A Small Colorado Town with Big Eats

By Ron Stern

Durango is tucked neatly alongside the San Juan Mountains in the southwest portion of Colorado, a spot that’s always been on my food destination list. Last month while there I found a small town with more local restaurants per capita than San Francisco – and just as diverse.

Sometimes referred to as the “City of Brewerly Love,” the town boasts four brew pubs, each with its own distinctive local food specialties and of course, beer.

Steamworks Brewing Company makes award-winning lagers, ales and stouts, but also has dishes sure to satisfy lumberjack-sized appetites. While scanning the menu the Cajun boil caught my eye. I was with friends, so we ordered enough for two. After clearing a space and laying down some brown paper, this hot-steamy cornucopia of crustaceans was poured from a giant cauldron and spread out to fill half the table. This included pounds of Cajun-spiced crabs, shrimp, crawfish, andouille susage, corn and potatoes. Add a cold brewsky and I was transported to the shores of the Louisiana bijou and culinary heaven.

Durango has non-alcoholic beverages covered as well. Zuberfizz Soda Company makes its own version of what soda pop should taste like with San Juan mountain water and pure cane sugar instead of fructose. I tasted a grape soda and a key lime and it was fresher and more vibrant other sodas on the market. Zuberfizz has a full line of flavors including Cocoa Fizz chocolate soda, the aroma of which can fill up the inside of a car just by opening the bottle.

One of the nice things about Durango is that nothing is far away. There are multiple coffee shops (yes even a Starbucks) that offer endless permutations of java or mocha this or that. At any time of day you can find locals, backpackers, bikers and tourists crowded into their comfy confines enjoying good company or accessing the internet via WiFi.

Oscars Café is one of the more popular hangouts for the breakfast crowd and is located in a non-descript strip mall. People line up at the door of the early 1950’s-style diner for mouth-watering meals that include blueberry pancakes, French toast, eggs with green chili. It all comes with out-of-this-world hash browns. I was told those fried potato gems take a couple of days to make and have a combination of spices – one of the most closely guarded secrets of Durango.

I stayed at the historic Rochester Hotel, which has quite a colorful connection with Hollywood. All of the rooms are themed after Western movies filmed in the area. The most notable: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and City Slickers. Those popular movies gave way to the city’s other nickname: the Hollywood of the Rockies.

Breakfast is included at the Rochester and later in the day they have a jar filled with cookies. The gingersnaps, served on weekends were chewy and delicious and are now on my list for my top 10 cookies. Not to be outdone however, is a little bakery on the end of town known simply as Bread. They also have huge gingersnaps and are now just only slightly ahead of the Rochester’s on my list.

While there I was told that Bread has some of the best sandwiches this side of the continental divide. I’ve heard that before, so I ordered a simple BLT. Yes, it now has my vote for the best bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. (Maybe I should start another list?) The old-world-style bread is made in large ovens and has a crispy crust covering the soft fragrant bread. The bacon must be something custom ordered and was thick, plentiful and bursting with flavor. This alone would be enough to convince me to drive the seven hours from my Fort Collins home for another round.

I know there were more places to visit and a lot more food, but having packed on more than a few pounds it was time to enjoy some of the outdoor adventures and natural beauty that makes Durango so famous. I will save all those undiscovered food gems for another day.

Resources:

Carvers www.carversbrewing.com

Steamworks Brewing Company www.steamworkdsbrewing.com

Zuberfizz www.zuberfizz.com

Oscars Café (970) 247 0526

Rochester Hotel www.rochesterhotel.com

Bread (970) 247-5100