Entrepreneur Creates Bright and Funky Cocktail Bar With an All-Inclusive Environment

Photo courtesy of Connor Stehr Photography | A Delta Royale cocktail and truffle salt blend popcorn from Room for Milly.

As the founder and president of Mainspring, a real estate and business development firm based in Denver, Fiona Arnold is a powerhouse in the Denver area. She’s also a visionary striving to make the Denver community better by creating spaces that enrich a shared urban lifestyle. Two of her gathering spots, Room For Milly and Queens Eleven, are shining examples of the kind of work Arnold is most proud of. 

Photo courtesy of Twist & tailor | Transitioning from coffee to cocktails, the energy of Queens Eleven flows throughout the day and into night.

Room For Milly came about because Arnold wanted to create a cocktail bar that women felt comfortable in. She wanted an all-inclusive environment. The bar is named after Milly Parker, who explored and traveled the world extensively in the late 1800s. Milly was also known for her love of conversation and a good party, and Room For Milly is a nod to all of the above, complete with quirky and artsy décor that is comfortable and inviting, just as you might imagine Milly was.

Photo courtesy of Mainspring | Fiona Arnold

The cocktails are based on chapters of Milly’s life, and they are delicious. Arnold’s favorite cocktail is My Dearest Pike, named after someone who Milly once dated. As for food, Room for Milly offers upscale bar bites. Arnold recommends trying the smoked trout dip. 

Everyone is welcome for fun, great conversation and, most of all, to explore the life of Milly Parker. (A complete history of Parker’s life is at ourdearmillyparker.com.) That’s what Milly would have wanted, and it’s exactly what Arnold is providing at Room for Milly.

Photo courtesy of Twist & Tailor | General manager James Hadnot crafting a Last Word at Queens Eleven.

Queens Eleven is another Arnold project that is the exact opposite of the bright and funky Room for Milly. This coffee–and-cocktail bar opens at 7 a.m. every day. Think of it as a bougie dive bar with amazing coffee, homemade cinnamon rolls and burritos that happens to turn into a cocktail bar at night. Arnold wanted this space to look like a dark speakeasy with gorgeous murals and velvet couches. It is small and intimate, and very sophisticated.

Photo courtesy of Connor Stehr Photography | Featuring de Gournay, hand-painted wallpaper, the Backbar at Room for Milly is a feast for the eyes.

Equality, inclusion and sustainability are important to Arnold. Her restaurants have full transparency with an equity report viewable to the public that includes wages and demographics. “State your goals and hold yourself accountable,” she says, and “start the way you want to end up.” Words to live by, for sure.

ROOM FOR MILLY
1615 Platte St., Suite 145, Denver
720-630-7020

QUEENS ELEVEN
3603 Walnut St., Denver
720-583-1143

Caren Austin is a food and lifestyle writer for several Colorado magazines. She lives with her husband and two rescue dogs in the mountains of Evergreen.