The year was 1934 when a young Roy Pray, tired of "doing some mining on Tennessee Pass" just north of Leadville, decided to follow in his father's footsteps and open a small café. Like his father's café located in Canon City, Colorado, Roy also named his Leadville café "Roy's Lunch."
Located at 612 Harrison Ave., Roy and his wife Leona were renting from an "obnoxious Frenchman" named Mike Berthoud who charged them $4/day. Berthoud owned a small dairy on the west end of Leadville and part of the rent deal was that Roy had to also purchase his milk from him on a daily basis.
By 1938 "Roy's Lunch" had become so popular, Pray took the advice of prominent local attorney Jack Lang and expanded his operation, renaming it the Golden Burro Cocktail Lounge. The local newspapers spoke of the new Pullman booths and how everyone who came for the grand opening of the newly expanded Golden Burro raved about the new facility. It quickly became THE gathering place for Leadvillites, open 24/7. ("I threw away the key", said 96 year old Pray in a 2006 interview. "There were still 19 cribs operating down State Street and we'd get a steady stream of customers all day and night.")
