Put your name down, order a sake flight while you wait, and treat the counter at Uncle as a drinks bar that happens to make some of Denver's best ramen.
Uncle sits at 2215 West 32nd Avenue in LoHi, the Highland pocket northwest of downtown Denver. Chef-owner Tommy Lee opened the original room in 2013 as a small, no-reservations noodle bar, and it has been packed almost every night since. The kitchen runs broths through a 16-hour simmer and turns out close to 2,000 bowls a week, but the bar program is the reason this page treats it as a drinks destination rather than a restaurant.
This is a spot for a drinker who likes to eat well at the bar. It rewards anyone curious about sake, a tight cocktail list and an Asian-leaning wine pour. It is a poor fit for a large group, a quiet date, or anyone unwilling to wait for a seat.
The room
The space is small, loud and counter-first, with bar seats facing the open kitchen and a handful of tables behind. Lee has earned two James Beard semifinalist nods for the cooking, and 5280 has tracked the no-reservations crush since the first location opened. The result is a room that runs on a list and a wait, so the bar seats are the prize and the standing-room energy is part of the draw.
The drinks
The bar punches well above a noodle shop. Several sakes pour on tap and by the glass or bottle, and some are exclusive to the restaurant, which makes a by-the-glass flight the smart first move. The cocktail list stays short and built to cut through fat and chili, while the wine list leans toward bottles that hold up to soy, miso and heat rather than a generic by-the-glass roster. Order a sake flight or a citrus-forward cocktail and let the bartender steer you toward the pour that matches your bowl. Skip the instinct to default to beer; the sake program is the point.
For food at the bar, the pork belly buns and the spicy chicken ramen are the anchors, and the kitchen plates them as well at the counter as at a table. Solo drinkers eat and drink best here, since one seat opens faster than four.
The crowd and vibe
The crowd is a LoHi mix of date-night couples, industry regulars and ramen pilgrims, and it turns over fast because the room is dinner-only and seats are scarce. Time Out has long ranked it among the city's defining ramen rooms, and reviewers on Tripadvisor and Yelp echo the same loop: excellent bowls, a genuinely good drinks list, and a wait that tests patience on a Friday. The common gripe is exactly that wait and the tight quarters at peak hours.
Who it is for
It is for a sake-curious drinker who wants a great bowl with the pour. It is for a solo seat at a lively counter or a two-top that does not mind a queue. Skip it for big groups or a quiet, low-volume evening. For more in the genre, see Denver's cocktail bars guide.
Best time to go
Arrive right at opening on a weeknight, put your name in, and use the wait to start a flight, because the LoHi room fills within the first hour and stays full. The kitchen runs dinner only, Tuesday through Saturday, so a midweek early seat is the easiest win. For the wider picture, start with our Denver bar guide, the best bars in Denver, and the Denver cocktail bars roundup.
Sources: Uncle official site (2026); 5280 restaurant review; Time Out Denver; Westword; Tripadvisor and Yelp reviews. No aggregate rating shown: no single verified rating and count.
