{"id":410640,"date":"2025-11-28T13:30:46","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T13:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/410640\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T13:30:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T13:30:46","slug":"after-30-years-olde-schoolhouse-remains-hidden-gem-in-la-plata-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/410640\/","title":{"rendered":"After 30 years, Olde Schoolhouse remains hidden gem in La Plata County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Community support key to success, owner says<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe and Saloon has provided good eats and supportive community for thirty years north of Durango near Purgatory Resort. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe and Saloon has survived blizzards, fires, power outages, the COVID-19 pandemic and 30 years\u2019 worth of hungry skiers and snowboarders fresh off the slopes of Purgatory Resort. The restaurant\u2019s secret to success, according to longtime owner Stacy Malone: the community that rallies around it.<\/p>\n

The restaurant and bar<\/a>, located 25 miles north of Durango at 46778 U.S. Highway 550 has no lack of character and charm. As the name suggests, the business used to be a schoolhouse before it was converted to a restaurant in the late 80s.<\/p>\n

Owner Stacy Malone bought the Schoolhouse with ex-husband Terry in 1995. It was passed on from former owner Jody Barile, who ran it as a winter-only spot.<\/p>\n

Malone, Terry and Terry\u2019s brother Ickes were behind operations for the first 10 years. Malone has been at the helm as a sole owner for the last 20 years.<\/p>\n

To Malone, the restaurant is more than just a business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just have a great community up here,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all support each other. And I have a great crew. It\u2019s just amazing. I love it. It\u2019s family, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Patrons gather to drink, eat and chat at the Olde Schoolhouse restaurant. The business just celebrated its 30th anniversary. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Schoolhouse has become known for its pizza, wings, calzones and drinks \u2013 some of which are award-winning. But the food isn\u2019t the only part of the restaurant that delights patrons: Its atmosphere is also a welcoming and eclectic sight.<\/p>\n

A school bus \u2013 which operated as a mini Schoolhouse restaurant during the pandemic \u2013 sits parked outside the small, red-accented building. A prosthetic leg hangs from the original school bell out front, left behind by a patron who good-naturedly told Malone he wanted it to remain there forevermore. Dollar bills and cut-out photos of the heads of several regulars act as wallpaper inside, diligently watching over the bar, pool table, dart board and wooden tables.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is more than just a business, Malone said: It\u2019s a support network for locals and visitors alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone\u2019s down and out, we rally behind them,\u201d Malone said. \u201cYesterday was (the) birthday (of a local who passed away), and we all had a cheers for him. … We try and make people feel special, especially if they\u2019re alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A prosthetic leg, left by a good-natured patron, hangs from the original school bell at the The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe and Saloon off U.S. Highway 550 north of Durango. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Customer Diana Cole has been going to the Schoolhouse practically since its opening. She said Malone has become known as the \u201cmom of the mountain\u201d for her boundless care and support of those who visit the restaurant.<\/p>\n

She often drives a regular without a license home, and keeps the birthday\u2019s of all the locals in the work calendar behind the bar, Cole said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the one place you know you can rely on getting food up here,\u201d Cole said. \u201cShe\u2019s here seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Olde Schoolhouse owner Stacy Malone, left, sits with longtime patron Diana Cole. The business just celebrated its 30th anniversary. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Reliability is a common theme at the restaurant. In regular Schoolhouse fashion, the crew continued cooking for the community by headlamp during a power outage several weeks ago, Malone said.<\/p>\n

According to Malone, the restaurant was packed during the blackout with grateful locals who had also lost their power.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was watching the football game on their phones,\u201d Malone said. \u201cWe had like, two phones (pushed together) with the football game on. You just make do. It\u2019s kind of funny. It\u2019s cozy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s hours shift seasonally \u2013 but that hasn\u2019t stopped loyal Schoolhouse regulars from getting into various routines, Malone said. A group she calls her \u201cSunday guys\u201d wait outside the doors on the weekends, waiting for Malone to open up, she said, and seeing other locals stop by on a similar weekly schedule is common.<\/p>\n

The Schoolhouse currently opens at 11 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and 4 p.m. on weekdays. Those hours will continue through early December. Food service ends at exactly 9:43 p.m., and drinks go until midnight or later most nights, depending on demand. Once tourist and ski season kicks in, the restaurant will shift to its earlier opening hours, Malone said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Customers eat, drink and chat at The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe and Saloon off U.S. Highway 550 near Purgatory Resort. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According to Malone, locals \u2013 and the restaurants colorful offseason offerings and events \u2013 are what keep the business afloat in the slower months.<\/p>\n

Malone serves corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick\u2019s Day, and Cajun food on Mardi Gras. The restaurant also holds a yearly winter Uller party, referring to the Norse god of hunting, winter and skiing. The area\u2019s local snowplow driver, who visits the Schoolhouse often, delivers the Uller prayer for snow each year, Malone said.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Uller party is set for Dec. 13.<\/p>\n

Malone wants patrons to feel comfortable when they come to the Schoolhouse, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople that have visited, you know, coming into a place like this, it\u2019s like, \u2018Whoa. This is kind of a crazy dive bar,\u2019\u201d Malone said. \u201cBut everyone\u2019s so nice and welcoming, and that\u2019s what I feel like is the most special: People feel comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Olde Schoolhouse owner Stacy Malone, right, serves patrons Nov. 17. The business just celebrated its 30th anniversary. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s long life span has meant Malone and longtime patrons like Cole have watched lives unfold and kids grow up through the lens of the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many mountain kids that have just grown up in here,\u201d Malone said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a lot of people meet here and end up getting married and having kids. It\u2019s special that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malone hopes to continue providing comfort to the community through the restaurant for as long as possible, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an appendage for me at this point \u2013 it\u2019s like my eldest child,\u201d Malone said. \u201cAnd I still have fun. I work the weekends because I have a great time. … It\u2019s nice to have something like this, you know? It becomes so embedded in everything that you do, that it kind of just runs itself with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

epond@durangoherald.com<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Copy article link\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Community support key to success, owner says The Olde Schoolhouse Cafe and Saloon has provided good eats and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":410641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-410640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115627573160203910","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}