Woody Creek Tavern reviews and talks
Rachael Ray visited us on her "pub crawl" on her way to Denver.
George Stranhan at the tavern..."Abby shoots, Ibby talks about George and Hunter"
Breakfast with George at the Woody Creek Tavern.
Alien abduction at the Woody Creek Tavern.
Frommers review
Ramona Bruland and Oliver Sharpe take a trip to the Woody Creek Tavern to experience the restaurant that locals, tourists, and even celebrities rave about.
Woody Creek History Class
Step into the Woody Creek Tavern
for the first time and it is difficult
to figure whether you have stepped
back in time, or forward in time,
or maybe you suddenly slipped sideways
in time. The uninitioated will stare
in astonishment at the bizarre collection
of "stuff" that dominates the Tavern.
The walls are plastered with hundreds
upon hundreds of photos,( if you want
to join in, ask your server to take
your picture and we promise to get
you "plastered" so you can find yourself
the next time you come in) stapled
over other photos and there are magazine
covers, newspaper clippings, children's
drawings, license plates, pieces
of original art, memorials to old
friends who are no longer with us
and just about anything else you
can imagine.
A single word doesn't do justification
to this place ... it is bizarre, strange,
peculiar, odd, curious, funny, outlandish,
abnormal, eccentric, unorthodox, queer,
extrodinary, weird, wacky, kooky and
maybe even freaky. One thing is clear,
the Tavern is not conventional nor
is it the result of a well thought
and precise design. There is a wonderful
irony wrapped around the Tavern. When
it opened in 1980 it was intended to
be a gathering place for loacls, for
the residents of Woody Creek and it's
neighbors. It was to be an unpretentious
place located in what once had been
a combination tiny grocery store, post
office, and gas station. A few miles
to the east, Aspen in the 1980's was
eagerly going in one direction, the
Tavern was content to be down-home
and casually comfortable.
The Tavern was busy being the Tavern,
it does stand out amid all the glitz
that surrounds it, and that was one
of the reasons it's achieved international
fame. There were never any interior
decorators lurking around and designing
cute themes, if anything, it is a collective
attitude shared by the owners and staff.
The Tavern has had it's share of celebrities
and movie stars who are regulars, however,
if you were to ask, "Do any celebrities
ever come in?", the response would
probably be, "As far as we are concerned,
you are a celebrity to us!" If you
stripped away a few photos, you would
find an old sign on the wall that stated,
"It's not who you are that is important,
it's how you conduct yourself." An
all inclusive attitude existed - it
didn't matter who you were or what
you did, the Tavern wanted you to come
in and enjoy yourself.
As much as anything that explains the
Tavern's messy decor. It began in 1982
when the owners wanted to spruce the
place up a tad by adding new wallpaper
to the walls. A few photos decorated
the walls in the bar area and the owners
were convinced not to dump them, but
to move them to the rear of the building
near the restrooms. The seeds had been
planted. The photo montage grew slowly
at first and the, like a horde of locusts,
the Tavern walls fell victim to endless
photos and clippings.
No, the Tavern is not the result of
someone's clever idea, just about everyone
who ever worked there or drank and
ate in the place managed to contribute
to the ambience, if that is what it
can be called.