The Cable News Convention Pub Crawl 2008! (Denver Edition)

What would TV coverage of the conventions look like if we lived in a universe in which cable news executives didn't feel compelled to set up one of their channel's many staging areas in a local, lively pub?

The mind shudders.

Luckily, for the Media Mob, we don't live in that drab, horrible world. We live in Cody Willard's world—i.e. an era of inpsired appreciation for bar-cum-TV-studios.

This year in Denver each of the major cable news networks has successfully co-opted a local bar for your viewing pleasure. Fox News is staging "The Fox Experience" at a place called Braun's Bar & Grill. MSNBC is telecasting Morning Joe from Sam's No. 3 Grill & Bar. And CNN has turned a place called Brooklyn's Restaurant into a so-called CNN Grill, where delegates, pundits, and reporters will be free to mingle over bottles of rolling rock and plates of jalapeño poppers.

Over the course of the next few days, we hope to be filing many a dispatch from these all-important venues. In the meantime, here's our preliminary guide to the 2008 cable news network saloons...

Fox News revels in the industrial-strength, rustic elegance of Braun's Bar & Grill:

According to its web site, Braun's Bar & Grill is celebrating its fifth year in downtown Denver, and offers a "unique experience of sports theme meets rustic elegance." The rustic elegance comes in two parts: "classic American cuisine in an atmosphere of rich casual comfort," and the "Penalty Box, an industrial-strength sports bar and easygoing dining."

CNN goes for holiday-party chic at Brooklyn's Restaurant:

This spacious pub rests "a stone-throw away from the Pepsi Center," according to its web site, features "over 15 beers on tap and 15 beers on bottle" and "is the perfect atmosphere for holiday parties, rehearsal dinners, company gatherings, birthday parties, alumni groups and much more!!"

MSNBC braves monster burritos at Sam's No. 3 Grill and Bar:

To judge by its web site, Sam's No. 3 has a historical connection to a chain of restaurants called "Coney Islands," which date back to the 1920's in Denver. These days this classic "USA Mexi Grill and Bar" serves "comfort food with an attitude" including a "Poppa's Big as a House Burrito" consisting of 6 eggs with ham, bacon, sausage, gyro, onion, bell pepper, tomato, mushroom, cheddar, Swiss, Jack & American cheeses.