KREMMLING — Right in the heart of downtown Kremmling there is a new restaurant serving up healthy portions of old fashioned family favorites made from scratch.

Located on Sixth Street in the midst of Kremmling, the new 9 & 40 Diner draws its name from the two highways, Highways 40 and 9, which meet less than a 100 yards away from the diner’s front door.

The restaurant is owned and operated by Iowa native and decade-plus Kremmling resident Sandy Duncan. Duncan has spent most of her adult life working at and managing establishments in the food service industry including stints at many restaurants in the Kremmling area. In late October Duncan opened her new restaurant, 9 & 40 Diner, catering to the breakfast and lunch crowd.

“I tried to make it like an old diner,” Duncan said. “The kind with good coffee and good home cooked food. The way it used to be.”

Duncan’s journey to opening 9 & 40 started in early October. She was contacted by the owner of the building who reached out to her to ask if she was interested in opening a restaurant in the space.

“He knew me from around town and thought I would be a good person to carry on his grandmother’s legacy,” Duncan said. “He wanted someone that cooks old fashioned food.”

Duncan’s extensive experience in the restaurant business allowed her to gear up quickly. From the time she was initially approached about the space, to the day she opened the restaurant, was less than a full month. The diner officially opened for business Oct. 22 and did brisk business early on, especially with the hunting crowd that fills the hills around Kremmling in the fall.

The menu at 9 & 40 Diner features a host of traditional diner selections with more than a few midwestern favorites, an homage of sorts to Duncan’s Iowa roots. Breakfast selections include biscuits and gravy, roast beef hash, breakfast burritos, hamsteak and eggs, omelets, waffles and more.

The breakfast burritos at 9 & 40 have become very popular and the diner offers made-to-order burritos as well as premade burritos that busy customers can pick up before heading out the door. Patrons should also check out the diner’s signature 9 & 40 plate, which features a bed of hashbrowns covered in homemade green chili, topped with eggs, smothered in cheese and served with tortillas.

The lunch menu features massive burgers in multiple varieties from the classic cheeseburger to the jalapeno burger to the Juicy Lucy, which is a build-your-own stuffed burger including two patties that patrons can have filled with their choice of toppings such as onions, mushrooms or cheese.

The lunch menu also includes classic sandwich selections such as the French dip and the club. Duncan personally highlighted 9 & 40’s tenderloin sandwich, tenderized hand breaded pan-fried pork tenderloin served on a soft burger bun. Each tenderloin sandwich, which is the size of a dinner plate, is served up the way the Iowans do it, with pickles, onions, tomatoes and lettuce. Duncan recommends eating the sandwich with ketchup and mustard.

All the burgers and sandwiches served at 9 & 40 Diner come with a choice of side, either house made hand cut French fries, coleslaw or macaroni and cheese.