Blackbird Public House

I had high hopes for this restaurant. Sadly, I was disappointed. Shortly after being seated, we were treated to a tiny bowl of «donut bites.» My delight ebbed when I realized this was necessary to hold us over for the 50 minutes (and no I’m not exaggerating) it took for the food to arrive. The food was average, nothing special. The second star is because this is one of the few Denver restaurants that accepts reservations for brunch.

Blackbird is a great neighborhood spot to go to for a casual night if you want to grab a beer and bite to eat. We haven’t been overly impressed with the food, but do really really love the blue cheese chips. The only thing that is bad is the parking. Most of the time the parking lot is full and you have to find parking in the residential area nearby. The service has always been great and we’ll definitely be back!

Stellar Oysters albeit slightly pricey. Maybe I’m just a little cheap when I come here, but I’m thinking everything should be a dollar to two dollars cheaper. I’m not trying to sway anyone from coming here because I think everyone should try it out at least once. I’m actually going here today.
Also — if you try to alter any drink on the menu, do yourself a favor and ask if there is going to be price difference. Maybe I should have had the foresight to do this when asking for rye in the Old Old Fashioned than the regular bourbon, but it ended up being an extra $ 10 a serving. Maybe I’m still a little hurt from this thinking the bartender would have warned me.

RUDE! We had an okay meal here, spent $ 100 on burgers and drinks (!), then, as I was trying to enjoy my glass of champagne, THEY TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF IN THE DINING ROOM. It was 9:20 pm! Granted, it was Super Bowl Sunday, and, knowing restaurant culture, they just wanted to start their own staff party, but still. I WILL NEVER RETURN. It’s too bad the staff here is absolutely clueless.

A-​OK it is. Had a couple of drinks and some appetizers here. I know this space used to be more of a bar, and now it’s definitely more of a restaurant. The service was great and accommodating. We wanted to watch a game while we were there, so they made sure we got to sit at a table near a TV.
We had some of their oysters on the half shell, which were great and fresh tasting. I don’t think I’ve had a ton of raw oysters in my lifetime, so I can’t be descriptive much more than that. I do love raw oysters dearly though. I just live in the wrong states to have them in abundance!
I can’t tell you how the entrees are since I didn’t have any, but I will say they have some good happy hour specials! $ 20 for a bottle of wine and a pizza (with one topping). Holy moly, I would come back just for that alone. Hard to find any bottle of wine in a restaurant for less than $ 30, so that’s sure a steal no one should pass up!

We came here for a happy hour pizza and some wine. We were impressed with the pizza (being the pizza snobs that we are) and devoured it pretty quickly. The house wine was pretty nasty, but we followed it up with something we chose. They had a decent wine/​cocktail menu, and pretty interesting food items as well. We also ordered a side of the Brussels sprouts and happy hour charcuterie. They complimented each other well. The charcuterie was VERY basic, though. Normal, boring cheese and meats — so if you’re looking for a more delectable snack, pick something else. The servers were hard to get attention from (we sat at the bar) and it didn’t seem like they were interested in talking to you or helping you after your initial order taking. Other than that, over all — not a bad spot. Would definitely come back for a couple cocktails and a pizza!

Came to Blackbird last night with a few friends. Probably my last time. I got their salmon salad and had horrible stomach issues all night.
Their menu doesn’t clarify this but the salmon in the salad is lox style, not like a cooked piece, which is kind of weird.
They had some odd whiskey special last night which doesn’t really seem like a special. Server got a bit frustrated trying to explain it to us — maybe they should make it more straightforward.
They’ve recently had some issues with serving alcohol to minors so they were extra anal with IDs.
It’s a nice looking place and the rest of the food our group got (pizza, burgers, bacon) seemed fine, but my experience was sub-​par and like I said, probably won’t be coming back.

Dear dining neighbor:
Blackbird is a solid neighborhood bar and restaurant, and we had a gem of a server last night (nice to have met you, Molly). Not going to win any high-​end dining awards, but that’s not the direction they’ve chosen. Was there for the all night $ 1 oysters on the half shell, and that’s an excellent deal that favorably compares with the handful of other places getting in on this shellfish part of Denver’s restaurant competition.
Paid a bit too much for a couple of glasses of a wonderful earthy Oregon pinot noir (Sineann Peidra at $ 14 a glass), but it was a big pour so I’m not complaining (too much;). Had the 3 stuffed quahog clams as my main course and they were good, but not great – a bit dry and without any particular distinction.
So in sum, a place you should hit up if you’re in the neighborhood. Good service and good food put it on the list of regulars, but not the place to go for a special occasion.
Sign me «Like a good neighbor,»
David «Cheers» M. (was there:)

I think this building has finally found a restaurant with staying power.
Blackbird is a terrific place for drinks and apps after work, a great date place, and even dinner for families. We were hesitant about bringing our 2 year old and 2 month old children here over the holidays, but the staff was extremely accommodating and friendly.
The décor and overall «feel» of the restaurant is one of being upscale, but it wins because it leaves any and all pretentiousness out. The food, cocktails and staff make this a place I’d return to many times over.
The only reason it doesn’t get a 5^th star is due to one less-​than-​ideal experience at the bar. Cayden (sp?) is a very friendly bartender, but I think he enjoys a little cannabis before a shift. On this particular evening he was incredibly slow in making my wife and I our drinks, disappeared for a short while, stumbled and broke three wine glasses, and the kicker is that we ordered half dozen oysters — and he forgot to put the order in. His solution was to offer us HIS personal plate of oysters off of which two were eaten and the ice was half melted. Nice enough guy, but he should really hold off on grass until after his shift. :)

I put a lot of weight on the reviews I read before I go to a restaurant. This is one instance that I ignored them and I’m happy I did! I took my girlfriend here on an impromptu date and the server was incredibly nice and on top of her game. The menu is limited, but the food we had was really good. Even got a dessert and it basically blew my mind. haha I had to leave a good review for this place because of all of the negative reviews. This might not be the best place in Denver, but I will make it back to this spot soon.

I’d been looking forward to trying the hip-​looking Blackbird for quite a while. Finally got a chance to pop in today for lunch and was sadly underwhelmed. The truffle fries had clearly been sitting around a while under a heat lamp; they were so wilted and soggy that you could barely even dip them in the sauce without them falling apart. I had the kale
Salad with chicken, and the chicken was so under seasoned and dry, it made me sad for the chicken that gave its life for this salad.
The service also took quite a long time; our entire table ordered salads and it still took nearly 45 minutes to get our lunch, and the place wasn’t even half full on a Sunday. Wanted to love this place, the inside décor is fun and well-​done, but the kitchen is missing the mark.

Now I know why this place is empty all the time. IT SUCKS. DON’T GO HERE! EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE!
I wanted to check out this restaurant for a while, as it’s on my way home from work. I wish I never spent a dime in this place, since the manager was so rude. I WILL NEVER GO BACK! Everything I’d ever heard about the place was negative. I wish I had listened…
I ordered the mussels, which ended up being way too salty (like everything else on the menu). I asked to see the manager. When he came over, he was so rude, and didn’t seem to care. Quite the opposite – he acted like he was doing me a favor just letting me dine there. He acted like an arrogant jerk — and like I was an inconvenience. Then he strutted away. When I walked out, he didn’t even acknowledge or thank me for patronizing his restaurant (for the last time).
I’ve got news for you, Mr. Manager: your food sucks, but your demeanor was what really got me angry. You had the hospitality of a Marine drill sergeant. You were cocky and arrogant, and not at all hospitable. That’s not how a neighborhood restaurant is supposed to feel. You acted like Blackbird was a heartless, corporate restaurant, and that you had to abide by all the red tape and bureaucracy I’d expect from Cheesecake factory (actually, they are even better than Blackbird…).
Now I know why this place is empty every time I drive by and look in the windows. Your service is terrible.
Now I know why you have measly three stars on Unilocal.
Now I know why your restaurant is never included in any «Best Of» or «Top Restaurant» lists.
Now I know why your restaurants are virtually invisible on the Denver culinary scene.
Now I know why I never read about Blackbird anywhere…
Now I know why I will never go back.
Now I know that when I drive by on my way home, I will laugh when I see the empty seats, and the manager standing around, doing nothing.
I will go to nearby restaurants instead: Bittersweet, Telegraph, and Café Marmotte.
Blackbird, you SUCK.
GOODBYE!!!

We went here for the Tuesday night pizza and wine special. While the pizza on the special is nothing to rave about, the wine was very good.
We sat at the bar and the service was just OK. We ordered the pizza and wine special and some oysters and 2 mistakes were made with our order. First you can get either pepperoni or cheese pizza. We ordered pepperoni and were given cheese, which was corrected after we told them. We ordered 2 smoked oysters and received 3. After telling someone we figured our server would say something to us about it, but he never did. We didn’t even know someone had told him until he gave us our check at the end of the meal as he never came back over to us. We were glad to see he had not charged us for the extra oyster. We got the oysters before we got the pizza, which was brought to us by a different person.
I would actually be giving this place 4 stars if the service had been better. It wasn’t terrible, but it was lazy. When someone receives food they didn’t order or their food is incorrect I don’t think it’s abnormal to expect the server to say something to you about it.
The food that other people had looked really good, so we will likely go back and try it again.

Steelhead trout was amazing. The house burger was also very tasty. Oysters and mussels were great. I will definitely return to try other menu items

I came in for weekend brunch with my girlfriend today. We got $ 12 bottomless mimosas. She ordered the breakfast burrito ($ 13 with bacon) and I ordered the eggs benedict ($ 14 with ham). Both dishes were average and the portions weren’t very big, although plenty. Not sure if it’s worth the price. We also ordered the donut bites, 5 fried pieces of dough, dipped in chocolate and caramel sauce. Sounds good right? No they were just ok. We each ate 2 and didn’t bother with the 5^th. Service was great though!

We came in for drinks because café Marmotte was not ready for us across the street. The drinks we had at Blackbird were the event of the evening! yummy! Thanks Blackbird.

It is about time they had a tenant that stayed in this spot and is successful because it is a great location!
Super cute décor inside, great lighting, lots of room, and lovely ambiance. They have a huge bar that was very full when we arrived, but is huge, so this would probably be a great place to meet for a drink on a week night.
We had some issues in the beginning with the service… not so much the service as much as the hostess. We got there an hour before our reservation (I I understand if there is somewhat of a wait) however, we came in at 6 and checked in with hostess and instead of getting us a table when one came up… she sat every walk in that came in after us for the next fourty five minutes until we asked why we weren’t being sat. The first time the hostess said it would be closer to the reservation time (what?! we have been sitting here forever watching you seat ppl without reservations with parties larger than ours (there were just two of us). When we brought this up again they sat us right away and luckily the waiter was beyond nice. So they saved themselves by giving us such a great server.
The food was fantastic… Also saved an evening that got off to a bad start. We had a meat and cheese plate which was amazing! They do such a great job on this… serving it with pepita crackers, prosciutto, olive tapenade, pickles veggies, cheeses, and nuts. It was absolutely lovely.
We also had oysters, and just did the house which were awesome as well. Very fresh.
Lastly we had the fried green tomatoes. These were also done well. Not mushy inside, fried crispy and served with a tasty little aioli.
We topped this all off with a bottle of wine which was decently priced and they had great choices.
We will be back but most likely will avoid evenings when we will need a reservation.

I write this review in the restaurant as we are still waiting for the check. Our waiter came by to get our orders, drop off the drinks and we haven’t seen him since. Aren’t they suppose to check to see if you want a refill on coffee or to see if you liked the food? Maybe it’s because we are sitting on the bar side but we did not ask for that. We asked for a table and assuming a waiter comes with that. Our food took over a half an hour and was cold when we got it. But we didn’t have anyone to tell. We did try to eat some of it because we were starving at that point and I don’t think it would be worth the price even if it was the right temp.
I purposely didn’t read any reviews because I wanted to go in with an open mind. I love the location, the interior and the vibe it gives off but there are WAY better places.
My advice, go elsewhere.

My wife & I were looking very forward to dining at The Black Bird for some time. We had already tried their sister restaurant Atticus. Where we very much enjoyed wonderful saffron mussels, and a yummy cheese board, and look forward to going back.
The Black Bird however was very, very disappointing in almost every way. The service was less than lack luster at best. Their saffron mussels were tasteless, very small, and half were not edible or not on the shells. Our drinks arrived later than we would have liked, as well as the entrees of a hamburger & pizza. They arrived approximately 20 to 25 minutes after we had finished our appetizers.
I can honestly say we will not return to The Black Bird anytime in the future.

I dropped in here for happy hour last week and it’s such a great little spot. There is a huge wrap around bar which increases your odds dramatically of getting a seat there. The HH runs from 3:00 — 6:30 M-​F and has some deals on drinks, pizza, oysters, mussels, and shrimp. We opted for the mussels with the traditional garlic/​wine preparation and they were delicious. Our server brought us some bread to sop up the rest of the glorious broth but it was pretty dry, unfortunately. I mainly used a spoon!
We also ordered the blistered brussels sprouts and the mango habanero wings. Though the menu says they’re really hot, they’re not THAT hot. I like things spicy but my friend wasn’t downing the water either. Good flavor but not the typical saucy presentation that makes them super messy.
The happy hour wine was a tad light but was decent. After HH we switched to the rioja and that was fantastic.
All in all, a great addition to the area and I look forward to sampling more of their goodies!

We met friends there for Sunday brunch. The atmosphere was great and they even had a welcome sign for us (we made a reservation). The hostess was really nice and so was our server. The challenge we faced was that the mimosa refills and our food was really slow. It took a very long time to get our food and the restaurant did not seem too busy. There were a lot of employees there so not sure why the edit was so long for everything (even coffee). I have to say they have some of the best bacon I have ever had! It was the only thing that was warm in my meal. Everything else was cold. We were bummed.

We had one of those lazy Sunday mornings where we really wanted a yummy breakfast, but didn’t want to have to make it ourselves. Enter Blackbird.
I flipped through the Denver Dining Passbook to see which, if any, restaurant offers could be redeemed for brunch, and voila! (Side note — there are a few!) Truth be told, after reviewing their menu — I was sold on the shrimp & grits, and I didn’t change my mind when it came time to order.
I was definitely really happy with my choice, but the two others at the table went for the chilaquiles and felt a little underwhelmed. I sampled some bites of their dishes, and while I thought the flavors were great — the dish missed because the chips were still crunchy. I’ve always had chilaquiles where the chips were softer — more casserole like, and I think if that had been the case — it would have been perfect.
We also had a side of candied bacon, which was spicy? and started with the donut holes and dipping sauces. I think the caramel was my favorite.
All in all, I think I’m on the fence. I loved the ambiance and the service was great, but may need to try a second visit to be sure.

I don’t know man. The ambiance is great. The ribs are boiled and «ok,» but I would not order them again if you are a serious BBQ rib fan.
I would receive men’s the pizzas. They do shine here. Try the sausage one.

Damn! the burger. absolutely killed it! in a good way.
sooo good, took one bite and my body went into pure ecstasy.
plus the fries and aoli to go with, pure heaven.
highly recommended.