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The year was 1934 when a young Roy Pray, tired of “doing some mining on Tennessee Pass” just north of Leadville, decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and open a small cafe. Like his father’s cafe located in Canon City, Colorado, Roy also named his Leadville cafe “Roy’s Lunch.”
Located at 612 Harrison Avenue, Roy and his wife Leona were renting from an “obnoxious Frenchman” named Mike Berthoud who charged them $4/day. Berthoud owned a small dairy on the west end of Leadville and part of the rent deal was that Roy had to purchase his milk from him on a daily basis.
BURRO
History!
By 1938 “Roy’s Lunch” had become so popular, Pray took the advice of prominent local attorney Jack Laing and expanded his operation, re-naming it The Golden Burro Cocktail Lounge. The local newspapers spoke of the new Pullman booths and how “everyone who came for the grand opening of the newly expanded Golden Burro raved about the new facility.” It quickly became THE gathering place for Leadvillites, open 24/7. (“I threw away the key”, said 96 year old Pray in a 2006 interview.” “There were still 19 cribs operating down State Street and we’d get a steady stream of customers all day and night.”)
Charlie Frey
In 1942 Pray opted to serve in the Navy, and sold his booming cafe to long time Canon City friend, Charlie Frey. It wasn’t long before Frey encountered that same “obnoxious Frenchman” Pray had spoken about. It seems the milk one morning was sour and Frey refused to buy it. “You’ll buy it or get out!” Frey got out.
With the help of some 25 friends meeting Frey at the Golden Burro around midnight, every stool, stove, refrigerator, knife, fork and spoon and even the custom made neon signs and back-bar were removed from 612 Harrison Ave., and relocated to 710 Harrison Ave. Where The Golden Burro Cafe and Lounge operates today. (The original back-bar, still in great shape, is still in use behind the eating counter today, and one of the neon signs Pray had purchased in 1938 hangs proudly in the main dining area.)
The Golden Burro Cafe & Lounge was bought and sold several times over the years, and went through some good times and some bad times after the Frey era. The “BURRO” had been expanded by Frey through a purchased of 2 additional lots from Adolph and Mary Schaefer 16 years after his purchase from Pray.
Subsequent owners included L.G. Osborne, Donald Wickman,
Wilma Pixler and others...