Locally owned restaurants in Loveland Colorado?

September 22, 2006 10:00 AM

Any good locally owned restaurants in Loveland Colorado? Good (but not necessarily healthy) breakfast joints and good dinner spots with both meaty and veggie options are what we're looking for.

If it isn't locally owned, that's fine. I just try my hardest to support those kinds of businesses and have found that they tend to be much nicer places to visit.

posted by pwb503 to food & drink (2 comments total)

I don't know much about Loveland, but I've been to some great locally owned places in Ft. Collins (long time ago, a Mexican place, great breakfast place, of course have no idea of names). Ft. Collins isn't far from Loveland, right?. You should look at this website and see what looks promising.

The Road Food website from the Sterns recommends this place, in Longmont.
posted by sulaine at 11:17 AM on September 22, 2006

Some friends of mine would hurt me terribly if I didn't mention Johnson's Corner, a truck stop on I-25 2-3 miles south of Loveland. Their cinnamon rolls are touted as world famous. Travel and Leisure put them as the only US location in their 10 best breakfasts in the world list a few years ago. It's a truck stop, but a nice one (all recently remodeled, the owners are great people).

The Egg and I is a local chain of breakfast restaurants, and they serve breakfasty things for lunch also. I don't believe they're open for dinner. This is on N Lincoln (Hwy 287) north of Eisenhower (Hwy 34).

I like the 4th Street Chophouse (125 E. 4th St, west of Cleveland (Hwy 287)) in the downtown area. It's much better atmosphere-wise than The Black Steer (436 N Lincoln, in the downtown area). I've only been to the Black Steer once, it's rather honky tonk inside, even for Loveland.

I like Henry's Pub, much classier and closer to real Irish than "Scotty O'Brien's" across the street. Yo Scotty's, a Bud sign in the shape of a shamrock does not an Irish bar make.

You'll get arguments about good mexican food in Loveland, but I'd pick Adelita's (414 E 6th, east of Lincoln/287) over anything else in town. 3 Margaritas is also good. Avoid Cactus Grille if you can, I've never been impressed there.

There's a newish Italian place on Cleveland between 6th and 4th that I ate at last month. Good, kinda pricey, can't remember the name.

In general, anything you find in the tiny downtown area will be locally owned. I can't think of any obvious chain restaurants in that area. All the other big retail locations have mostly chain stuff.

If you go up to Ft. Collins, aim for Lucille's (annoying flash website) for breakfast (more new orleans style food than you can eat, also has a location in Longmont). There's lots of local non-chain stuff in the Old Town/Downtown area of Ft. Collins.

And if you're up for a 30-40 minute drive (east of Ft. Collins), angry wait staff, true crusty atmosphere, and something you'll talk about for years, head to Bruce's Bar in Severance and try the special. It's really not that bad. :)

I recently moved from Loveland down to Broomfield, but I'm still there all the time (like last night, for orchestra rehearsal). I'll make sure my email address is in my profile if you have any questions about places.
posted by dr. fresh at 12:32 PM on September 22, 2006