Bird & Jim

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Kitchen Rooted in the Rockies

Bird & Jim sits at 915 Moraine Avenue in Estes Park, Colorado, steps from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The restaurant opened on April 2, 2017, born from a decades-long dream of founder Melissa Strong, who had spent twenty years working in Estes Park restaurants before seizing the chance to purchase the former Sundeck Restaurant. The path to opening was anything but straightforward — during the renovation, Melissa suffered a severe electrical accident that required multiple reconstructive surgeries on her hands. She poured herself into the project anyway, and the doors opened six months later. That story of grit is woven into everything Bird & Jim does.

The name itself carries history. It honors Isabella Bird, a Scottish traveler who arrived in the Estes Valley in 1873 and described being seized by "mountain fever," and Mountain Jim, the frontier guide who helped her summit Longs Peak. Their nonconforming, adventure-driven spirits are the restaurant's guiding mythology — and a fitting emblem for a place that refuses to be ordinary.

The Food and Drink Philosophy

Bird & Jim describes its approach plainly: "real food, fresh ingredients, local, sustainable, and healthy eating." The menus are seasonal and ingredient-driven, sourced from farms and ranchers along Colorado's Front Range. The kitchen calls itself a "skratch kitchen," and the ever-evolving seasonal American menu reflects that artisan commitment. Vietnamese influences surface alongside the broader American cooking — a bánh xèo (Vietnamese rice-flour crepe filled with pork belly, shrimp, and fresh herbs) has appeared as a signature dish, illustrating how the kitchen reaches beyond the expected.

Co-founder John Witmer brings a sommelier's discipline to the beverage program, personally selecting every bottle for the wine list. The philosophy mirrors the kitchen's: small farmers, organic, sustainable, and biodynamic producers take priority. That attention earned Bird & Jim a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, a recognition that speaks to the depth and curation of the list rather than its size. The bar team extends the same care to handcrafted cocktails, using fresh ingredients throughout.

Community at the Table

Bird & Jim treats its role in Estes Park as something beyond serving meals. The restaurant has partnered with the Estes Valley Library, hosted winemaker dinners — including a pairing dinner with Dante Mondavi — and runs an annual "Twelve Days of Christmas" themed menu series that turns the holiday season into a showcase of the kitchen's range. Supporting local nonprofits and creating pairing dinners are part of the regular calendar.

The team is diverse and deeply experienced, including Chef de Cuisine Mike, whose culinary travels took him from Alaska to Colorado, and Meghan Lewis, whose background spans Hawaiian cuisine and fine-dining kitchens across the West. The front-of-house culture, shaped by Melissa's belief that "I could change someone's day with a smile, kind words, or gestures," keeps the atmosphere warm without being precious.

For seasonal American cooking with genuine roots in the mountain community around it, Bird & Jim earns its place at the table.