Will Boulder’s World Famous Dark Horse ride again?

LOUISVILLE — Axios Boulder reported Wednesday afternoon that Boulder’s beloved World Famous Dark Horse bar will be reopening in Louisville.

A few hours after that story was published, the Dark Horse’s Instagram account posted a story with the text, “Will there be a new Dark Horse? Read about our next steps here,” and a link to the Axios piece penned by Mitchell Byars.

Axios reported that Dark Horse will reopen in a Louisville “building near U.S. 36 and McCaslin Boulevard” — but did not specify an address — hopefully before the start of football season in the fall.

As BizWest previously reported, the former Outback Steakhouse building on West Dillon Road has been rumored as a possible site for a revived Dark Horse. Representatives of the bar did not respond to requests for comment from BizWest.

The confirmation of a Dark Horse 2.0 comes in the same week that the bar’s owners auctioned off some of the art and oddities that adorned its walls and ceilings. 

The Williams family, which owns the Dark Horse property, intends to demolish the previously tchotchke-laden building at 2922 Baseline Road  — along with a handful of others nearby — to build hundreds of student-oriented apartments and nearly 60,000 square feet of commercial space as part of its Williams Village II redevelopment project.

“While this is not the path we would have chosen for this historic location or our business, we are deeply grateful to have been part of Boulder’s culture for more than half a century,” Dark Horse management wrote in a Facebook post prior to the bar’s mid-March closure.

The Dark Horse building got a brief reprieve from demolition in late 2025, after Williams Family Cos. and Boulder city officials worked out a snag in the redevelopment’s permitting process that would have otherwise seen the bar razed before the start of 2026.

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