By Suzanne Paulman
Dostal Alley employees Johnny, Kim and Robin
Dostal Alley, a brewpub and casino located at 116 Main St. in historic Central City, was rockin’-n-rollin’ with a live band, a Hawaiian-style motif and a packed house when the casino hosted a dinner party for the Colorado County Clerks Association’s annual convention.
Dostal employees Johnny, Kim and Robin were part of the festive activities in making sure their guests were well taken care of during the evening event.
Johnny, fondly known as “Johnny Dostal” by his fellow employees, is the pizza man for the brewpub. His customers readily attest that he makes “the best pizza in town” hands-down, along with the other delicious Italian-style dishes offered on the brewpub’s menu.
Johnny is a Colorado native from Lakewood who moved to Gilpin County about two years ago. When asked what he does for recreation, he laughed and replied, “Chop wood and shovel snow.” When he is not engaged in that seasonal fun stuff, he works out at the Gilpin County Community Center playing basketball and swimming in the pool.
Kim, who shares a great rapport with Johnny and Robin, is originally from Detroit, Mich., and moved to Colorado for the mountain living about six years ago. She is a bartender at Dostal and has worked there for just less than a year. Kim is also a photographer and enjoys taking photos of the forests in the mountains.
She remarked that Dostal Alley is a “good, local hangout’ and that the employees know more than 90 percent of their customers by name. If you are new to Dostal, Kim and other employees will introduce you to other guests “so you’ll feel like you’re at home.”
Robin has been at Dostal a couple of years and said, “I just love it.” She is a Colorado native originally from Thornton who now lives in Gilpin County. Robin is a floor person and explains her job as doing “whatever it takes with smiles all around” to run the casino and brewpub.
Robin commented that Dostal has put out its seasonal beer made fresh at their brewery. Dostal serves Winter Porter 1874, Jacob Mack Mild Ale and Pub Ale, an English bitter, along with its other regular offerings on tap. She explained that the brews are made with local, handpicked hops grown in the wild, lending a good, strong flavor to the freshly made brews.
The next time you are in Central City stop by Dostal “Paradise” Alley and while gambling enjoy some of their superb pizza with the brewpub’s first-rate ales and lagers. If you are visiting Dostal in the evening, you will likely meet Johnny, Kim or Robin. They are working the swing shift as the casino is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and as the trio joked together, “We’re swingers.”
Dostal Alley Casino & Brewpub can be contacted by telephone at 303-582-1610 or www.dostalalley.net for more information.
