Dining Room of Historic Ute Inn Converted Into Coffee and Ammo Shop
Trevor Phipps
In this day and age, business diversification has become the key to a successful enterprise, especially in the post-COVID-19 era.
One local business owner, Elijah Murphy took this diversification step to a new level when he decided to open up Tiffany and Bullets inside his Historic Ute Inn Bar and Restaurant. What used to be the dining room side has been converted into a unique coffee shop that offers ammunition for sale to its customers.
Over the last year and a half, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected everyone, and changed the way many choose to do business. Even though all industries took some sort of a hit during the shutdowns and restrictions since March 2020, the hospitality and restaurant industries took the hardest blow.
Once the pandemic struck, restaurants suffered huge financial impacts, when they were forced to close down and restricted to offering take-out items. Next, their capacities were limited and then when they were able to open, they then were victimized by an unprecedented employee shortage.
Over the past several months, many owners had to alter their business plans.
For Murphy, diversifying meant adding lines of products his business could offer.
Before the pandemic, the Ute Inn had one side of the building designated as a dining room, while the other side served as their bar. After the shutdown, and to save on labor costs, Murphy closed down the dining room and offered food and beverages on the bar side only.
While the dining room was closed, Murphy began remodeling the dining room to give it a cozier look and coffee shop-style setting. He then decided to name the coffee shop after him and his wife Karen’s two pet Rottweilers, “Tiffany” and “Bullet.”
“I wanted to make a coffee shop and then I realized also that these are special times, so I decided to do something special,” Murphy said. “There is a high demand for ammo right now, so I decided to make it available. Most people can’t find it, but I can.”
The coffee shop is now open Thursday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The eatery offers a breakfast menu that includes favorites like biscuits and gravy, huevos rancheros, and a delicious, giant breakfast burrito. They also offer a crepe menu that includes a wide variety of yummy crepes for breakfast.
The coffee shop may be the only of its kind anywhere. According to Murphy, he didn’t base his idea off of any other coffee shop he has seen. The owner did say, though, that he has noticed ammunition stores that sell coffee, but he has never seen a coffee shop that sells ammo.
Another unique feature of Tiffany and Bullets is the type of beverages available. According to Murphy, all of the coffees are handcrafted. Plus, at Tiffany and Bullets, all of the drinks are made in a unique style.
However, even though ammo is available, it is not sold directly by the Historic Ute Inn. Murphy sells the ammunition under another business he owns. In order to get ammo, patrons must talk to him. Murphy said that he has a large variety of different sizes of ammo to choose from.
“You have to diversify these days,” Murphy said. “This is also the only coffee shop where you can come in at 8 in the morning and get a Bloody Mary, if that’s what you want.”
