Meet Cody Rilo | Vegan restaurant owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cody Rilo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cody, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
Going to college. I feel that so many young people are forced into believing that they have to do the college thing right out of high school. But so many of us have no clue who we are, where we are headed, what we want to do with our lives right now & we most certainly don’t know what we want in 4 years. I think allowing young people to relax & explore what interests them, instead of forcing expensive schooling onto them is best.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Seven years ago, mu husband & I opened a vegan bar because we could no longer be part of a system of cruelty & enslavement. We had both been in the restaurant business for 20 years, peddling meat & cheese, while being vegan. We felt that if we could build a cool bar then we could sneak vegan bar food into unsuspecting guest’s mouths. Turns out, there was a market for a vegan bar & restaurant here & we have grown business every year since 2015. It was a lot of work, but truly our dream. Spreading the word on veganism, freedom, community & compassion has been our drive. The challenges have been human relations, not the bar business. Partnerships, managing staff, covid, rain causing our roof to cave in, are just a few of the things that we had to overcome & learn from.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My brother was just visiting from AZ last month. We walked our dogs downtown past the new Weidner Feild & the Olympic Museum. We walked downtown to the new Bread & Butter Neighborhood Market, past the Tipi at Shuga’s. We thendrove up the pass to Fern’s Diner & Drinkery to enjoy the mountain views from the Beer Garden at the base of Pikes Peak. Later that night, we ate all of the vegan dinner at Chiba Bar. The next day we took the dogs to Bear Creek Dog Park. We enjoyed beers at the new Red Leg Complex & then we went antiquing at Sweet William Antique Mall.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband, Tyler Schiedel, for going vegan with me & pushing us to open Colorado Springs’ first vegan bar.

Website: burrowingowllounge.com & fernsdiner.com

Instagram: the_burrowing_owl & Ferns_diner_drinkery

Facebook: the burrowing owl & fern’s diner + drinkery