WALSENBURG • Whether he’s pulling up to work before dawn, or whether he’s out on a cigarette break, or whether he’s just driving by in his truck, Joe Sylling’s reaction is always the same.

“This building is amazing,” he says this afternoon.

To an outsider stopping by off Interstate 25, the building doesn’t look all that amazing. The restaurant is a square block. Blank white but for the barn-red trim and roof — same as it’s been for nearly 45 years now, along with the vintage benches and light fixtures inside.

The paint is peeling on the words up top, fading under the harsh sun of southern Colorado. But they are as unmistakable as they’ve always been: GEORGE’S DRIVE INN.

Sylling’s reaction to the building is that of a grateful man. He’s grateful to be here at George’s, his own boss at age 47.

He’s the long-haired, bearded, tattooed, life-loving new owner of the small-town icon, often seen joking with his employees and making rounds to his regulars, calling them “buddy” and “brother” and “ma’am” and asking how they and theirs are doing.

As for Sylling, he is grateful. That’s especially considering where he’s been.

“I wasn’t on the straightest pathway back then,” he says of a former life.

For much of his adulthood, he bounced around Colorado — Cortez, Crested Butte, Denver — working restaurant jobs here and there. His wandering took him to Walsenburg, the town that time seems to have left behind since the coal heyday. Businesses have come and gone, windows often boarded up, the theater still dark.

But George’s has stood strong since 1977.

Back then, it stood mostly alone off the highway, before the chain gas stations and fast food and, more recently, the marijuana dispensary, which represents something of a new economic hope here in the seat of Huerfano County.

Huerfano is among the poorest counties in Colorado. It is named for the Spanish word for “orphan.” That’s what Sylling was when he came here 11 years ago, picking up the spatula at George’s and longing for a stable home.

Sylling knew the local struggles all too well. He was living paycheck to paycheck. A lot of it “was due to my own vices,” he says. “I loved alcohol.”

There eventually came a “rock bottom,” he says. A time when he looked at people living on the streets and feared joining them.

“Redemption is something people have to want, and that can be tough to come by,” Sylling says. “But yes, I have changed my life around one way or another.”

He couldn’t have foreseen the opportunity that presented itself last year.

His boss then, Tony Amidei, son of the late George Amidei, was looking to retire. He had some offers. His father started this restaurant as a dream in his hometown, and now there were outsiders interested in buying.

“I don’t think they would’ve worked this place like Joe,” Amidei says.

The cook knew the food — the breakfast burritos as beloved as the burgers, never frozen, from a local meat market; the green chili made fresh every day; the fresh, hand-cut fries. (“Eat it fresh,” George always said. “That was his saying before Subway,” Amidei says.)

The cook knew the meaning of this place. Knew what it meant to the family for 40-plus years. Knew what the people wanted, the regulars in town along with the repeat customers frequenting the highway on vacation.

And so Amidei made a deal with the cook.

“I do feel like I have to make him proud,” Sylling says. “At the same time, I want to make myself proud.”

Proud is Elaine Vigil, who has worked here 25 years. She’s like the mother hen of a family affair — and it indeed feels like that in the back, where Sylling’s daughter rolls burger patties while his stepson mans the grill.

“I was concerned when COVID came,” Vigil says.

But Sylling’s first year in charge was a success. That’s all thanks to loyal customers who ordered takeout, he says.

That’s how he reflects on the year anyway, a success. It’s hard to know if he’d reflect any other way.

He exudes happiness and optimism. Here he is smiling and laughing and joking with workers, hugging people who walk through the door, hugging Amidei, thanking him again.

Life is busier now. But Sylling says it’s good to be busy.

Just as long as he has time for his garden, he says.

“It’s about time to make my flowers look good.”

On the menu

It’s an old-timey list — fried chicken, hot dogs, onion rings, potato salad, coleslaw, cottage cheese and peaches — with old-timey prices.

The burgers start at $4.35. Most popular is the chili burger ($7.95, fries included), open-faced and smothered in the moderate hot sauce featuring peppers from New Mexico. Vigil’s go-to is the bacon cheeseburger and chili fries. Other popular sandwiches are the Italian sausage ($6.15) and Sylling’s new Philly cheesesteak.

The burrito ($7.95) is most popular for breakfast, stuffed with Italian sausage, eggs and diced green peppers, topped with chili, tomatoes and cheese and served with fries. Tony Amidei’s favorite is the steak and eggs ($12.50). Pancakes, biscuits and gravy and other combo plates are other staples.

You’ll want a milkshake ($4.25) or ice cream cone to go.

WALSENBURG • Whether he’s pulling up to work before dawn, or whether he’s out on a cigarette break, or whether he’s just driving by in his truck, Joe Sylling’s reaction is always the same.

“This building is amazing,” he says this afternoon.

To an outsider stopping by off Interstate 25, the building doesn’t look all that amazing. The restaurant is a square block. Blank white but for the barn-red trim and roof — same as it’s been for nearly 45 years now, along with the vintage benches and light fixtures inside.

The paint is peeling on the words up top, fading under the harsh sun of southern Colorado. But they are as unmistakable as they’ve always been: GEORGE’S DRIVE INN.

Sylling’s reaction to the building is that of a grateful man. He’s grateful to be here at George’s, his own boss at age 47.

He’s the long-haired, bearded, tattooed, life-loving new owner of the small-town icon, often seen joking with his employees and making rounds to his regulars, calling them “buddy” and “brother” and “ma’am” and asking how they and theirs are doing.

As for Sylling, he is grateful. That’s especially considering where he’s been.

“I wasn’t on the straightest pathway back then,” he says of a former life.

For much of his adulthood, he bounced around Colorado — Cortez, Crested Butte, Denver — working restaurant jobs here and there. His wandering took him to Walsenburg, the town that time seems to have left behind since the coal heyday. Businesses have come and gone, windows often boarded up, the theater still dark.

But George’s has stood strong since 1977.

Back then, it stood mostly alone off the highway, before the chain gas stations and fast food and, more recently, the marijuana dispensary, which represents something of a new economic hope here in the seat of Huerfano County.

Huerfano is among the poorest counties in Colorado. It is named for the Spanish word for “orphan.” That’s what Sylling was when he came here 11 years ago, picking up the spatula at George’s and longing for a stable home.

Sylling knew the local struggles all too well. He was living paycheck to paycheck. A lot of it “was due to my own vices,” he says. “I loved alcohol.”

There eventually came a “rock bottom,” he says. A time when he looked at people living on the streets and feared joining them.

“Redemption is something people have to want, and that can be tough to come by,” Sylling says. “But yes, I have changed my life around one way or another.”

He couldn’t have foreseen the opportunity that presented itself last year.

His boss then, Tony Amidei, son of the late George Amidei, was looking to retire. He had some offers. His father started this restaurant as a dream in his hometown, and now there were outsiders interested in buying.

“I don’t think they would’ve worked this place like Joe,” Amidei says.

The cook knew the food — the breakfast burritos as beloved as the burgers, never frozen, from a local meat market; the green chili made fresh every day; the fresh, hand-cut fries. (“Eat it fresh,” George always said. “That was his saying before Subway,” Amidei says.)

The cook knew the meaning of this place. Knew what it meant to the family for 40-plus years. Knew what the people wanted, the regulars in town along with the repeat customers frequenting the highway on vacation.

And so Amidei made a deal with the cook.

“I do feel like I have to make him proud,” Sylling says. “At the same time, I want to make myself proud.”

Proud is Elaine Vigil, who has worked here 25 years. She’s like the mother hen of a family affair — and it indeed feels like that in the back, where Sylling’s daughter rolls burger patties while his stepson mans the grill.

“I was concerned when COVID came,” Vigil says.

But Sylling’s first year in charge was a success. That’s all thanks to loyal customers who ordered takeout, he says.

That’s how he reflects on the year anyway, a success. It’s hard to know if he’d reflect any other way.

He exudes happiness and optimism. Here he is smiling and laughing and joking with workers, hugging people who walk through the door, hugging Amidei, thanking him again.

Life is busier now. But Sylling says it’s good to be busy.

Just as long as he has time for his garden, he says.

“It’s about time to make my flowers look good.”

On the menu

It’s an old-timey list — fried chicken, hot dogs, onion rings, potato salad, coleslaw, cottage cheese and peaches — with old-timey prices.

The burgers start at $4.35. Most popular is the chili burger ($7.95, fries included), open-faced and smothered in the moderate hot sauce featuring peppers from New Mexico. Vigil’s go-to is the bacon cheeseburger and chili fries. Other popular sandwiches are the Italian sausage ($6.15) and Sylling’s new Philly cheesesteak.

The burrito ($7.95) is most popular for breakfast, stuffed with Italian sausage, eggs and diced green peppers, topped with chili, tomatoes and cheese and served with fries. Tony Amidei’s favorite is the steak and eggs ($12.50). Pancakes, biscuits and gravy and other combo plates are other staples.

You’ll want a milkshake ($4.25) or ice cream cone to go.