X Bar: 2018’s Best Patio

When Caleb Roth left his job as a middle school teacher to become general manager of X Bar, he wasn’t looking for money, local fame, or an impressive title. He wanted to make a difference.

“I’ve taken measures like gender-neutral bathrooms with really cute signs and also just opening up our performers into all walks of life, bio queens, drag kings, and trans performers,” Roth explained regarding the changes he has made since becoming manager. “We try to encourage all types of life to work for us. We have a female dancer, which a lot of bars don’t, and female beer pourers.We have staff members who are women, even some staff members who are straight.”

A few years ago, although X Bar was still known as one of the best bars in Denver providing a friendly, safe queer atmosphere with good drinks, it was frequented primarily by gay men. This began to shift as times changed, and Roth made sure to push things in an even more inclusive direction.

Now, in addition to being known for its inclusivity and the variety of patrons at the bar, it is known for all of its new amenities, like their patio, voted Best Bar Patio in OUT FRONT this year. Anyone who has visited X Bar knows that the outside patio is awesome, with an outdoor bar, a place for DJs, lots of games, and plenty of sitting and standing room. Their beer bust is one of the best in the city, and they are even installing heaters and a cabana so they can keep things going all winter.

But what really sets even the patio apart is the way patrons are treated.

“We serve people as they get to the bar,” Roth explained. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a man, woman, best friends with bartender, work at X Bar. It’s not going to be based on who you are or know or look like.”

In addition to serving everyone equally, Roth feels that friendly members of the staff help make bargoers feel more at home. It’s common for patrons to ask for bartenders by name, or come in because they know their favorite staff member is working a shift.

“Between us hosting open events, really promoting throughout our staff and our performers to have equality and inclusion, we have really just tried to open people’s eyes that it’s not just a gay bar for gay men,” he added. “I think that may have been a rep that we first had, and coming from Kansas, I couldn’t even be out as a gay, white man, which is now the least of my worries. I came here expecting to find a community of love and inclusion, but there are people who hate on other members of the community. We want to change that.”

Despite all of these positive changes so far, Roth recognizes the bar still has a ways to go. He has a number of products in the works for 2018, including expansion to one shared bathroom with more space, bigger parties for Pride with more special acts, more inclusive and diverse drag shows, and a few exciting things that can’t be announced yet. He would also like to continue the good work employee and performer Miss Phit has done to raise money for the trans community. Roth would like to offer community sensitivity training about how to refer to trans folks and be sensitive to all gender identities.

“I know I myself, as a gay man from Kansas, wasn’t familiar with pronouns and different terminology,” he said. “Miss Phit has been phenomenal about informing me about the trans community with this fundraiser, and when we first started, we sat down with the Transformative Freedom Fund, and I flat-out just asked any questions I had. That really helped inform me, and that would be a great thing to do for the community as well. I think people have questions, and they don’t know how to ask them. I’d like to make a safe space for the community to do that.”

Roth would also like to see both more inclusion and bigger, better parties when it comes to special events. X Bar traditionally throws a lumbersexual party populated chiefly by chiseled men in lumberjack attire. He is going to work to make sure women, non-binary folks, and all types of bodies are represented. He would also like to see a female Santa during Christmas and generally play with gender bending and inclusion when it comes to X Bar events.

And most of all, we can expect beer busts and regular patio events to keep going. Throughout the rest of 2018 and into 2019, things will keep getting bigger and better. There will be outdoor events with special themes all year round, and things will only get hotter and heavier once the summer comes. X Bar’s patio will keep on growing, and so will the inclusion and love within the bar itself.

Photos courtesy of Facebook