Regulars Remember Longtime Nob Hill Inn Bartender Bart Case

On East Colfax, it’s not terribly unusual to see grown men crying in the middle of the afternoon. But this week, the grown men crying at Nob Hill Inn are (mostly) sober. Some may have done a little time, back in the day. Some definitely could — and would — kick your ass, should your ass be in need of a kicking.

But their tears flow freely as they mourn the man at the heart of one of Denver’s most beloved dive bars. At 10 a.m. Monday, May 1, a small group of regulars found the doors at 420 East Colfax Avenue still locked because Bartley James “Bart” Case, age 53, wasn’t there to open them. He had died in the night with his beloved (albeit mostly just to him) pup Milo at his side.

At a time when the Surgeon General warns about the dangers of isolation, the Nob is as much a…