I sat down with Butch Miller, head manager of Warehouse 25sixty-five during lunch. I had just met him the day before and I had questions. You see, I had eaten here before and had never had a bad bite of food no matter what I ordered. I had to know why it is so consistent here, how do they get great bands, and how are they so fast with delivering orders?
“Well,” Butch started, “When Terri Boggs and Noel Hayward decided to start a restaurant the sisters went all out”. He said matter-of-factly, he continued. “They wanted to do something different. Have a city feel and quality food”. We both looked around the room. “You certainly have that,” I said as I noticed the exposed brick, old fashioned lighting, and an old Budweiser truck. “They would sit in this building for hours,” He continued, “Looking, pondering, telling the contractor about an idea, then scraping that idea. Hours of planning and testing ideas.” He said as we looked around again. The 18,000 square foot building they purchased was a flooring warehouse, and these sisters did an incredible job transforming it. Everything from the flooring, stage venue, sound system, and even the presentation of the food is creative. The french fries I ordered came in a small, chrome-plated deep fry basket, and the food was all served on parchment paper with newspaper print on it. So that’s how they created the atmosphere, but I still had my other questions.
“Why do bands love to play here?” I asked. “Well, I think it has a lot to do with how we treat them. Letting them borrow a truck, having good sound equipment. Just treat them like family really.” Butch said. I was surprised at the simplicity of his answer. You see, Warehouse 25sixty-five has had some big names. Cody Johnson (CMA new artist of the year nominee), LoCash, and Clay Walker have all played here at least once. These artists can pick and choose where they play gigs. So that says monumental things about this restaurant in a little unassuming town called Grand Junction. I should also mention that they won a little award called the iHeart Radio Rocky Mountain Country Music Venue of the Year. Winning this is a big deal and no small feat. The only way to win it is from music artists submitting their nominations. It’s really cool that a local venue has won such a prestigious award. The other cool thing is, if you don’t want to hear the concert but just enjoy dinner with your family the acoustics are designed to keep the music in the venue side and out of the main restaurant. Terri and Noel truly thought of everything. top-notch
Okay so they have great decorations and bands love it here, but how's the food? I have to say that the food is fantastic. I could try anything on the menu, and I opted to get things I hadn’t ordered before. I got deep-fried cauliflower, the Wearhouse bacon burger, and fries. I have to say that their deep-fried cauliflower is, in my opinion, the only correct way to eat cauliflower. The bacon was quality. The bun on the burger was soft and flavorful. The french fries cooked perfectly. “How do you keep the food delicious all of the time?” I asked as I took a bite of cauliflower. “Well what your eating now is baked and then flash-fried,” Butch explained, “That’s how we keep it from getting soggy. The buns are bought from a mom and pop bakery, and our Chef Nick Coleman is the best out there.” He said with confidence, and continued, “Our Sous-chef, Tomas Sanchez, is top-notch, and the Chef assistant, Ferny Reyes, is outstanding. We really have a great team.” Butch also explained that getting food out to customers quickly is a top priority. Everything is electronic and gets sent to the kitchen as soon as your order is taken. The food isn’t cheap, frozen, and quick to cook. It’s the logistics that are fine-tuned, and that is how they get food out to thier customers so fast.
This place has so much going for it. I love eating at Warehouse 25sixty-five and now that I know more, I’m even more impressed and I hope you are too. As a local radio personality, Tom Sheldon said: "It's so much fun here, it takes a Warehouse to hold it all." I think you'll find yourself agreeing with him as I have.
