Joe Phillips, the Denver bar owner behind Sputnik and Fellow Traveler, is planning to open an astrology-themed cocktail bar called Celeste in the former It's a Bodega space at 1242 S. Broadway. He hopes to welcome guests in the first week of December, with zodiac-sign cocktails, tinned fish and cheese, and a piano player as the centerpiece of the concept.
According to Westword, Phillips describes Celeste as part cocktail bar, part piano bar, with a concept flexible enough to adapt to what the neighborhood and patrons end up wanting. The name is meant as a play on celestial bodies, nodding to the space-themed branding Phillips has already built with Sputnik. Plans call for a cocktail crafted for every zodiac sign, giving the bar a built-in excuse for regulars to find their drink and stick with it.
No Kitchen, But Cookies at Last Call
Celeste is not planned to have a kitchen, but the menu is expected to include small bites like tinned fish and cheese to go along with the drinks. The intended highlight, per the same report, is fresh-baked cookies served at last call — a sweet capstone to a night that otherwise leans on inventive cocktails and bar snacks rather than a full food program.
Phillips has said he wants Celeste to take spirits and cocktails seriously while staying approachable, aiming for an environment he's described as a little fancy, a little kitschy, and fun. He's also said affordability matters to him, with plans to balance higher-concept cocktails against the price of a beer and a shot for those who want something simpler.
Piano Nights Inspired by Charlie Brown's
The piano component is meant to evoke the atmosphere of Charlie Brown's, with the goal of finding someone to play for a few hours on a regular, ideally nightly, basis. Guests reportedly will not be allowed to play the piano themselves, and the performances envisioned range beyond background music to include lounge and cabaret-style acts.
Phillips isn't going it alone on this one. He's joined by his wife, Kimberly Kutt, along with Sputnik partners Korney and Krista Dhawornvej, and Jason and Kristin Ungate, who also own the Tabletop Tap in Englewood and the Lazy Greyhound in Littleton. It's a roster that mirrors the collaborative approach Phillips has taken with his other South Broadway projects.
A Decade Behind the Bar Before Taking Over
Phillips's path to opening Celeste runs through more than a decade of South Broadway bar work. He opened the vegan bar and restaurant Fellow Traveler at 3487 S. Broadway in Englewood in 2022, and in 2024 he and partner Spencer Madison took over ownership of the longtime neighborhood dive Sputnik, where Phillips had previously worked as a bartender for ten years.
That ownership change came at a moment when bar economics were shifting. In comments to The Denver Post around the Sputnik sale, Phillips noted that people weren't staying out as late or drinking as much as they once did, a trend that has made the bar business tougher to navigate even for established operators.
Joining a Crowded Cocktail Scene
Celeste arrives amid what the Westword report calls an explosion of cocktail bars in Denver in recent years, tracing back to the arrivals of Death & Co. and Lady Jane in 2018 and continuing through newer openings like Semiprecious and Peach Crease in 2025. For a sense of where Celeste might land stylistically, the outlet points to grittier takes on the cocktail-bar concept, like Yacht Club or Urban Cowboy, as closer comparisons than the more polished end of the category.
With the first week of December as Phillips's target, South Broadway is poised to get its latest entry in a neighborhood that has already proven receptive to his space-themed, community-driven approach to bar ownership. Whether Celeste's zodiac cocktails and cookie-capped nights land as intended will become clearer once the doors actually open.
