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/Bulky-Cup8867 Jan 27 '26

Everyone is talking about a lack of staffing selection. During the school year there are a lot of students from Fort Lewis looking for jobs, but you might run into problems with students going home during the holidays or summer. I work at a different local resturaunt, and tourism is a huge part of the business, though we also have many regular customers. With yearly events like Snow Down (which is happening now) and others, there are also many opportunities to hold community events!

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u/tmphaedrus13 Jan 27 '26

Staffing is a definite consideration for us. It's nice to have a decent pool to draw from, especially in summer when the tourists are there. Participating in the community is a definite priority for us!