During our time in Steamboat Springs last year, a freak summertime snowstorm hit the area with blizzard-like conditions and temperatures that dropped 50 degrees in less than 24 hours. The wind had caused havoc in and around the area and crews were still cleaning up the debris from the storm more than a day or two after the high winds subsided. A person who had lived in Steamboat for 40 years said they had never experienced a storm of that magnitude so early in the season (early September). And because of the storm, many places had shut down to clean up the damage the storm left behind. However, one place that we found that was open for breakfast was a small place called Creekside Cafe and Grill.
We had seen Creekside Cafe during our drive around the downtown area when we first got into Steamboat a couple three days earlier. They had a nice patio that was situated - naturally - right next to Soda Creek in downtown Steamboat. (see map) It looked like a nice place and it turned out that it's one of the more popular breakfast spots in town and has been for years.
For starters, like many restaurants we've found in the Steamboat Springs area, the buildings that house the eateries have been around for a number of years. The building that Creekside Cafe is in was at one time the home to the long-defunct Steamboat Carriage Company. Over the years it has also housed a laundry and was a former Montgomery Ward catalog center. By the early 80's, the building had become office space with a number of oddly-shaped rooms that were used for meetings and clerical work. The company that leased the building eventually moved out and it opened up an opportunity for a local nurse who was looking for a different vocation.
Nancy Kramer had been a surgical room nurse before becoming a school nurse, then eventually a public health nurse. Kramer took over the building in 1982 and turned it into a European-style bistro/bakery - In Season Bakery. Kramer ran the very successful restaurant/bakery for a few years before selling it in the 90's.
The restaurant went through a couple owners before a local woman - Kelly Landers - became involved in the place. Kelly had come out to Steamboat Springs after graduating from Purdue with a degree in Consumer Sciences. She loved skiing and eventually became the director of group sales for the Steamboat Ski Resort. But by 2000, she was ready to do something else.
Kelly Landers had worked as a server at a restaurant when she first came to Steamboat and had always wanted to run her own little place. An opportunity to buy in to part-ownership of a local restaurant came about and she purchased half-interest in the little breakfast/lunch restaurant. Her husband, Jason, would help out in the kitchen from time to time when he wasn't working his main job or running a local tropical fish store on nights and weekends.
Pictured right - Jason and Kelly Landers. Photo courtesy Steamboat Pilot.
Within two years, the Landers decided to go full-bore into the restaurant after Kelly's partners wanted to do something else in life. With Jason selling his fish store, they bought out Kelly's partners and took over full-ownership of Creekside Cafe and Grill that year.
The first few days of ownership were sort of a bummer for the Landers. Some days, they only served 10 to 12 people for both breakfast and lunch. But failure was not an option for the couple and it wasn't long before the place became so popular that long lines would form for the breakfasts and lunches made with naturally-raised, locally-sourced foods.
By 2018, the Landers had children in middle school and they wanted to slow down their professional lives a bit and get more into family activities. They put feelers out for the sale of Creekside Cafe in the spring of 21018 and two people were immediately interested in the place, one was a local restaurateur by the name of Rex Brice.
Now, if you've read the previous entries on Road Tips about Salt + Lime and Mazzola's in Steamboat Springs, you'll have noticed that those restaurants were part of the Rex Family of Restaurants owned by Brice and features local restaurants such as Rex's American Grill & Bar located in the Holiday Inn on the south side of town. Brice - a trained chef and former restaurant consultant - also has restaurants such as Big House Burgers and Bottle Cap Bar, Lil' House Country Biscuits & Coffee, and the Laundry Kitchen in and around Steamboat. Brice had long been an admirer of the way the Landers ran Creekside Cafe and immediately made an offer on the restaurant when the Landers put it up for sale. Negotiations between parties ended in the summer of 2018 when the Landers agreed to sell their restaurant to Brice.
The first thing Brice did to Creekside was, well, nothing. He knew the Landers had a winning formula in the foods they served, the people they employed, and the patrons they served. Nothing was broke with Creekside Cafe, so nothing needed fixed. Brice carried on the tradition the Landers started when Kelly first bought into the place in 2000.
We parked just across the street from Creekside Cafe around 9 a.m. A young man was cleaning up debris that had accumulated on the patio which overlooked Soda Creek from the storm the day before. The weather had changed to clear skies, but it was still unseasonably cool outside. Even if they had the patio cleaned up, I doubt if we would have sat outside, even with the outdoor heaters they had available.
Inside Creekside Cafe, we found a small restaurant with a bar on one end. Colorful and interesting artwork hung from the walls and tables were distanced for pandemic restrictions. A group of four or five men who looked like they were hunters were at one of the larger tables, a couple was seated at another table finishing up breakfast, and a young lady who seemed to know all the workers in the place was having coffee by herself at another table. We were shown to a table in the middle of the restaurant and were handed a couple menus by one of the staff members. I liked the place not only for its cozy nature, but because Creekside Cafe had the same name of a bar and grill that a good friend of mine used to own back in the Quad Cities.
A few moments later, our server for the visit - a nice young lady by the name of Sarah - came over with a couple waters. I ordered a double espresso and an orange juice - they did have a full bar at Creekside, but I wasn't up for a bloody mary and a beer for breakfast that particular day. My wife ordered a coffee and an orange juice while we looked through the food menu.
Different styles of omelets, eggs Benedict, and classic breakfast favorites were featured on the menu at Creekside Cafe. Southwestern-style fare such as a breakfast burrito, huevos rancheros, and a jack cheese-stuffed chile relleno topped with salsa verde were available. Pancakes, waffles and hearty breakfasts such as chicken-fried steak and biscuits with sausage gravy were also on the menu. Lunch items included a handful of sandwiches, burgers, salads and soups. Vegetarian and gluten free options were also on the menu. It appeared to me that Creekside Cafe was definitely more of a breakfast place.
My wife was in the mood for eggs Benedict and she got the Florentine Benedict with locally-sourced, hormone-free ham, baby spinach and a sliced tomato on an English muffin. Actually, she just got the half-portion of the Florentine Benedict with a side of fried potatoes. She liked it very much and was thankful she only got a half-portion.
I thought about getting an omelet smothered in their green chile sauce, but I ended up getting the corned beef hash. It featured shredded corned beef that was fried with potatoes, mixed peppers, and onions, then topped with two eggs over-easy. The corned beef was very tasty and there was plenty of it mixed in with the potatoes, peppers and onions. It was a top-notch breakfast.
The espresso they had at Creekside Cafe was - wow! It really zipped me up and got me going for a day of hiking and sight-seeing back up in the mountains. I should have asked what kind of espresso beans they used because it was high octane espresso. I'm really glad I didn't get a bloody mary or a beer that would have diced into the caffeine high I got from Creekside's espresso.
There wasn't one bad thing that we could think of from our visit to Creekside Cafe and Grill. Oh, it was pretty expensive - but all the restaurants we've visited during our trips to Steamboat Springs were on the expensive side. The food at Creekside was fresh and flavorful, the service we had was excellent and friendly, and the atmosphere was cozy and inviting. If you're looking for a great place for breakfast in Steamboat with a winning formula that's been in place for over 20 years, Creekside Cafe is a great place to start.
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