On January 1st, 2022, Calico changed ownership, but the tried and true menu will largely stay the same. One of Jackson Hole’s oldest restaurants, open since 1966, the restaurant’s fresh, American-Italian fare, comfortable bar and spacious patio has been a long-time favorite for locals and visitors alike.
“We don’t want to fix anything that isn’t broken,” says Julie Broughten, who took over the business at the beginning of the year. Broughten has been working with Calico for 15 years, so while she’s recently become the owner (alongside partners Betsy Campbell and Andy Ward), she’s a familiar face at the west bank restaurant.
We have a really strong loyal customer base and we’ve done our best to listen to them and evolve the menu and offerings based on how dynamic the market is right now. Looking towards summer, we’re asking ‘what can we do to expand business operations without upsetting what we have going?’
Julie Broughten
In a perfect world, Broughten says they’ll ease back into full service in their outdoor area, which involves running two kitchens and two bars, but it all depends on staffing. For the past two summers, Calico had to cut down their hours to take care of their overworked staff, and Broughten says they were just trying to stay afloat, and not overpromise.
Broughten is also excited to be returning to a more social atmosphere in the restaurant, one that locals have come to expect from Calico. “A lot of people consider the bar area like Wilson’s living room. If you’re local it would be hard to walk into the bar between 4:30 and 6 p.m. and not know one if not three or five people there.” Broughten is excited to return to that casual vibe, with first-come-first-serve seating at the bar after nearly two years of reservation-only seating.
As for the menu, Broughten says they’ve heard loud and clear that they shouldn’t make any drastic changes. “There’s usually an uprising if we change anything,” she laughs. “Dean’s Parm Pizza went off the menu shortly after I began over a decade ago but every pizza cook still knows how to make it because people still ask for it.”
