Denver Late Night Drinks: Santa Fe Patios and Uptown Wine

Photo: Todd Liebenow — Santa Fe Art District Patio Bars

For Denver late night drinks with a table and a dog under it, start at Mellow Yellow Wine Bar in Uptown, which stays open until 11 p.m., the latest close of the two places here. The Santa Fe Art District patios make the better afternoon-into-evening plan on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, with a 10 p.m. close. Between them they cover a weeknight glass of natural wine and a weekend patio walk, and both welcome dogs.

Mellow Yellow Wine Bar is a relaxed wine bar built around natural and biodynamic wines and small plates. It suits a night that is more conversation than crowd, and a table of mixed tastes does not have to compromise: it serves beer as well as wine, has outdoor seating, allows dogs and takes reservations. The bar is open Tuesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. at 1100 E 17th Ave. The bar's own site describes it as a French-American wine bar in Uptown.

A reservation lets you plan the second glass instead of hunting for a seat once the first has run out. The 11 p.m. close is a fixed point, so the end of the night is settled before it starts. A second round is judged by the line at close, and here the close is clear from the first line of the plan.

Because the bar opens at 4 p.m., it works as an early start that runs late: a table on the patio seating, then the evening. A dog is welcome throughout, which turns the outdoor seating from a nice extra into the main reason to book.

Uptown is where this one sits, so a weeknight is a real option and not a consolation prize. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are all open days here, and the reservation line is there for the nights you would rather not leave to chance.

The draw on Santa Fe Drive is the patio. The Santa Fe Art District says several bars and galleries in the district have outdoor areas that welcome dogs during First Friday events and weekends. The Santa Fe Art District Patio Bars sit at 858 Santa Fe Dr and are open Friday through Sunday from noon to 10 p.m., so this is an afternoon-into-evening plan, not a midnight one.

Noon is the earliest opening on any day among the places on this page, which makes the patios the easy pick when the plan starts well before dinner. The 10 p.m. close is worth knowing before you set out. Plan the last drink around it, not after it.

The district also runs monthly First Friday Art Walks, and its streets carry food from Salvadoran to Jamaican to Mexican, plus breweries. A walk between galleries can include a meal without leaving the neighborhood, and the dog comes along for the patio part.

First Friday is the night the patios are most worth planning around, since that is one of the two occasions the district names for its dog-friendly outdoor areas. The other is the weekend, which is where the Friday-through-Sunday hours come in. A walk that starts at noon on a Saturday and a walk that starts on First Friday are different evenings on the same street, and both end by 10 p.m.

Hours and specials change, so check the bar or gallery you are headed to before you go. The district's own calendar is the place to look for which night the art walk lands on.

Every place on this list is open Friday through Sunday. Only Mellow Yellow Wine Bar is open Tuesday through Thursday. The earliest opening on any day is the Santa Fe Art District Patio Bars, Friday through Sunday at noon. The latest closing on Tuesday through Sunday is Mellow Yellow Wine Bar, at 11 p.m.

On a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, the order writes itself: patios and galleries from noon until the 10 p.m. close, then wine and small plates in Uptown until 11 p.m. That leaves a choice of which one comes first and which gets the last hour.

Both places carry the same Google rating of 4.6 of 5, a tie, so the choice comes down to the hour and the setting, not to a score.

A weekend plan with both stops has a natural shape. Start on Santa Fe Drive when the patios open at noon, with a gallery or two and a meal from the district's food, then let the afternoon run toward early evening. Both places have free street parking, so the car can stay where it landed while you walk the district.

Then move to Uptown for the late part of the evening. If you want a reservation for the second leg, book it before you leave the first. The bar takes reservations, and a held table means the last hour of the night does not depend on luck.

The simplest version of the plan is one stop. Pick the patios if the dog and the daylight are the point, and pick the wine bar if the table and the second glass are. Either one holds an evening on its own, and neither asks for a cover charge to be mentioned, because none is stated for either.

On Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, Mellow Yellow Wine Bar is the stop, open until 11 p.m. The outdoor seating and the welcome for dogs are the same as on a weekend. Arrive early for a quiet table, or book one for a later start, and plan to be done by the close. The one aside this page allows: a wine bar with a firm closing hour is easier to leave than one that fades out.

The Santa Fe Art District Patio Bars are a Friday-through-Sunday plan, so a midweek evening belongs to the wine bar alone. That makes the choice simple: book a table, bring the dog if it comes along, and set the ride home for after 11 p.m.

Both places have free street parking. At the Santa Fe Art District Patio Bars, the entrance is wheelchair accessible and so is the parking. At Mellow Yellow Wine Bar, the entrance is wheelchair accessible.

A rideshare or transit is the sensible way to end a late evening of drinks, and the fixed closing times make it easy to arrange one ahead. With the patios closing at 10 p.m. and the wine bar at 11 p.m., the ride home can be booked for a known hour.

Parking on the street means arriving with a little patience for the block, but there is nothing to pay at either place. If the plan is both stops in one evening, the walk or ride between Santa Fe Drive and Uptown is the only leg that needs deciding before you leave.

This page is about the late end of the evening. For happy hours earlier in the day, Denver Happy Hour Deals by Neighborhood sorts them by area, and the Denver Brewery Taprooms guide covers patios, rooftops and pub hours. The LoDo & Downtown Denver Happy Hours and RiNo Denver Happy Hours guides cover those two neighborhoods.

Hours, prices and access change, so confirm current details with the bar before heading out.

What time does Mellow Yellow Wine Bar close? It closes at 11 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

Which Santa Fe Art District bars allow dogs on their patios? Several bars and galleries in the district have outdoor areas that welcome dogs during First Friday events and weekends, per the Santa Fe Art District.

Is there free parking near Mellow Yellow Wine Bar? Yes, it has free street parking.

Are the Santa Fe Art District Patio Bars wheelchair accessible? Yes, both the entrance and the parking are wheelchair accessible.

Updated 2026-10-16: removed the city statistics and every price, time and address no source states, corrected Mellow Yellow's address to 1100 E 17th Ave, and kept only the two places the sources support.