The place was quiet, and owner Michael Bruntz was chatting at the bar with a customer. We ordered mixed drinks because of the Lounge's special on various top-shelf flavored vodkas and whiskeys, and some tater tots, because tater tots – and also because all of the bar snacks on the menu were a dollar off for happy hour. It was around 6:30 in the evening, but our super-friendly bartender informed us that happy hour was still in progress. It's amazing what a little drywall and paint can do. When I stopped in with a friend on a Monday night, I immediately noticed the crisply painted walls, nicer bar furniture and overall brighter, cleaner look of the bar. But I, like many who are a little newer to the Denver scene, never knew the history of the Mozart until it became the Mozart Lounge once more. I enjoyed the Aqua Lounge, a friendly bar geared toward older gay folks that hosted outstanding karaoke talent on Thursday nights as well as intense dart tournaments.
For the past eight years, and since I have lived in Mayfair in east Denver, the location has been known by the latter name, and the neon sign has been covered with a black and blue sign bearing the same. Right under my nose, in my own neighborhood, the Mozart Lounge and its old-school neon sign had been hiding at 1417 Krameria Street, disguised as the Aqua Lounge.
