The story of Garduños restaurant is as unique as its cuisine.
Juan Garduño, originally from Naucalpan de Juárez, Mexico, arrived in Colorado in 1989 after being invited by his brother with the promise of work in the mountains. Needless to say, construction was booming at the time, with a high demand for workers, but summers invariably had a ghost town feel.
“We had to walk up to three hours from the trailer park in Edwards to the Walmart in Avon,” Garduño said. “There wasn’t even public transportation. An hour could go by before you saw a car on the street.”
Garduño specialized in tile installation, which became his main source of income and eventually led him to establish his own business.
Meanwhile, Rosa Garduño, originally from Durango, had devoted her entire professional career to cooking. “I’ve been working in restaurants since I was 14,” she said. Her experience and versatility in the kitchen opened doors professionally. “I worked for a Mexican politician in Beaver Creek who brought me in as a personal chef on a work visa,” she said, adding, “I cooked for celebrities and important guests.”
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It was also in Beaver Creek where she met her future husband, Juan.
She added another 11 years of experience working at Agave in Avon. The next logical step was to open a restaurant of her own and offer the variety of dishes she knew how to prepare.
The Garduños opened their first restaurant in Minturn more than 15 years ago. Following its immediate success, they decided to open another location in 2017 in Eagle. But managing two restaurants along with a tile installation business proved overwhelming, so the couple eventually decided to transfer ownership of the Minturn restaurant and focus on the Eagle location.
Early this year, the idea of taking a break from restaurant life came to them once again. The plan was to take a couple of years off and transfer ownership of the restaurant one more time. Ultimately, the deal fell through, and the sabbatical simply turned into a temporary closure. Now, with renewed energy, the couple has devoted themselves to remodeling the space, revamping the menu and bringing entertainment to downtown Eagle with Hispanic flavors.
Green and red chilaquiles Renata Marshall/Especial a Vail Vida Latina
Northern and southern Mexican flavors
“The food we serve here is a mix of the north and the south (of Mexico),” Rosa said, referring to the fusion reflected on the menu. It includes traditional dishes found at any Mexican restaurant while also offering specialties such as the tlacoyo. “A tlacoyo is an elongated tortilla filled with beans, nopales and cheese,” Juan explains. “We would like to offer more food from central Mexico, but people aren’t familiar with it.”
Mexico City offers countless culinary combinations, and its street food culture is quite distinctive. The tlacoyo is precisely one of the recipes Rosa incorporated into her menu following her time and experience cooking in Mexico’s capital.
The “huarache” (or ‘sandal’ in Spanish), like the tlacoyo, also originated in the street food culture of Mexico City. It can be topped with nopales, eggs or chicken. It can even be served as a vegetarian option, depending on the customer’s preference. What matters is that the corn masa resembles the shape of a traditional Mexican sandal.
Garduños’ new menu features the original dishes that made them popular back in Minturn, along with several new options. From à la carte tacos featuring specialties such as buche (pork stomach), tripas (beef or pork intestines) or sudados (steamed), to options for more sophisticated appetites, such as the Molcajete Garduños, Carne a la Tampiqueña and the 3 Amigos platter, which includes grilled steak, chicken and shrimp.
For early-day diners, chilaquiles are the best option. This popular dish, whose name comes from the Nahuatl word meaning “immersed in sauce,” is available daily from the time the restaurant opens at 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. It is served with two eggs, either in green or red salsa, accompanied by refried beans and rice.
The popular Taco Tuesday could not be missing from Garduños’ return. Tacos for $2.50 are offered in three varieties: chicken, al pastor or carnitas. But if you’re in a hurry and can’t stay to eat in the dining room, “Our takeout special of five tacos for $13 is the way to go,” Rosa said.
“Everyone makes tacos, but everyone’s tacos taste different,” Juan said. “If you want to try something new, the salsas and specialties, you won’t find them anywhere else.”
Garduños also offers entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays, when the evening continues with DJ Jasbla’s mixes and karaoke. Following the informal reopening in October, the restaurant has already hosted two live performances: Grupo Andariego in late October and the stand-up comedy of “La Diva Colombiana” this past weekend.
“We want to hold these special guest events once a month,” Juan said. “But we have the DJ and karaoke every weekend.” According to Rosa, more events — including a ladies’ night — will soon follow.
Dining and Cooking