Ute Lodge Bar and Grill to Open in April
Trevor Phipps
Teller County residents were shocked in September 2023 when they stopped by the Historic Ute Inn Bar and Restaurant for a burger and a beer to find the doors closed and locked.
The eatery had decided to close for the winter season at the end of 2022, but nobody realized that the establishment would be permanently shuttered less than a year later. The restaurant has always had strong historic ties to the Woodland Park area, stemming to the legacy surrounding Burt Bergstrom, the restaurant’s original founder and the acclaimed patriarch of Woodland Park for years, and the town’s rodeo culture.
To this day, nobody knows exactly what happened to the beloved eatery, but it didn’t open its doors again since it closed in September more than a year ago. According to one report that cited the building’s owner, the eatery had a renter that was still in a lease situation with the facility, even though the restaurant was closed.
But after the building sat empty for several months, many residents started worrying about the fate of the historic building that was opened as the Ute Inn Bar and Grill in the 1940s. Needless to say, the fate of the Ute became the subject of considerable speculation, with more questions than answers.
However, the old Ute may finally gain a lease on life again, and this apparent rebirth is not based on rumors.
During a recent city council meeting, it was officially announced that the building was purchased by local entrepreneur Pamela Mikesell who is the former owner of Miss Priss Boutique and the current owner of 110 Reserve, located about a block away from the former Ute Inn in downtown Woodland Park. 11O Reserve has gained quite a niche in the area, receiving scores of Best Of awards by local publications, and starting originally as a community gathering spot.
After working on the Ute building for a few months, Mikesell appeared before the city council to apply for a tavern liquor license for the property. According to city officials, the name of the new eatery will be called Ute Lodge Bar and Grill. Mikesell plans to open the doors to the new Ute eatery hopefully by April.
Before Mikesell’s liquor license was approved by the city council unanimously, the local entrepreneur fielded a handful of questions from the council. Although she wouldn’t give any intel on what the menu might look like, she did say that the establishment will have a new and improved atmosphere.
Mikesell said that she is not completely certain what her new plan for the restaurant will be, but she has already put a large amount of remodeling work into the building. “My main focus is to help the city grow,” Mikesell said at a recent council meeting. “I’m tired of looking at all of these empty buildings. For instance, the Ute has really amazing history and great bones, it just needs love. And I am providing the love… Oh, gosh am I providing the love to that building.”
She said that even though she has not quite dialed in what exactly her new eatery will offer on the menu, she promised definite improvements. “It will be a very nice restaurant,” Mikesell explained. “It will not be the traditional dive bar that history has made it to be. So, I look forward to having everyone come stop by and see it. I think everyone is going to be please with it and I am very proud of the work we have done so far.”
The city council applauded Mikesell’s efforts to refurbish the building, and expressed much gratitude over her decision to purchase the old Ute. Mikesell said she was originally trying to be open in February or March, but the date will most likely be pushed until March or April.
The new owners have also put significant restoration efforts on the bar top itself that has some history behind it. “That was an interesting endeavor,” Mikesell said. “It (the bar) was covered in upholstery and then painted over. The bar itself is actually from the 1920s, so we are actually restoring it back to its natural state.”
Mikesell did say that she did not hire any contractors for the project. She has been putting a good amount of the blood, sweat and tears involved in the restoration efforts (including painting and sanding) herself.
“I am holding onto as much of the history of it as I can,” Mikesell further explained. “The murals that were in there we did have to restore one of them, they were in pretty bad shape. But I have an employee that is also an artist and she did some light restoration on it and you can’t even tell it was restored.
No one can argue with the Ute’s strong history. As noted on their website by a former operator. “The Historic Ute Inn is the oldest continuously operating roadhouse and diner in Teller County if not the state of Colorado. We are still frequented by the original founder Burt Bergstrom (at least in spirit). Founded in 1942, the Ute Inn has seen several owners and a lot of changes.”
