Dos Gringos has been around for almost 23 years now. Congrats! You've supported Mountain Fair Staff and Volunteers for years now as well as Carbondale Arts in general. Beyond our view, we know you donated to over 45 non-profits in your 20th year. Can you tell us a little bit about what community means to you/Dos?

Rather than traditional marketing and advertising, we have always dedicated our marketing budget to community events and causes. This has created tremendous loyalty and a sense of ownership within the community. The approach to marketing has been to put the community first and be a role model as business owners, trusting that the business growth would follow. We believe that businesses are successful when they are civic-minded, not that they become civic-minded once they are successful. We contribute monetarily and in-kind to over 250 non-profit organizations, events and fund-raisers. We have always donated our space free of charge for community slide shows, rallies, watch parties, etc.

Our 20th anniversary seemed like the perfect time to launch the 1111 Giving Campaign project. It was really excited to shine a spotlight on so many of the organizations, including Carbondale Arts, that enrich the lives of the Valley’s residents. Historically, we are usually giving in the form of gift card donations, it was a much bigger commitment financially ($11,000) and the time dedicated to marketing for each organization each week. We were thrilled to align our business with over 45 other organizations in 2020 in an expanded way and learn even more about what they do.

What's new at Dos, if anything? Tell us about where business is at right now?

Photo from Roaring Fork Weekly Journal “Dos Gringos Part of Giving Campaign”

In many ways, the post-pandemic restaurant business is even more challenging - Restaurants are still struggling with massive disruptions in the supply chain and shortages of staples like gloves, avocados, chicken…Food prices have shot sky-high as well as higher costs for labor, freight and utilities. We are limited in how much of those increases we can pass on to our customers, even though our type of business operates on a typically tighter profit margin. Additionally, so we don’t disappoint customers and run out of menu items, we have had to invest in more storage options and have more capital on hand than usual to manage cash flow surges so we can buy in higher quantities when products are actually available. When we do have to adjust prices, we try to do so sparingly and offset that with more robust rewards for our loyal and local customers.

Team CCD knows what they love to eat at Dos, tell us what's your favorite order right now? Entice all the new Carbondalians or folks who haven't stopped in for a while.

Our signature burrito, The Gringo, remains the most popular menu item. We make everything here from scratch and our homemade guacamole and Mole Poblano sauce really sets it apart from other burritos. We would recommend that with our local Nieslanik Barbacoa. Covid-19 revealed just how unhealthy the commercial meat industry is for humanity and for the planet and how dependent we are on food sources from other states and countries. In an effort to begin to reclaim our food system, DOS sourced local healthy Colorado chicken and partnered with Nieslanik Beef to create a slow-cooked organic Barbacoa option. We want to support our local ranchers and our customers’ health and well-being.

What's next? Another 20 years hopefully?

In the year 2000, we set out to fill a niche in Carbondale and create a business that serves our community by providing a gathering place for friends, families, workers and volunteers and supporting hundreds of non-profits that serve our valley and world. We also, as it happens, built a cafe that serves gourmet international cuisine, made fresh every day and organic coffee at a fast-food pace. We went door-to-door to every home in town explained our mission: to serve you and support the causes and organizations that we think will help our community thrive. That was our mission in 2000 and will remain our mission for the years to come.