ARCHIVED  October 1, 2002

Grumpy Gringo puts smiles on faces

With the simple word “Open” spray painted on a large piece of plywood, the Grumpy Gringo was ready to make its entry into the Estes Park restaurant scene.

Or so its owners thought.

But on that first official day of business–June 24, 1996–almost nothing went according to plan. The wait staff was literally bumping into each other as they went in the wrong doors to the kitchen, trays were dropped, food was served cold, the wait was long and customers were cranky.

At 2:30 a.m. the next morning, owners Monte and Carole House finally turned off the lights, locked the doors and…

Categories:
Sign up for BizWest Daily Alerts
Closing in 8 seconds...