Pub 17

I travel a fair bit for work, which means i end up eating in more hotel restaurants than I’d really prefer. That being said, every once in a great while I stumble on a place like this and it makes it all worthwhile. Pub 17 is not the best place I’ve eaten in Denver, but for a hotel bar/​restaurant I’m convinced it is among the best in the greater Midwest!
I first stopped in for a late (ish) post flight dinner on a night when the weather was just a little to cold/​snowy/​slushy to venture out for something more adventurous. I was initially surprised by the compact yet diverse food menu and the impressive beer list socked with a wide variety of local and craft offerings. I wasn’t feeling the solo drinking on this particular night so I stuck with an iced tea (which was fresh brewed, delicious, and promptly refilled frequently). There were so many appealing looking options it actually took me a while to decide even on an appetizer. The buffalo style pork ‘wings’ sounded great, as did the pork belly, but in the end I decided to stay on the slightly healthier side and tried the crispy Brussels sprouts served with sesame and sriracha butter (on the side). Man oh man was this ever the right choice! the sprouts arrived nearly overflowing a good sized bowl and looked amazing. They were roasted to a perfect golden brown and both smelled and tasted superb. The sesame was pretty subtle but undeniably added to the dish, particularly in conjunction with the ridiculously tasty sriracha butter. A version of me from not too long ago might well have ordered a bowl of that sriracha butter and enjoyed slathered on anything that wasn’t physically nailed down. Huge flavors in this dip that really made the crunchy, caramelized Brussels sprouts sing. For me this simple yet incredibly flavorful dish was an absolute success. I might well come back to Pub 17 in the future even if I’m not staying at the hotel, it was that good! Not knowing how tasty and substantial the appetizer would be I’d also ordered a red quinoa and arugula salad with grilled chicken, which was also really good, so in the end i ate about half of each dish which was (surprisingly) plenty to sate even a large appetite. The salad was great and the pickled carrots and radishes made it really distinct, but the spiced pistachios were the standout winner for me. Again, in a slightly different world I might have asked for a pound of those things to take back to the room. Wow; spot on! My only minor complaint was that the red quinoa was slightly toothsome for my taste, and there was a LOT of it, so it slightly overwhelmed some of the other components, but this was a small detraction at worst. I thoroughly enjoyed this dinner even though I was in a hotel bar/​restaurant, eating alone, on a somewhat tough travel day and the total bill was very reasonable (less than $ 30 including a solid tip for good service).
I returned the following two mornings for breakfast and both times was served very good food by attentive and friendly staff. On the first morning I had a yogurt parfait which tasted great, but might have been very slightly on the sweet side for my tastes. the following day I had a Mediterranean breakfast salad which again featured the red quinoa and this time it was prepared much more to my liking. I also had some grilled chicken sausages which were quite good, but again unexpectedly sweet due to what I think was probably cranberries included in the grind. Not bad at all, just not the rich, savory sausage I was hoping for to compliment a relatively light salad.
My hat is off to you Pub 17. For a hotel restaurant I thought you really delivered above expectations. I also realize it sounds like I’m couching my expectations a bit by mentioning repeatedly that this was a ‘hotel restaurant’ but that’s not really the case. For my experiences this would be a five star review if the restaurant were ANYWHERE, but the fact that it was discovered in a highly unexpected location really stands out to me.

We ate here for breakfast both mornings during our stay. It was a pretty good breakfast buffet. There was biscuits & gravy, bacon, potatoes, French toast, fresh fruit, pastries, bagels etc. Not bad for 17 bucks.

If you’re looking for good food and great service, this is not your place. There are two dishes that are pretty good, the baked half-​chicken and the deep-​fried column Mari strips. The other dishes that we had were mediocre. Our server got the order wrong into different ways, and never was to be found except when she brought her food out. The «hearts of Romaine» saladwas mostly field greens. To be fair, when I complained about this, they replace the salad with one made entire way of romaine and took the salad off the bill. Still, if you want to enjoy your dining out experience, this is not the place to go.

Wow! This place should be called «beer heaven ». Pretty big alcohol selection ! Food is just amazing. I ordered a burger and French Fries, I was thinking it would be a cheap and regular burger. When they served it, it looked and Taste great. I guess they have an awesome chef in the kitchen. Kinda overpriced ($ 16 for just one burger and fries). I had to ordered double fries too. Their potions are not that big so make sure you aren’t that hungry when getting there lol.
It’s a good and decent place to hang out with friends or family .
Overall, it was a good experience.

Pub 17 was a fail because of the poor service.
We stopped in at Pub 17 while we were waiting to see a movie in the Denver area. We were staying at the hotel, which is the only reason we stopped by. Unfortunately, the staff didn’t seem enthusiastic about our business at all. It took a few minutes for anyone to even realize we were standing there waiting. Once we did get seated, it all went downhill from there.
First, the bartender was rude. I think that his shirt had the name Beau. The two times he spoke with us the entire time he *always* made it seem like a major hassle to help us — that, «just hurry up and pick something…» look on his face. He was impolite and arrogant, and not what we expected from a restaurant located in the Grand Hyatt. We also asked him about beer variety since we’re not from Colorado. My mom really only likes Miller Light beer and so she asked him if they had Miller Light. He said no, and suggested that the only other beer that would be closest to Miller Light was the Pub 17 lager. Well, that lager was nothing near Miller Light and she hated it, but Beau never even stopped by to see what she thought of it since clearly it was a new variety for us. We later realized that they sold Coors Light, which would have been a much better selection for her. After we got our appetizers, we ran out of bread for the pimento dip. We would’ve asked Beau for more but he never came back to help us. We asked another lady working there and she agreed to bring us more, but never showed up. With no one around to talk to, we didn’t get to finish our appetizer before we had to leave. Of course, Beau brought us the entire bill consisting of the beer my mom didn’t finish and the dip that we couldn’t eat because we didn’t have enough bread or chips.
On a side note, the food was good. No complaints to the Chef. All complaints to the customer-​facing staff.

Pub 17
Grand Hyatt
1750 Welton Street
Denver, Colorado, USA, 80 202
Tel: +1 303 295 1234Fax: +1 303 603 4009
We stopped in Pub 17 while we waited on our room at the Grand Hyatt in Denver. We found it cozy and well appointed. The service was quick, friendly and knowledgable. All the beers are local. I had the a pale ale and it was smooth and crisp. We happened to arrive just as happy hour started so appetizers were half price, beer $ 3 and wine $ 4 a glass. We shared the pork belly tacos and they were so good that we got another round. They are small about two bites each so go ahead and get two orders! I’ll be going back!
Urban Cowgill

Nice hotel bar with numerous options for local brews and spirits. The prices were decent for a hotel bar, but hopefully you are using your per diem so you don’t have to worry anyways. The service was good. The bar is small, so there is a lack of seating.

For me, the best way to sum up Pub 17 is to say it’s 4+ star food in a 2+ star room. I met a few friends there for dinner and drinks before a recent show at the Paramount Theatre. The obvious problem with any restaurant that’s in a hotel is how to make it not feel like you’re sitting in a hotel bar, so I guess it’s not too shocking that they still have some work to do in order to cross that barrier. One quick suggestion is to get a curtain or panel to hide the buffet portion of the dining room during dinner hours, it really kills the ambiance.
Now for the food, it was really good! I had the Mile High Reuben and loved every bite I could eat. The kicker for the sandwich was the slaw, which they used instead of sauerkraut. It has a nice tanginess to it while maintaining great texture. I wasn’t feeling like the usual side of fries so I tried the mac-​n-​cheese of the day, which was steak and mushroom. It was too much food to eat but it was all so good, I wish I could’ve taken the leftovers for lunch the next day. I didn’t want to schlep them around all night, so I ate the best parts and left the rest.
The beer selection was above average, and others in our party really enjoyed their creative cocktails. Since, in my world, food outweighs the way a room looks I’m guessing I’ll be back for more, and if I stayed at the Grand Hyatt I’d probably eat there a few times!

A great menu in a definite hotel-​restaurant setting.
We ended up at Pub 17 the other night before an event at the Paramount, and though it wasn’t a setting I typically go for, the meal was fantastic.
The décor here didn’t really match the menu. Atmosphere was definitely «hotel bar». Think vinyl-​backed booths and a lonely, darkened breakfast buffet area that was impossible to ignore. But the menu was diverse. They seem to put some nice twists on more traditional dishes. I went with the lamb burger with homemade tzatziki and it was awesome. Seriously, really good. Fries were fries, but the burger was plenty anyway. Someone else got the fish n’ chips that were well-​received and two got the Reuben — no complaints there either.
I thought the drink menu was up to par as well. I had a grapefruity-​gin drink and a «hoptail» (beer and liquor together — I think mine was a stout with blackberry liqueur) and both went down smooth. The Irish coffee for dessert was yummy too.
If I were staying in the hotel, it would be a total score, but this isn’t probably somewhere I’d frequent as a local. Easy walk to the Paramount, though. If you found yourself hungry and close, I’d recommend it.

I was not able to «check in» because I am not smarter than my phone… my Andy still thinks I’m in Maryland. :(
What a great little pub. After the hotel bar closed at 10pm, we were still able to grab a quick bite and beer!
A very unique menu and I was told that they make everything from scratch which impressed me. :) Friday night we only had a buffalo burger (yes, made of buffalo meat) with Maytag blue cheese and pickled jalapenos. A great combo that came with sweet potato fries which were perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
I also had a flight of 4 beers which only cost $ 7…I forget how reasonable the Midwest actually is. I stuck with the white wheat ones. There was an IPA which reminded me DogFishHead… yum!; a hefeweisen; the pub 17 pale ale and the rotating beer which was a pilsner. They were all delicious. I could be wrong but each glass was 4oz. HUGE!
Everyone kept raving about the pork belly so I made sure to roll out of bed in time to try them before my flight left… definitely worth the 30 minute deficit in sleep! Crunchy and meaty yummy packets of pork belly aka super thick cut bacon in a tangy Asian-​ish glaze/​sauce where I recognized hoisin. A little mound of cabbage tossed in a mayo based foundation which did not distract from the glaze. Not to much but just enough to drip down your hand and make a little mess.
**I want to add that another hotel guest said she felt the meat was a little dry. Yes. It is bacon. In order to get thick cuts of pork belly to be super crispy and delicious, you cook it longer. Personally, I prefer super crispy bacon… do non-​Asians know bacon comes from pork belly?
Janet was a cheery and helpful server on a Sunday encouraging me to choose sweet potato fries over mac and cheese. Crunchy. Meaty. Just perfect. And to make sure I noshed on some veggies, I added the mixed greens, pear and goat cheese salad. Very tasty with their homemade hazelnut dressing but not as outstanding as the salad I had last night (exactly the same but with ROASTED pears!!)
In all, a very satisfying meal (with lots of fries to nibble on the plane) and a friendly, courteous staff. I would give 5 stars (like I gave the Grand Hyatt directly) but nothing was exceptional… a solid 4.5

I work across the breezeway from the Hyatt that Pub 17 is in, and found myself here recently in need of a late night drink with a coworker. She was in town for a few nights helping me with a proposal and though it was nearly 10pm on a weeknight, I was easily talked into a smooth, ice cold dirty martini. They offer a really creative cocktail list with numerous options featuring every local spirit you could think of. The beer list was equally lengthy with a well-​curated selection of both Colorado and other notable national craft beers — more than 40. They even have a «hoptail» menu with drinks combining liquor AND beer, for example a Lefthand Milk Stout on nitro with Leopold blackberry liqueur or Leopold gin, grapefruit juice and Great Divide DPA. I was quite surprised at the creativity of the menu, and that our friendly waiter knew a ton about each and every thing and was happy to chat with us.
The food options looked delicious and sort of upscale and unique as well. I spotted plenty that looked up my alley: salt and malt french fries, sweet potato fries, hummus, pretzel bread, pork belly tacos, PEI mussels, mac and cheese and burgers (beef, lamb, buffalo, turkey) but with a twist (aged cheeses, pickled veggies, onion and pepper jams, bone marrow, truffle, beer mustard, etc.). They had larger entrees too like steaks, ribs, seafood, pastas, short ribs and other types of sandwiches like grilled chicken and Ruebens, but I was most tempted by the snack-​type stuff on the smaller bar menu. It’s not too often, but every once in awhile I’m in the mood for a hotel bar and this one is small, semi swanky and a step above most I’ve ventured into. Not ridiculously overpriced either, plus their HH runs twice daily.

You have to acknowledge that this is a hotel bar with restaurant. Comparing this place to one that isn’t in a hotel isn’t appropriate.
That said, this place has a good taplist for a hotel bar. Stayed here and did just fine supplementing other places with this place when it was more convenient.
10 taps of Colorado craft beers, plus many more in bottles. While I was there they had Funkwerks saison, Left Hand mild stout, and Prost weissbier, for example. Happy hour had $ 3.75 regular taps. Bartenders were nice, helpful with beer choices, and provided good service. A cut above the usual hotel bar, so if you are staying in the Grand Hyatt or close by and don’t feel like walking ½ mile to Wynkoop, Great Divide, Breckenridge, or even Rock Bottom it will work.
Breakfast was average, but not bad. Not a wide selection, though, but good service.

The food we ordered was pretty good, the service was a bit lacking. It was later in the evening, but the server seemed like she had better things to do than serve tables. After we got our food she came up to us and said she would be in the basement for a while, little did we know a while meant the rest of our visit. We had to get our bill from the bartender and we never saw her again. Disappointing

Uninteresting and slow

Don’t bother. There are so many better places in walking distance.

I wouldn’t really go here if I lived in Denver but I stayed at the Grand Hyatt and ordered room service for a couple breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner and I must say it was really good food and wine choices. I would recommend this place if you’re a guest and don’t want to leave the hotel.
I loved their omelet (i asked for egg whites only) with mushrooms and goat cheese. I didn’t care for the sweet potato pecan hash that came with it, I would recommend asking for regular breakfast potatoes! It was mainly pecans with a little sweet potatoes, the ratio was bad especially for a breakfast food!
For dinner I had the ahi and their mixed greens, apple, and goat cheese salad. The ahi was a little overdone, I like my seared ahi lightly seared more on the raw side and my order was almost fully cooked. I ordered that same salad for lunch and added chicken. I would recommend the salad, it’s on their menu in the restaurant but not on the room service menu but they made it for me and brought it up!
The ambience wasn’t very good so I couldn’t imagine coming here if I wasn’t a guest in the hotel. There are many other great restaurants in the area that have a better vibe!

Pub 17 isn’t a high-​end lounge, lively honky-​tonk, or historic haunt. It’s simply a hotel bar. It provides drinks for lonely and bored travelers too lazy or tired to troll the streets of downtown Denver for a watering hole.
For me, Pub 17 offered a chance to relax after a long day (and seemingly longer dinner meeting nearby). It was a memorable day and I wasn’t going to spend election night listening to Obama alone. So, I joined the other wandering political drifters at Pub 17 off the lobby of the Grand Hyatt.
A couple Firestone Beers ($ 3.50 each) got me through the speeches and as Barack, Biden, and Michelle hugged it out on stage, I headed upstairs to catch a few winks before another day of longer than necessary meetings.
Pub 17 filled its role in my life. The role of a convenient hotel bar. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I second Kevin’s comment: «Epic Fail in customer service.»
I’ve worked in more restaurants than I have fingers to count, including one in a hotel… so yeah, I get how this industry works and I have incredible patience as a customer because I get how a restaurants operate in the event of being unexpectedly busy. We waited 45, yes that’s right, 45 minutes for our food. Maybe it was 43, or 46. Who’s counting after 25? And trust me, that’s not an exaggeration… we were watching the clock since we were parked at a meter. It was at least 30 minutes before the staff acknowledged that our food was taking a long time.
Kept hearing ‘oh the kitchen is just slammed tonight’ but for the last 30 minutes of our wait, we saw 1, maybe 2 plates of food come from the kitchen door for the ‘busy restaurant’, which had plenty of empty tables. Not sure where all those other plates of food went that kept that kitchen so supposedly slammed.
Food came out nice and piping hot. Presentation was great, fries were delicious. A burger ordered medium apparently comes out well, and medium rare comes out rare. Pretty disappointing for the 45 minute wait. Nonetheless, we left full and a little buzzed from the delicious Colorado beer. Though we waited for what seemed like an eternity, I’ve got to admit, for a hotel restaurant, those beers were very reasonably priced, and I can’t complain about the tasty popcorn they offered to hold us over.

We read about this place in the Denver post and decided to come up and give it a try. It’s a newly opened Hotel Restuarant, but forget about that part of it, because other than having to leave the restaurant to walk out to the lobby to find the restroom, you won’t really remember that’s what it is.
Pub 17 has an excellent menu with a selection that I don’t think you could go wrong with. We had the House Burger but substitued a buffalo burger for the beef (they also have Turkey and Lamb) and (we don’t say this lightly) I swear it’s the best burger we have ever had in our life. Period. It was topped with Aged White Cheddar, Horseradish Sauce, Red Onion Jam, on a Brioche Bun. When have you ever had Red Onion Jam? Me? Never. But I want it on my burgers every time now. It rocks. We got it with Sweet Potato Fries that were also great. We also tried the Gazpacho, which I’m really picky about, but there’s was a generous bowl and I licked it clean. It was fresh and the flavors were perfect. The Green Salad with Granny Smith Apples, Toasted Walnut Vinaigrette, and Crumbled «Haystack Mountain» Goat Cheese had too much dressing on it for my taste, but it was delicious.
The drinks are also worth going here for. They have an extensive beer list, with several things on tap. They have serveral wines and cocktails that I can’t wait to try in the future. In addition to serving a lot of local foods on their menu, the drink list was also quite local, and they have a surprise local beer always on tap that changes, and when we were there it was a Apricot Wheat that I fell in love with and have dreamed about going back for since.
I noticed they have a Happy Hour, Breakfast, Brunch, and Group Menu’s too.
We will definitely be back again soon!

So working downtown there are plentiful bars around but not many great ones. Hence I was happy to be one of the first patrons to Pub 17, the new bar on the ground floor of the Hyatt at 17^th and Welton. Had some grey goose and vodka then remembered my income level and had some wells vodka and grapefruit (equally as good). Being the betch I am Im not tryna eat lately so I just tasted. Semolina pillows they had as an app were tasty. Bone marrow (usually terrifying) was good. Salmon cakes and pork belly? Amaze. Will update once I try more.