I’m savoring the last few bites of my harissa veggie bowl when I hear the first notes of “Beck and Call,” a soothing song by the Boulder-based acoustic quartet Sturtz.
Eager to catch every minute of the band’s performance, I finish my food, grab another cocktail from the bar and head to the intimate concert venue at the very back of the long narrow space on 13th Street in Boulder. The lights are dim as the musicians harmonize. Members of the audience sway gently to the beat, standing just a few feet away from the band.
This intimate, up-close-and-personal experience took place at Velvet Elk Lounge, a cozy live music venue that opened in downtown Boulder in 2022. The lounge is a passion project for Dave and Dana Query, the husband-and-wife duo behind Big Red F Restaurant Group, which owns Front Range favorites like Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, The Post Chicken & Beer, West End Tavern and Centro Mexican Kitchen.
“Velvet Elk was long needed in Boulder,” says Dave Query. “We are joining a group of small and growing music venues around town. Just like every town needs a vibrant, successful and flourishing restaurant scene, so too we need an interesting and dynamic music scene.”
Live music has long been popular in Boulder. Over the years, the city has had several small venues—The Blue Note, Tulagi, J.J. McCabe’s and Peggy’s Hi-Lo, to name a few.
But these days, small venues are harder to find.
“eTown Hall is the greatest small venue that there is, with the best sound and scene anywhere, but they are limited as to what they can do with food and drinks in the space they are in,” says Dave Query. “Velvet Elk was an attempt to open a small space that served great cocktails, had fun food and offered a great room with great sound for bands that can’t fill the 900-plus seats at the Boulder Theater or 650-plus at The Fox Theatre. Dana and I spend a lot of time in New Orleans and these types of joints are on every corner. Live music needs places to flourish, so this was our effort at watering the pot to grow beautiful music flowers.”
Velvet Elk Lounge (2037 13th St.) is located right next door to the Boulder location of The Post Chicken & Beer. The space initially became available in the summer of 2020, and the Querys briefly considered taking it over. But “COVID was doing its dance on everyone’s head so we passed,” says Dave Query.
But when it became available again in early 2022, they grabbed it. The team set to work transforming the long, thin, shotgun-style space into an effortlessly chic and cozy venue.
“It has been described as a set from ‘Mad Men,” says Dave Query. “It has cool, Los Angeles 1950s vibes. Booths, with lots of wood paneling. Great lighting and a huge bar.”
The food menu is small but mighty, with bold flavors and textures that are perfect for a night out on the town. The Devils on Horseback, for example, consists of Medjool dates stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in honey-cured bacon. For something even heartier, go with the Pesto Grilled Cheese, featuring melted cheddar cheese, whipped goat cheese, pepper relish and herb pesto aioli on griddled toast, with a side of house fries.
There’s also a classic burger, plus several veggie options, including Burrata and Marinated peppers (with blistered cherry tomatoes, parsley and garlic oil, red onion and toast) and El Corn Fondue with warm garlic butter pretzel bites.
“We try to offer food that people want to eat when they are drinking, dancing and having fun,” says Dave Query. “And, of course, weed is legal in Colorado, so often, our guests are hungry—like, really hungry—so writing menus is fun.”
Many of the food options are meant to be shared, and they all pair well with the drinks on offer—including wine, beer, spirits, non-alcoholic drinks and cocktails. A few standouts: the Lavender’s baby, made with lavender gin, Lillet Blanc, lemon, ginger and blueberry, as well as the Oaxacan Sting, which features mezcal, honey, lemon, a habanero shrub and chocolate bitters.
After eating and drinking in the front half of the space, guests head to the back half for laid-back performances on a small stage that’s low to the ground. Many shows are free, while tickets for paid concerts are typically around $20 a person.
“It’s a really cool little room,” says Dave Query. “Our capacity allows for intimate experiences with the bands. We spent some time finding a great sound system, and have whip-smart engineers, so the bands love playing Velvet Elk.”
Another reason musicians adore the venue? The staff treat them like total VIPs.
“They almost universally respond that that is the best part of playing here, because they feel like a guest at a party,” says Dave Query. “The team takes great care of them, from load-in to load-out, and they get to nosh on killer fried chicken and drink delicious cocktails, so they’re happy. Happy music-makers are the best thing ever.”
Velvet Elk Lounge books a mix of local and national artists representing a wide swath of genres, from bluegrass and funk to folk and indie rock, hip-hop and more. You might catch a Prince tribute band one evening, then a mellow Americana group the next.
“It’s a fun process regarding how the bands come to us,” says Dave Query. “Colorado has a vibrant music scene, especially in the summer, and a lot of the bands reach out to us, making it all so easy. And having our world-class talent agent Roger Menell doing our booking makes us look really good.”
The space is also available for private events—like birthdays, business dinners and weddings—with enough room to accommodate between 70 and 170 guests.
Above all else, Velvet Elk Lounge is an exclusively adults-only space. The vibe is mellow and mature (without being stuffy, of course), and Velvet Elk Lounge is open late. And that’s a welcome addition to the downtown Boulder hospitality and entertainment scene.
“We aren’t a college bar,” says Dave Query. “The pace and the tone of what we are doing is for adults. And that is the most common comment we’ve gotten over the last two years since opening—how enjoyable the guest experience has been, how great it is to have a place like this in downtown Boulder. Great towns have great music venues. I hope the trend continues.”
