant living room. It’s cozy and personal.
Food
I love that The Cooper Lounge offers flaming desserts like Cherries Jubilee, Crepe Suzettes, and Bananas Foster. They change up the menu to keep it fresh. I’ve been to the The Cooper Lounge twice. The first time, we had Bananas Foster. It was fantastic.
They use liquid nitrogen to make the ice-cream right there in front of you, isn’t that cool? The photo above gives you an idea of what it looks like. It’s a bit blurry because it’s taken from a video, but I wanted you to see how cool the preparation is. They put the cream and other ingredients in that mixer you see on the left, then add the liquid nitrogen. Then then they pour hot bananas loaded with cinnamon over the ice-cream and voila! The best Bananas Foster I’ve ever tasted.
We also sampled a cheese plate with local artisan bread from Grateful Bread and variety of tasty cheeses served with olives, candied pecans and honeycomb. You get great texture and salty-sweet flavors.
The Cooper Lounge Bottom Line
The Cooper Lounge is a Denver must. The first time we went, we did not have cocktails, it was just the Bananas Foster. So if nothing else, go for a beautiful dessert. I strongly recommend going in the evening, when the atmosphere is more intimate and glows with the orange light at the bar. Be sure to make reservations if you can (720-460-3738), but don’t be afraid to stop by spontaneously. Find out more on The Copper Lounge website HERE.
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