Page 17 - March 2021 EGuide proof - The Castle Pines Connection

There are the fresh-baked cakes and pies, a display case of which welcomes customers as they enter the cafe. Ingman is up well before sunrise to start creating the day’s goodies, and the type of decadent delicacy depends on her mood.
Fresh Pies . Cakes . Cookies
The O’Brien’s Cafe customer-base is as eclectic as the adornments throughout the 78-seat restaurant.
“We get them all: the bikers, the car clubs, the church groups, bible study groups,” Ingman said. “Sitting in one seat might be a billionaire. The next seat over is a truck driver.”
The family-run eatery’s community involvement doesn’t stop with customer interactions. For the last 10-15 years, for example, O’Brien’s has organized
an annual benefit on Mother’s Day weekend for local firefighters. Every red cent of the money they take
in goes to the West Douglas County Fire Protection District. Ingman estimates the donations over the years have totaled more than $100,000.
Ingman, a 40-year resident of Sedalia, said she briefly considered retiring, but doesn’t know what she’d do with herself if she did. She loves her job so much,
she even worked throughout chemotherapy treatment during a recent battle with cancer. Being surrounded by her family – daughter Brittany Sandell waits tables at O’Brien’s, grandson Wyatt Sandell raises cattle used for the cafe’s beef, and son Jesse Ingman works at the bakery – makes things that much more enjoyable.
Of course, her extended restaurant family keeps her motivated as well.
“They feel at home here,” she said. “I find comfort in making everyone feel comfortable.”
She later adds: “If you’re not a regular here, you will be.”
Goodies to go...
The decor at O’Brien’s might seem random, and that’s because it has evolved over the years. Each piece on the wall has its own story and was gifted to the diner
by a loyal customer. The wall hangings include various photographs, paintings and hard-carved placards, including one that hovers over a table where the Liar’s Club, a group of retired farmers, gathers every day, each member sitting in the same seat and almost always ordering the same thing. Another handmade sign in
the shape of a shamrock has a Gaelic phrase on it that roughly translates to “I am not Irish, I am Swedish” (the namesake for the cafe, late family patriarch Richard O’Brien, was Ingman’s stepfather).
O’Brien Hot Sauces
FOR A WHILE...MEET THE FAMILY
O’Brien’s Cafe . 5585 US-85 . Sedalia, CO . 303-688-4672
Stay
Co-owners Arlene O’Brien (left), and her daughter, Donna Ingman, outside of O’Brien’s Cafe, which opened in 1994.