“Bear's Loft takes over Tatry restaurant space in Glenwood Springs”

Bear's Loft takes over Tatry restaurant space in Glenwood Springs

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 02:27 PM PDT

While playing in a softball tournament in Glenwood Springs back in 1998, Rose Minchey thought it would be great to live in Colorado.

"I fell in love with this little town," Minchey said. "I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to live in Colorado, so I'm going for it."

Minchey moved to Glenwood to start a restaurant, The Bear's Loft on Grand Avenue, where Tatry's restaurant used to be. She made the move from Utah to start cooking, and she said the process has not taken too long.

The Bear's Loft is serving Italian and American food, with which Minchey said she has become well-acquainted during her past 10 years in the restaurant business.

"The idea came to me in January," she said. "I was in Utah looking for a restaurant to buy and couldn't find one I liked, then I found the Tatry listing online, and we opened in May."

She said she thought the business could be successful despite all the restaurant competition in Glenwood Springs.

"What I have is a lot of parking spaces, I'm family oriented, so we have big tables for families, coloring stuff for the kids, high chairs, and the food is all made from homemade recipes."

She added that another point of separation is that she holds her staff to a high standard.

"I tell them a smile is part of your uniform," Minchey said.

The bear theme for the restaurant came from her love for the animal, and the restaurant has plenty of decorations to fit the theme.

"I was tossing around a lot of names," Minchey said, "and the ad for Tatry said loft, so I said, 'Hey, Bear's Loft.' I then designed the logo with a bear looking down over [the words] so it fits real nice."

The restaurant is completing a dream that Minchey said she has always had. She and her business partner said the opportunity was too good to pass up, even during a recession.

"It is kind of scary," she said, "but I decided if I price my menu right, people will come."

The Bear's Loft is located at 1826 Grand Ave., and it is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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