A Blue Moose & The Pantry

The Pantry in Green Mountain Falls pegged-out my “Kick-Ass Cafe-O-Meter” with the combination of this late 20’s Ford flathead V8-equipped stakebed truck and some legit B&G.

Diner Quest 2023 continued a couple days ago for some pre-zoo fueling-up, this time at the quaint and classic enclave known as “The Pantry”.

If calling Ault a “village” seemed like an ignorant used car salesman calling a mint ‘92 Escort Cosworth a “used Ford compact, good condition”, then calling Green Mountain Falls, CO a “modern interpretation of circling a bunch of wheel-less wagons” might be equally heinous. However, I might be justified in saying that but I also I must say we greatly enjoyed our three day retreat to this tiny mountain diversion.

Carpet on the floor of a diner in a mountain town with primarily dirt streets and parking lots. It’s a bold move.

Somewhat reminiscent of so many Route 66 towns that dried up and died because of a new stretch of I-40 just over the adjacent ridge line, Green Mountain Falls (incorporated August 1880) would probably be a touch bigger if it somehow sat directly on the US-24 4-lane that passes just far enough away to render GMF a trip to the garage instead of a trip down pit road for prospective visitors. Regardless, The Pantry (established 1950 as a bakery, grill added in the 60’s with small expansions inside and out since) was well-worth the visit, and the somewhat spendy ticket. Ultimately the personal touch and food quality were worth it, harkening back to an (imaginary?) time when all diners served homemade grub and not pre-made factory-goods off a refrigerated Shamrock trailer.

An undated photo on the wall of The Pantry from an earlier, simpler time. Or at least that’s what I imagined an elderly regular patron telling me without prompting while I took the photo of the photo.

When you have kids with you, you shouldn’t eat at the diner counter. But I can tell you as a kid at heart, I desperately wanted to!

The aforementioned legitimately bomb B&G.

Complete with an eclectic mix of rustic varnished-wood interior, rock & roll-serving jukebox and surprisingly good tavern-style pizza, The Blue Moose in Green Mountain Falls has no doubt served its community well over the last 100+ years, as it continues to today.

Every night in GMF, I would find myself astonished to see just how packed out “The Moose” would be by 7 or 8pm, crowded with locals and in many cases, their kids enjoying the focal gathering point of their town.

My first beer in Green Mountain Falls was at The Blue Moose, and was an exceedingly appropriate selection all things considered.

It’s encouraging to see that in a country that truly lacks a defined “pub culture” and instead more often is known for its “bar culture”, a place (read: a non-brewery) like The Moose not only exists, but thrives. Young, Subaru-driving families co-mingled peacefully, amicably, and non-puritanically with well-worn bar-seated regulars, the keys to their dirty and dented 3/4-ton toolbox-equipped pickup trucks dangling from a carabiner on their belt or sat atop their impossibly thick and tattered leather wallets on the bar’s sturdy, glazed surface.

The barkeep in both of my visits (one with, one sans familia) was incredibly amicable, brisk-with-no-bullshit and able to serve a Coors stubby so god damn fast that ole Adolf (no, not that one) is probably smiling in his grave up on Crown Hill.

If you’re a tavern and you have a kitchen and you don’t have a good tavern pizza, then your tavern credentials must surely be in jeopardy.

If Roadhouse espoused a rich white Hollywood’s out of touch idea of what a “road side honky tonk bar” could be at its worst, then The Moose lives up to all of the best ideals a utopian mountain pub could hope to attain. The slightly-too strong rank of Fryolator grease kept too hot for too long, the tiny “stage” clad in worn pontoon boat outdoor carpet, creaky uneven floors and a pool table without enough room around it to conduct a proper backswing (?) when the place is 1/2 full or better….it all adds up to something so unremarkably underwhelming for a normie, but absolutely dream-worthy for a well-seasoned and slightly nostalgic road warrior.

All things considered, our stay at “The Buffalo Lodge” in GMF was a good call. The quick and easy access to a larger town (Wooodland Park…more on that another day) and a properly large city (Colorado Springs…more on that too, later) made enjoying a variety of family-friendly activities a breeze, plus nobody in their right mind would turn down multiple spirited drives up (and down) US-24 through its twisty, winding road course between The Springs and Woodland Park. Serene and scenic with literally no late-night disturbances, abundant fresh air and a “more-than-meets-the-eye” factor of 7.5/10, I‘m not being hyperbolic when I say we’ll certainly be back again.