A local standby is getting some national recognition since a traveling restaurant show shared about their experience earlier this year.

The Grand Old West in Kremmling is an historic gem that welcomes visitors to enjoy its rustic ambiance offers and homestyle cowboy cuisine. Kremmling resident Hugh Wheatley purchased the Western-themed restaurant from his parents, Shawn and Mike Wheatley, in 2021.

24-year-old Hugh and his fiancée, Peyton Olson, run the business together, with help from the Wheatley family.

“I was incredibly happy because this was my plan all along,” Wheatley said. “I dropped out of college to pursue my dream of owning this place.”

The small-town restaurant received national fame when it was featured on America’s Best Restaurants, a media company focusing on bringing attention to local, independently-owned restaurants. 

The company states that “Wheatley has maintained a family-run establishment that prides itself on its unique atmosphere and delicious menu.”

America’s Best Restaurants Roadshow, the company’s online video series, visited the restaurant to highlight the restaurant’s homemade cuisine: pork green chili and cheeseburger soup, recipes from Wheatley’s mother; the French dip sandwich, made with Boar’s Head roast beef; chicken fried steak; the ribeye steak; and grandma’s giant, homemade cinnamon roll.

In the Grand Old West episode, New Jersey-based host Theo Williams samples several dishes, including a local special — the Dunker Burger. This burger has Swiss cheese on Texas toast, with toppings of choice, plus a side of au jus for dipping.

Williams also sat down to chat with Olson and Hugh, the new owners.

“These locals, they keep us in business, they do everything for us,” Hugh told Williams. “… Whenever it’s slow, they’re the reason we can stay open. We try to do as much as we can for them.”

He added that Kremmling is a closeknit community where people look out for each other.

“We’ll host events, we’ll do anything for our locals,” he said. “They just have to ask — banquets, parties. … We are a fun, family-owned business that does everything we can to make everybody’s experience here as good as possible.”

The owners are hoping the exposure will translate into a national reputation as a truly unique Western restaurant that folks from California to New Jersey simply must see.

“Kremmling is such a small town and we love that people come through here from Steamboat from Silverthorne, and things like that, but I want us to be way more well-known,” Olson added. “So I’m super excited for that.”

Visit America’s Best Restaurants YouTube channel at YouTube.com/@AmericasBestRestaurants to check out the video.