Beloved community eatery in Edwards, Etown, celebrates a change in ownership
The restaurant, a Riverwalk staple of nearly 20 years, was founded and run by 3 soccer teammates
Kevin Egan/Courtesy photo
Etown, the beloved eatery in the Riverwalk at Edwards that has served community members and events for nearly 20 years, is undergoing an ownership change.
Etown’s founders and longtime owners have decided to pass the torch.
Kevin Egan, Miller Lewis and Doug Schwartz started Etown nearly 20 years ago, following through on a lifelong dream of Egan’s to own a restaurant.
Egan and Lewis met in college, and, upon moving to Eagle County, the pair connected with Schwartz through “the soccer world,” Egan said.
“The three of us used to get together after soccer games and talk about maybe opening a place, and the ideas kept generating and developing,” Egan said.
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When the Riverwalk at Edwards was being built, an opportunity arose. In the last building of the development, Egan learned that there was going to be a restaurant space. “We started talking to the developers about maybe being the owners of the location, they gave us the green light, and we hit the ground running,” Egan said.
“I’ve been in the restaurant industry my whole life,” Egan said. “So it’s just kind of taking all the bits and pieces of things learned throughout the years that I liked (and incorporating them) at this place.”
‘We were part of the community’
The experience of owning Etown over the last two decades has “been amazing,” Egan said. “For lack of a better word, it’s just been absolutely epic. We’ve developed, we’ve grown, we’ve learned throughout the years … We were able to put it together after some trials and tribulations from the jump and figure out exactly who we want to be and what we wanted to be in this community in the valley. And it’s been a home run.”
Founded by friends who met through a community soccer league, Etown has always participated actively in community events.
“We really enjoyed the Vail Valley ourselves for skiing and fishing and biking and everything that it offers, but we just wanted to kind of create something that can also be a staple, if you will, of the community,” Egan said.
“The big thing is (that) we weren’t in the community, we were part of the community,” Egan said.
In the years since its founding, Etown has sponsored numerous sports teams and hosted nonprofit events, weddings, memorials and holiday parties of all varieties.
“The involvement in the community was something that we really set out to be a part of and we’re pretty happy that we have become that,” Egan said. “Through 20 years, now, I got to meet so many different people, and the lives we’ve hopefully been able to improve and touch — it’s just been great.”
Despite the dozens of special events, the mundane has felt most rewarding to Egan.
“The day in and day out would be my favorite,” he said. “Seeing some of the repeat customers and …watching families develop and people grow.”
Throughout the years, Etown has fed individuals from birth through adulthood. “We’ve gone to the point of putting kids in highchairs to giving them a job. … And then seeing some of those kids come back from college, grow, get married and now have their own kids.”
“The legacy was that we were always here with open arms to support everybody that we could,” Egan said.
Staying in local hands
The current owners decided it was time to pass along the restaurant to new leadership around a year ago. Egan and Lewis now live outside of Eagle County, and Schwartz died last spring.
“We just felt like it was time, that we couldn’t give it the constant level of attention that we think it deserves,” Egan said.
Etown’s leadership is staying in local hands: The restaurant is being taken over by JD and Betsy Childress, who have a background in restaurants and have owned and run Mountain K-9 in Avon for years.
“We thought passing it on to JD and putting it in good local hands and someone that can give it that effort and attention was the right thing to do,” Egan said. “But it was a tough decision. It’s a somber day, but it’s a wonderful, thankful day at the same time to be able to do what we did for 20 years.”
In many ways, the Childresses have the perfect resume to take over Etown. The couple was in the restaurant business for about 20 years before moving to Edwards in 2020. They dreamed of opening a restaurant in Eagle County when the pandemic arrived.
“We let that go, knowing that it would be pretty challenging to open a restaurant during COVID times,” JD said. “And then about a year ago we had the bug again to get back in the restaurant business, and we luckily stumbled into Miller and Kevin.”
The Childresses do not plan to make any changes to Etown as they take over on Jan. 9.
“For now, literally nothing will change,” JD said. “We’re going to keep it as it is for a while. They’ve done a great job getting the restaurant to where it is, and we don’t want to disrupt that anytime soon.”
“We respect those three owners so much, and what they’ve done for this community, and we respect the patrons that have made it so successful. We aren’t looking to come in and shake it up right away,” Betsy said.
“This is a restaurant that is for the community,” JD said. “We want to provide the best restaurant, best food and drinks that we can.”
The Childresses will have a presence in Etown, and plan to keep an ear open to community feedback as they make the space their own. “We’re very open, very approachable, and more than willing to sit down and talk with anybody if anybody has any questions, comments, concerns, feedback,” JD said.
Etown hosts celebration Saturday at 5 p.m.
There will be a celebratory event at Etown on Saturday to recognize the legacy Egan, Lewis and Schwartz have left through the restaurant. Egan anticipates “probably lots of laughs, lots of tears, lots of smiles, lots of hugs.”
“I’m looking forward to walking down memory lane over the last 20 years, but also being grateful,” Egan said. “Miller and I are really looking forward to being thankful for the support we’ve received from the community.”
While both Egan and Lewis live outside of Eagle County now, both will still likely be spotted from time to time at Etown — but on the other side of the bar.
“We have the memories of what we did here, but it’s not going away,” Egan said. “I look forward to coming in and being a customer.”
Saturday’s celebration is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. But “the celebration will go on forever,” Egan said. “It’s not a one-day celebration. The memories and things that we’ve created and experienced throughout the years will always be there.”
“We cherish what we’re able to do,” Egan said.
