Long before it was known as the Colorado Cafe, this mountaintop spot in Central Jersey was a gathering place for those looking for good food and drink.
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WATCHUNG - Long before it was known as the Colorado Cafe, this mountaintop spot in Central Jersey was well known as a place for those looking for good food and drink.
When the popular Colorado Cafe closed suddenly on July 3, surprising many longtime patrons, it was the last in a line of clubs and restaurants to be run on a patch of land off Bonnie Burn Road.
In the early 1800s a large building known as Winter Grove was first constructed in a clearing on top of a ridge on the Watchung Mountains. Later, the location became a top choice for picnics among wealthy New Yorkers who spent their summers in New Jersey in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Winter Grove was turned into Wally's Tavern on the Hill when, in 1944, Walter and Estelle Heinzer bought and renovated the place, transforming it into restaurant that became popular in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
"Here you will find no muted candlelight or strolling violinists who will seduce you into thinking your food is good just because they're playing 'La Vie en Rose,'" a reviewer said in 1964.
A 1974 New York Times restaurant review noted Wally's offered a special roast beef dinner for $4.95 on Tuesdays and all-you-can-eat steak on Thursdays for $5.95.
No bull. Landmark N.J. Country Western club suddenly closes
"Wally's is a rustic, barn-like structure in a wooded area a few blocks up the hill from busy Route 22," the reviewer wrote. "Dark-paneled walls, enclosed porches and white cottage curtains reminded one visitor of a family-resort dining room."
A second renovation took place in the 1970s, giving the building a Colonial era look.
Wally's had changed hands in the late 1970s, becoming in succession the Bonnie Burn Inn, then the Watchung Restaurant and Dinner Theatre, the Stony Brook Inn dinner theater and the club September on the Hill.
It reopened again after another extensive remodel as the Colorado Cafe in late 1994, and soon this steakhouse and Country and Western club became well-known throughout New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. It also became the first club to have a state-licensed mechanical bull, known as Buck Off.
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While news of the Colorado Cafe's closing was surprising to patrons, it was inevitable. After 18 months of Planning Board hearings, in July of 2016 the Borough Council approved ordinances that allow Weldon Materials to apply for an expansion of its existing trap rock mine located next to the 14,000-square-foot club.
Weldon, in 2015, had purchased the Colorado Cafe's seven acre property, as well as nearby residential properties in preparation for that expansion.
Colorado Cafe's owners told newjerseyhills.com that declining profits and patrons led to the sudden closure.
"We were in business for 22 years and we all decided that it was time to shut it down," TAPinto.net quoted co-owner Angelo Porchetta as saying. "I would like to thank all the loyal patrons - the people who were there on opening night and who were still there 22 years later - thank you. Through the years, those patrons, along with the staff and managers, made us the night club we were all these years."
The Colorado Cafe had several bars - including the Race Car Bar, Tequila Bar and Buck Off Bar - in addition to its 3,000-square-foot dance floor and restaurant with pool tables. It was famous for offering country-western and line dancing classes, but in more recent years it had diversified to include rock and club music nights.
Wendy Moses said on Facebook she felt like an old friend had died. She went to the Colorado Cafe for birthdays, met her current husband there and had her bachelorette party at the club.
"A part of my past is disappearing for good," she wrote. "RIP to the Colorado Cafe."
Daniel Lawson said on Facebook that he met his wife in 2000 at the Colorado Cafe doing the barn dance. They have been married for 14 years and have three boys, he said.
Those who want to own a piece of the Colorado Cafe will have a chance to do so when A. J. Willner Auctions will auction off the club's contents at 11 a.m. on July 31, including Buck Off, the club's famous mechanical bull. Previews begin at 9 a.m. that day.
"(I've) been going to Colorado since I was 17," Taylor Megan Lier said on Facebook. "So many good times and so many great memories made. Thanks for being the place I could go to every Sunday to get my country on! Will definitely be missed!"
The planned quarry expansion will add 30 acres to the existing facility - bordered by roads on all sides with the Watchung Reservation to the east - allowing it to continue for at least another 25 years, according to Planning Board meeting minutes.
Plans are to have the Colorado Cafe property serve as a buffer to the mining operations for at least the next six years before being used as part of the active mine. A firehouse near the mining zone will be relocated with the help of Weldon Materials.
Bob Weldon, whose family has been in the mining business since the 1890s, said he "appreciated from the beginning all the work and cooperation his family has received while preparing this request," adding he "looks forward to proceeding with this project and many more years working with the borough."
If you have memories of the various restaurants, theaters and clubs that have come and gone since Willy's Tavern on the Hill first opened, share them with us by leaving a comment or email cturpin@njadvancemedia.com.
