Apple Tree Shanty, Denver 1970s/80s

The Apple Tree Shanty was known for its barbecue meats prepared over an old-fashioned hickory and apple-wood fire, giant potatoes and award-winning apple pie.

The specialty dish was beef tenderloin tips seared in a unique cast aluminum apple mold with a removable lid.

Waitresses known as ‘Apple Tree girls’ served customers dressed in Dutch-themed red and black costumes, with starched lace caps on their heads.

Located in Denver, Colorado, this restaurant opened in 1949 with little fanfare. The owner, reportedly a local dentist, told the Rocky Mountain News in 1965 that he and his wife decided to make a restaurant out of a four roomed house they owned, thinking they would run the place as a hobby and use it to entertain friends.

‘When we thought we were ready to open we put a sign in the window that we would be open at 5pm,' the publicity-shy owner recalled. ‘We ran out of food at 6pm.’

The restaurant continued to open and run out of food, the owner said, until he and his wife finally learned how much food they would need to operate.

The plan worked since the owner and his wife would run the Apple Shanty for the next 17 years, and people drove from miles around to eat there.

The Apple Tree Shanty, whose motto was ‘simple food – blessed with love and attention,’ had a relaxed and fun atmosphere, according to customers who remember going there as children. This menu - the artist's name is unknown - with its charming illustrations is a great example of the imagination and whimsy of vintage menu art.

The Apple Tree Shanty had various owners after the original owners bowed out and closed in the 1990s.

NOTE: many customers who still fondly remember the Apple Tree Shanty say that the owner was a local dentist called Dr Petersen.