on September 10, 2016 by in Golden News, Comments Off on New restaurant and bar serves up Golden mining history

New restaurant and bar serves up Golden mining history

Back in the days of the Gold Rush, Golden was primarily a supply point for miners and prospectors heading into the Colorado mountains in search of gold.

With that Golden history in mind, Aimee and Dean Valdez came up with the theme for a new dining and beverage establishment that opened on July 28 called Miners Saloon, located in historic downtown Golden on Miners Alley.

“We designed it ourselves to fit with the style and character of the City of Golden,” Aimee Valdez said. “We wanted to play around with the idea of a modern version of an 1800s saloon.”

A focus on craft beverage and good food

Miners Saloon offers a full service bar and features 24 draft lines –; 20 of them are beer and the others are a house margarita, alcoholic cider, huckleberry vodka lemonade and a nonalcoholic iced coffee.

The wine shaft has about 300 bottles of wine in stock.

“There’s a big Colorado focus on product,” said Noah Heaney, partner and restaurant manager who also tends bar.

Most of the beer comes from Colorado, and the kitchen uses a lot of local food sources, Heaney said.

From the kitchen come homemade sauces and dips, bread, sausage and ricotta cheese. To satisfy a sweet tooth, the ice cream is also made from scratch.

A step back in time

Aimee Valdez believes people like the unique atmosphere.

They “enjoy the vision the space has lent itself to,” she said.

Inside, guests are surrounded by artwork featuring Colorado landscapes, historic photos of famous Coloradans, Victorian parlor furniture, and mining artifacts such a pick ax, mining pans and lanterns are scattered around the establishment.

A canary wearing a hard hat was chosen as the logo because of the connection the birds had with miners, Aimee Valdez said.

Canaries used to accompany miners into a mine shaft to help them detect toxic gasses, she said. This often helped save their lives.

“If your canary died,” Aimee Valdez said, “you knew you had to get out fast.”

Local place, local people

The Valdezes are proud Golden residents, Aimee Valdez said, and involved local talent in establishing the restaurant. Artist Jesse Crock painted the mural in the hallway near the restrooms, Goldenite Jeff Connell was hired as the general contractor and Nathan Richie, director of the Golden History Museums, was brought in to help train the staff on local mining history.

With a combined total of about 40 years with Coors, Aimee and Dean Valdez have “been in the beer business almost all of our lives,” Aimee Valdez said.

“We thought (the restaurant industry) would be a fun and interesting business to get into,” she said. Miners Saloon is intended “to be a gathering place for friends.”


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