DQ's Mountain Town Musings
Head West You Groovy People
Welcome to July. Wow. It’s really hot. It’s really dry. It’s Colorado 2026.
There is a something happening this summer, that has happened for generations in west Boulder County, and everyone needs to stop and take heed. Our cherished, regaled and so F’n awesome mountain joints – the bars and cafes and historic inns - deserve our attention. Many of them are doing quite well. Some of them need some love. And love looks like a lot of things these days.
I was the chef/owner of that amazing Lick Skillet Cafe in Gold Hill in 1989. Some of you remember it; many of you don’t…and for that, I am sorry because you missed out. We had to fill a cistern up with fresh water, which was trucked up the hill a couple times a week. Gas came from a propane tank. Electricity was hard to rely on and Xcel wasn’t the culprit cause the wind blew. This was 37 years ago, and deliveries were not happening 30 minutes up Mapleton Avenue. Our seafood, meat and cheese deliveries
were dropped off in my garage at 6th & Concord. I would drive to Chet and Kristy’s Fresh Herb Company by Haystack Mountain to pick lettuces, herbs and vegetables for that night’s service, then drive-up Left Hand Canyon, up Lick Skillet Road and go to work. That was a normal day. People that have taken claim to bringing “farm to table” to Boulder - 20 years later - can suck it!
From Rollinsville to Allenspark, there are some iconic mountain bars, cafes and incredible one-in-a-million joints that are so hard to run. So hard to keep operating year-round. Operated by the hardest workin’ people any of us know.
Who doesn’t remember a summer’s night drive west of Boulder or Longmont or Arvada to a mountain restaurant. The Sundance Café and most Ned joints, The Mercantile, The Millsite, all the way south to the Wondervue Cafe in Coal Creek Canyon and north to The Fawn Brook Inn in Allenspark. Dinner at Marrocco’s in Ward where a plate of spaghetti and a glass of chianti in a house church has never tasted so good. Sitting on the front deck of Crosscut Pizza in Nederland. Check out the music schedule and menu and post up in the side yard of The Gold Hill Inn with some hillbilly band playin their hearts out and everyone around you happier than they’ve been in years. An afternoon or evening on that sacred property can change your life but will most certainly change your afternoon and your mood. Walk up the street to The Gold Hill General Store and get a strong cocktail, sit on the front porch and make a new friend. Shimmy through Jamestown on your way back driving down from Peak to Peak and have a drink or dessert or catch a show at The Merc. There is so much happening just 30 minutes west.
In the case of the Merc in Jamestown, the property is currently for sale. Rainbow Schultz has been running it for 17 years. How many bike rides ended at the Merc? Breakfasts with our kids and family in from out of town. First dates. Anniversaries. Full commitments from “I think we should get divorced” to “will you marry me” and so, so much more have taken place at The Mercantile in Jamestown.
That building cash-flows. That building. Is amazing. Rental apartments upstairs, a rockin café, music and community gathering space downstairs. The Merc building needs an owner who understands that these types of mountain businesses are a rare breed. Staff is hard to come by. The weather dictates business behavior so you have to act like a farmer looking at the sky constantly. The season is short. Really short.
Before some douchey 25-year-old managing a REIT out of Chicago or LA (and seriously no offense if this describes you, it takes all kinds, just don’t be a douche) discovers these opportunities - with ZERO connection to what we all call home, or having any understanding or appreciation for the long legacy and history of all these places - buys them, “WE” should make sure “WE” lock it up. And in the process, making sure we ensure these iconic legacy Boulder County mountain experiences continue to be just that.
Head West Young Man, someone once said. Head West You Groovy People, someone just said. Get up into the hills and support these hard workin’ #mountainhospitalitarians. Lots of incredible mountain joints open for dinner and drinks tonight! Get up there. Slow down. If something takes a few minutes longer than it should, count that as a blessing. Relax. Unwind. It’s 30 minutes west but lightyears from downtown. It is a privilege to live so close to such amazing mountains – something folks from Miami or Chicago or Indy or Des Moines WISH they could get to in 30 minutes. There is so much happening for all of us - just 30 minutes west.
Drop in. Slow Down. It’s summertime.
Big love to all and be extra safe when out and about. Things are getting sporty lately.
dq.