The 2up: Uniting Nerdy And Social

A bar with arcade games isn't just heaven for the antisocial who would prefer to drink while beating the high score: it's the perfect place to get competitive with friends (or the guy/girl you're trying to impress). Jourdan Adler has revolutionized the nerdy stereotype and created a gamer's wonderland in Denver's The 2Up. 

Adler, owner of the beloved The 1Up in Denver, opened his second bar of the same vein this month. The 1Up's "kid sister" boasts a similar vibe and attracts the same crowd as its predecessor — hip, grungy, and nerdy, maybe a little more hipster — but Adler has made certain his new bar is not a carbon copy of the original. The 1Up's popular 40-ounce bottles will not be available at The 2Up, nor will Giant Jenga. There will also be no food served, so if you want your quarter-pound hamburger with a glazed donut-bun, you will have to stick with The 1Up.

So why visit the second location? Although The 2Up is smaller, it still offers 35 arcade games (including some "more obscure titles"), eight pinball machines, three skeeball lanes, and a photobooth. "There are a few pieces that are here that aren't there [at The 1Up]," Adler told the Denver Post. Just when you start to think The 2Up was only opened to alleviate the crowds on Blake Street, Adler explains that the new Colfax location will cater to the happenings of the Capitol Hill Neighborhood. "I think it will be a great place for people to hit after the Fillmore, after the Ogden. It will be a great place before a show and after a show," said Adler to Westword.

Then at last, the cheap beer reminds you it's all the same. The 2Up's twelve-draft selection includes a special collaboration with Breckenridge Brewery, an IPA brewed just for The 1Up by Bristol Brewing Company, plus Mickey's malt liquor "grenades" and Colt 45 cans.