Pete’s Satire Lounge sign on Colfax has fresh paint on it.
They rehabbed the interior as well. They redecorated in a similar
fashion to Pete’s Greek Town Cafe.
The Satire is famous for the earliest parts of the careers of the
Smothers Brothers, Judy Collins and Bob Dylan.
I’ve drawn the beautiful Satire sign in 3D before, click and see.
This office building in Lakewood, CO probably dates from the early 1960s.
It’s a great design with the cantilever over the lower windows, and the clerestory windows between the beams at the top.
I will be posting office buildings this whole week.
More classic Googie-signage from Colfax Avenue, Denver,
and both of these are also Pete Contos establishments (of
Colfax Greektown fame).
Sit down here at this classic Colfax bar, The PS Lounge, and
you are immediately served an Alabama Slammer and your
date receives a red rose!
Famous Pete’s Kitchen, the place to be after 2:00 AM.
Not only great Greek food, but an award winning breakfast burrito for you to eat all weary eyed as the sun comes up!
I hope to illustrate this beautiful sign in SketchUp 3D sometime soon!
Nightime on Colfax Avenue!
Some of my Google SketchUp illustrations of the signage for Pete’s Satire Lounge.
I like to think of myself as a pretty darn good 3D illustrator, but sometimes it’s hard to make the time!
sketchup, coreldraw, photoshop
Pete’s Satire Lounge has one of the best, most-famous, Googie-style
signs in Denver! The snaking arrow and the martini glass are a joy to
look at, day or night.
Pete Contos is well-known for his great Denver restaurants, most featuring
delicious Greek food. My personal favorite is Pete’s Gyro’s Place.
Pete’s Satire Lounge opened in 1962, but I think it opened as The Satire as far back as 1959. Bob Dylan played here prior to his move to New York in early 1961 and signing with Columbia Records.
The Satire was part of Denver’s burgeoning folk scene along with The Exodus (now gone), as both clubs were booked by Walt Conley. Aside from Bob Dylan, he booked early folk talent like local singer Judy Collins, Pat Paulsen & Bob Gibson.
The Smothers Brothers were discovered clowning around here at The Satire
by Mercury Records, who then shipped them out to play The Purple Onion in San Francisco. In fact, Dylan’s performances at The Satire were as an opening act
for the Smothers Brothers!
Bob Dylan then left Denver after getting in trouble for stealing a bunch of Walt Conley’s record albums!
Hey, there’s something wrong with this sign!
Can you spot the mistake?
No, it’s not the missing lettering. That letter board has been intentionally
left that way for 35 years and has become a Colfax Avenue icon!
No, if you are a Denver resident, you should have noticed that I shifted the famous letter board from the east side of the sign to the west side to make a better picture.
Bastien’s Steak House is an award winning restaurant, run by the Bastien family since 1937.
At the original building, (formerly the Moon Drive-In Restaurant) you would park and order food and beer delivered right to your car!
In 1959, the Bastien family built a new structure on the same spot, rotunda style with this incredible 24 sided roof.
Bastien’s has two entrances, a door to the restaurant on the west side and a 2nd door to their unique rounded bar on the east side.
It is one of Denver’s friendlier bars and serves up a beautiful martini!
Fine dining takes place in the main round room.
The signature item on Bastien’s menu is their famous Sugar Steak.
But on this visit, I ordered the king cut Filet Mignon with Jalepeno Bacon
with twice baked potato!
I like to be seated in this cozy sunken room in the center of the restaurant.
Bastien’s also has an upper floor (with a piano!) for parties. You need to set it up in advance and there is a minumum of fifteen people required.
The Bastien’s sign is one of the best Googie-style signs left in the Denver area!
This Colfax mod office building is currently empty, and the property is for sale, I believe.
Originally, I wondered if the building was repurposed and the ramp added to become the car dealership display, but the entrance is in the back, so I guess not.
I hope this structure survives the sale. I’ll post more Colfax structures and signage later.
Some more Lost Colfax signage. This time the Aristocrat Motor Hotel.
This motel design makes extensive use of the globe lamp.
The lamps are beautifully integrated into the curves of the roofline. For some reason, there is one larger globe on the west end of this arrangment.
I am guessing that these ten lamp locations on this wall of the motel were also originally globe lamps.
