Carl’s Tavern in Steamboat Springs will offer a second chance for its new owner, Collin Kelley, who used to own the establishment.

“(Carl’s Tavern) was the first restaurant I owned and built for myself,” said Kelley, who sold the business in 2017. “I had opened several (restaurants) prior to moving to Steamboat Springs for other people, but it was my first restaurant — it was my baby.”

After opening Carl’s Tavern at 700 Yampa St. in April 2011, Kelley said he sold the business for personal reasons to Scott Engelman and David Jones. The two men, who also co-own Truffle Pig at the base of Steamboat Resort, owned and operated the business as Carl’s Tavern until May of this year when they closed the doors.

“It is amazing that it has come full circle because it’s great to come back to it and have the opportunity to do this again and recreate the magic that we once had here,” Kelley said. “I couldn’t be happier to get all of the memories that we made in these four walls back.”

Kelley has also purchased the property and plans to spend the rest of the summer renovating the space before reopening a restaurant with a new name in mid-November. He is currently fine-tuning the restaurant’s concept, making technological upgrades to improve service and adding insulation to the ceiling and walls that will dampen the noise in the space.

“I’m just really focusing on making the space comfortable for our guests, but it is still going to have the same vibe and feel,” Kelley said. “It is not going to be fine dining, and it is going to offer a great social place for every type of person to come to. … It’s for everyone.”

He said there will be plenty of changes including the name, but the new restaurant will feature a similar menu, have the same great vibe and retain the horseshoe bar.

“The menu is going to feature American comfort food,” Kelley said. “It’s not going to be fine dining by any means, and it will not be Primrose 2.0.”

Kelley said he has long wanted to buy back Carl’s Tavern, but it wasn’t until recently that things lined up and he was able to make the move. He said he is here for the long term and has already hired Beth Hadrys as general manager, and plans to bring a sous chef from Primrose, which Kelley also owns. Primrose is just down the street at 1110 Yampa St.

He said that when the former owners put Carl’s on the market about nine months ago he really wanted to get it back, but the price was too high.

“When the price was reduced and the opportunity was there for us to do it, I could not say no. It was a chance to get all those memories we built here back — it was like fate had come full circle,” Kelley said. “We’re raising our family here, and we’re not going anywhere. We want to be long-term members of the community, and we wanted to take this opportunity to really rethink the space and how we want to position it for the next 20 years.”