The Fainting Goat stacks a Capitol Hill sports pub across three floors of an old Broadway building, and the trick is that each floor gives you a different way to watch the game.
The pub runs out of an 1903 building at 846 Broadway, a few blocks south of the State Capitol, and it leans on its bones rather than a remodel. The pub's own site counts more than 15 screens spread through the floors, plus a rooftop bar with a city view and a second-floor room called the Falcon's Nest built around a 75-inch television. For a former bartender, a sports house that splits its crowd across levels is doing real work, because it lets a quiet pint and a loud match-day pack share one address without fighting over the same television.
The room
The ground floor is the classic pub bar, dark wood and stools and screens worked along the wall. Climb up and the Falcon's Nest turns into the prime viewing room, with the big screen and a soundbar that actually carries the call. Harlow's bad-seat test passes here because the screen count means even a back table on the main floor keeps a clean line to a fixture. The rooftop is the release valve, open air and a full bar, and it is where the room sends you when the lower floors fill for an NFL Sunday.
What to order
Order to the pub, not the cocktail list. A cold draft pint is the move, since the Goat keeps a working tap wall built for a crowd rather than a curated short list. Back it with an Irish whiskey if you want the house to itself, and feed the table with pub plates built for sharing across a long afternoon. At the $$ price level the value sits in a pint, a whiskey, and a plate of wings while the game runs, not in a high-end kitchen.
The crowd and best time to go
Hours run noon to 2am Monday through Friday and 10am to 2am on weekends, which puts the weekend opens in line with early NFL kickoffs and overseas matches. The crowd is Capitol Hill locals on a weeknight and a fuller sports set when the Broncos, Nuggets, or Avalanche are on. Come for an early weekend kickoff to claim the Falcon's Nest before it fills, then ride the rooftop once the lower floors tighten up.
What regulars say
Reviews on Yelp and the downtowndenverbars listing point to the three-floor layout, the rooftop, and the NFL package as the draw, with the usual notes about crowds on a big Sunday. The repeated advice is to go up rather than wait at the door, since the upper floors and roof open seats the ground bar does not have.
Who it is for
The Fainting Goat is for the Capitol Hill fan who wants a real pub rather than a sports-barn, and for groups that want a rooftop option attached to their game. It suits a crew that splits between people locked on the screen and people who drifted up for the view. Skip it if you need stadium-scale screen walls or a quiet table on a Broncos Sunday.
The verdict
The Goat wins on layout. The three floors plus a roof mean one pub can hold a focused match-day room, a casual pint, and an open-air crowd at the same time, and the Falcon's Nest gives the serious watchers a room of their own. The honest caveat is the building, where an old footprint and a popular Sunday can leave you climbing for a seat. Go early, head for the Falcon's Nest, and keep the rooftop in your back pocket. For a screens-first room closer to the ballpark, see Society Sports & Spirits.
For the rest of the city's game-day options, see our guide to the best sports bars in Denver and the wider sports bars by occasion. The full local scene is mapped in the Denver bar guide.
Sources: The Fainting Goat official site, thefaintinggoatdenver.com (2026); Yelp venue listing; Downtown Denver Bars guide.
