A Carbondale staple turned 50 on Monday.
The Village Smithy celebrated thousands of employees and millions of meals served over the last five decades during a Cinco de Mayo celebration that welcomed hundreds of locals to the restaurant.
The restaurant has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, never ending maintenance issues on the over 120 year old building and, as co-owner Jared Ettelson calls it, the great egg crisis of 2025.
Village Smithy is a breakfast spot on Main Street that serves classic dishes with a Mexican influence, like Huevos Rancheros and the Santiago skillet.
The Smithy has survived despite closures of several restaurants and businesses in the Valley this off season. Co-owner Charlie Chacos said the reason for the Smithy’s success is simple:
"We're open 12 months a year. We only close two days a year. Our regular customers, week in, week out, are what really have sustained us year after year.”
The restaurant put a temporary 50-cent surcharge on dishes with eggs, but it was lifted as of last week.
Chacos’ parents, Chris and Terry Chacos, moved to Carbondale to escape a “growing Aspen,” with the idea of opening a restaurant. They decided to turn the town’s old blacksmith shop into a restaurant, which opened in 1975. To this day, it still has some of its original brick from 1904.
Chaco bought it from my parents in 1998, and, in 2009, Ettelson returned to his home of Carbondale and the restaurant he grew up working in. Since then, Ettelson has also employed his daughters at the Smithy. And he echoed Chacos’ sentiment, saying consistency and community are key to the restaurant’s success.
“They could come here and see a friendly face at another table next to them, or see a server that's waited on them for 10 years, or know that one of my cooks in the back has made their McHuevos the same way for the last 15 years,” Ettelson said.
It is a coincidence that the Smithy opened on Cinco de Mayo, but Ettelson said their menu has always been heavily influenced by Hispanic dishes.
Most of the Smithy’s staff is bilingual, and Ettelson said the Hispanic community in the Roaring Fork Valley keeps them honest with their food.
“Cinco de Mayo is a big deal for us,” he said. “It represents a lot of heritage for the valley and a lot of heritage for the Smithy’s menu too.”
Chacos added: “Because a lot of that had some Hispanic influences from day one. You know, it was a unique thing, especially in the 70s, but that community really resonated with it, and it's been a mainstay for us to this day.”
Both Chacos and Ettelson are looking forward to another 50 years.
