Another Colorado dining institution will be gone by the end of the year. White Fence Farm is saying goodbye to Colorado.
Like another recently departed chain restaurant, Spaghetti Factory, White Fence Farm is not a Colorado original, but it was one of our most beloved transplants. The family-friendly fried chicken restaurant came to Lakewood from suburban Chicago 45 years ago and has served as a sort of country Casa Bonita ever since. The main Colorado outpost of White Fence Farm featured animals, games, live music and a year-round Christmas shop.
Craig Caldwell, co-owner of White Fence Farm, explained in a statement that the company has been "operating at a net monthly loss for a considerable amount of time." Efforts to turn things around, including shutting down all Colorado satellite locations back in February, had been unsuccessful.
He also chalked up some of their struggles to the labor shortage in Colorado's hospitality industry.
“We require 100+ employees on weekends and it was becoming nearly impossible to staff the restaurant with qualified staff," he said in the statement. "We wish we could have kept this tradition open longer, but it was apparent that the changing demographics of our market were having an impact on revenue year over year.”
White Fence Farm's animals have all been adopted, according to a press release, and will be re-homed after the restaurants last day. That's Dec. 30, so you still have two months to get a final visit in.
