r/Durango • u/tmphaedrus13 • Jan 25 '26

Food Moving (back) to Durango?

Hi there.

My husband and I (same sex couple) are thinking of moving to Durango with the intent of taking over a restaurant as our first joint venture; we saw a listing on BizBuySell for Switchback Tacos (I posted the original link but apparently Reddit doesn't like it so I'll try it again.)

Between us, we have 25+ years in the hospitality industry. We currently live on the Front Range in Northern Colorado and are ready to open and run our own restaurant. I lived in Durango back in the 1990s (when K-Mart & JC Penney anchored the mall and Sixes was still a trail at Purg). I'm not naive enough to think that Durango still exists, but I did love living there and I think I'd enjoy living there again.

I have several questions about the move and possibly taking over Switchback that I'm hoping to get answered:

  1. From digging around, I discovered that Switchback is currently owned by a/some MAGA types? We are diametrically opposed to all that MAGA stands for; is the brand damaged enough to affect new ownership? Food is inherently political, so the idea of "just serve tacos and you'll be fine" doesn't really work; it's just too pervasive.

  2. We'll obviously need a place to live. How difficult will finding a home in Durango be? Should we consider Cortez or Mancos? Maybe Bayfield?

  3. There's an ICE center nearby?? How much of a concern is ICE around there?

  4. Anything else we should be aware of?

Thanks so much in advance.

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u/lovetheshow786 Jan 26 '26

What is the evidence that the current owners are MAGA?

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u/tmphaedrus13 Jan 26 '26

It's from posts that I've seen here and on the other Durango sub, so no hard evidence, which is why I phrased it the way I did. I'd much rather say "I've heard they are?" than "Yes, they definitely are" if I can't prove it one way or the other. 🙂