Mother-daughter duo open cafe

Kurstin Turnbaugh convinced her mother, Esther Sharp, to move back to Thermopolis to open The Trails End Cafe. Sharp had been out of town with her husband who works on a pipeline for ten years, when Turnbaugh convinced her to make their lifelong dream a reality.

"It had always been a dream of ours," Turnbaugh said. "I grew up in the restaurant business and my mom has done it all of her life."

Sharp said she started out waiting tables and went on to manage several restaurants throughout her life, including one in Nevada where she remained manager for eight years.

"I raised my daughters waiting tables in restaurants," she said.

Turnbaugh said she had many fond memories of growing up in the restaurant business.

"I remember I would sit on customers' laps," she said. "They were like family to us. And working in restaurants just runs in our family."

Sharp and Turnbaugh said their favorite part about running a restaurant is interacting with the customers.

"We love to see those people come through the door and we just want to make them feel at home," Sharp said.

"We meet a lot of neat people in here," Turnbaugh said. "They become our friends. This is the absolute perfect location because we have the truckers and we are here for them. We also have the tourists and our regular customers."

The Trails End Cafe provides home-cooked meals, including breakfast all day, along with a warm welcome, Sharp said.

"We just want to provide people with a good dining experience, with affordable pricing and good food," she said.

The restaurant intends on implementing many changes in the upcoming months, including new booths and tables, a milkshake machine and a coffee bar, Turnbaugh said.

"By summer, we plan to have the new tables and booths," she said. "It'll come around, just one thing at a time."

Currently, The Trails End Cafe has daily specials, homemade soups and desserts to satisfy every palate. The hours are 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sunday.

Starting June 1, the restaurant intends to extend their hours. They will be open 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. seven days a week.

Sharp and Turnbaugh said they are grateful for all of the support from people in the community.

"We are very thankful for the support from the community," Turnbaugh said. "We couldn't do it without them."