Furr's could be gone for good from Colorado

It's the end of an era! A sign on Furr's Family Dining in Wheat Ridge says the restaurant is closed (and not a moment too soon, judging from our visit to the place last year). The notice indicates that the closure is temporary -- but Colorado has been wiped off...

By Patricia Calhoun

January 23, 2014

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It's the end of an era! A sign on Furr's Family Dining in Wheat Ridge says the restaurant is closed (and not a moment too soon, judging from our visit to the place last year). The notice indicates that the closure is temporary -- but Colorado has been wiped off the official Furr's map. See also: Furr's Cafeteria: Memories should stop at the buffet's edge.

According to the Furr's Fresh Buffet & Family Dining website, the only restaurants remaining are in Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. That's where Roy Furr opened the first Furr's in 1946, in the town of Hobbs. From there it grew into a regional chain of family restaurants and cafeterias.

At one point, there were outposts of Furr's all along the Front Range, from the first Crossroads in Boulder to Lakeside to the original Cherry Creek Shopping Center. The location in Pueblo closed two years ago, and Wheat Ridge was the last local holdout. But now it looks like Furr's is gone for good from Colorado.

Does that news make you nostalgic? Hear from other fans of Furr's here.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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