Please tell me the background of Colorado Boy’s founders.
The business was originally founded in 2008, by Tom and Sandy Hennessy who opened several restaurants with breweries and were inspired to start a pub school open to the public to help others start their own brewpubs. Daniel Richards was one of the original students of Tom’s pub school, and is now the current owner and has expanded the Colorado Boy brand to include the Depot in Ridgway and the Southwest Pub in Ouray.
What was the story of how the business began?
Colorado Boy began as a simple pub and brewery with inspiration drawn from classic Italian pizza and English/European-style beers to enjoy in a cozy pub setting. It has grown into a staple hang out for locals and tourists alike in Ridgway, and we just celebrated our twelfth anniversary.
How was its historic Ridgway building picked for its location?
After a trip to Scotland, Tom and Sandy felt this historic brick building erected in 1915 was a perfect fit for a Scottish-inspired pub.
What are your top-selling food and drink items?
We’re known for both our handcrafted beers and artisan pizzas. The best sellers of each of these categories are our Pale Ale and Molto Carne and Mia Bella pizzas!
What are menu items that people may not know you offer?
We usually have eight beers on draft and rotate through some unique seasonals to enjoy by the pint, Cowboy Can, or growler, but we also offer wine and cider to enjoy on premise or take to go. Besides our traditional pizzas, we offer Detroit-style pizzas on Thursdays, delicious salads, shishito peppers, and soups for weekend lunches currently.
How have you adapted for this winter with continued COVID-19 precautions?
We’ve worked towards making the to-go process as smooth and comfortable as possible for customers by modifying our to-go window with a tent shelter, offering online ordering and contactless payment, and setting up a heated tent. We’ve even added heaters for some of the picnic tables for folks to still enjoy food and drink outside!
Do you have any special deals or discounts?
We feature a calzone special on Monday nights, a Wine Wednesday special offering of $5 off a featured bottle and $1 off 5-ounce pours, a soup-and-salad or soup-and-small-pizza-bread lunch special on the weekends, as well as $2 off any 32-ounce Cowboy Can with each pizza purchase on the weekends.
What do you value from being a Ridgway Chamber member?
We especially appreciate the chamber’s focus on increasing shoulder season visitors. In addition, the chamber has been instrumental in getting grant funding from the Colorado Office of Tourism to help promote all aspects of Ridgway area businesses.
