The Osito's story

Once upon a time, there was a little bear…

Osito's is a family-owned Mexico–New Mexico fusion kitchen on 5th Street in Berthoud, Colorado, run by a husband-and-wife team who want your next meal here to be easy, affordable, and worth coming back for.

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Where the name comes from

The bear is not a logo. It's a nickname that's been following Jose around for years — and now it's on a building.

"Osito" means "little bear" in Spanish, and Jose Chavez has been going by it for about five years.

When Jose and his wife Molly Sellars got married, her daughter was three. She started calling him Osito — her little bear. Nieces and nephews picked it up. It ended up on the back of his softball jersey and on his vanity license plate. Now it's the name on the front of a restaurant on Fifth Street.

"You're gonna love this," Jose told the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor when they asked him to tell the story. He was right.

"The simplest way of putting it into words is a good lunch and dinner spot, with affordable prices. What I want is someone to come in, enjoy the meal, have a good time, and they can afford to come back." — Jose Chavez, co-owner

Two fathers, two kitchens, one menu

The recipes at Osito's come from both sides of the family — passed down, then combined into something new.

Mexico · New Mexico fusion

From a Jalisco kitchen and a New Mexico kitchen, one menu.

Jose's father is a chef from Mexico. Molly's father is from New Mexico. Every visit home meant eating well — so they brought it all back to Berthoud.

Jose grew up in Fort Collins after his family moved from Jalisco. Molly's family is in New Mexico. "Every time we visit, we love the food there," Jose said — and that love shows up on the plate.

The plan from day one has been nicely priced Mexico–New Mexico fusion, with sopapillas at dinner and a lunch menu that tops out around ten bucks. The cilantro pepper sauce on the fish street tacos? Family recipe. The chipotle mayo that replaces it for dairy-free diners? Also family — Jose built it on the spot when a customer needed it.

Generations of recipes, cooked from scratch, served like the neighborhood spot they always wanted to own.

"We did a whole new menu, a simple menu, with our flavors. We're commoners, you know? We don't have a million dollars sitting in the bank." — Jose Chavez

From keys in hand to first plate out

Osito's was nearly twenty years in the making and about a month from idea to opening.

~2007

Jose starts working in restaurants as a busser, eventually moving up to line cook, kitchen manager, and GM at Los Tarascos, Olive Garden, PF Chang's, and William Oliver's.

~2020

Jose and Molly's blended family forms. Her daughter starts calling him Osito. The nickname sticks — softball jersey, license plate, and eventually a restaurant.

Feb 16

"Got the keys." Jose and Molly take over the 405 5th Street space from La Casita, buying the equipment and writing a brand-new menu from scratch.

Feb 20

Osito's opens its doors in downtown Berthoud — four days from keys to first service.

Spring '26

Berthoud Weekly Surveyor profiles the new spot; locals start calling Osito's their lunch-and-dinner go-to.

What we stand for at Osito's

Three things show up on every plate and in every visit.

Family

Blended, on purpose.

Two cooks, two sets of parents, two kids, and twenty years of restaurant experience under one roof. The "Osito" name is literally a family nickname — the kitchen runs the same way.

Real food

From scratch, every day.

Nothing is microwaved or reheated from a bag. Menu items are tweaked on the spot when a guest needs them — like the dairy-free chipotle mayo we built for one customer, now a regular request.

Fair prices

You should be able to come back.

"Our prices won't make you hesitate," Jose says. Lunch stays around ten bucks, chips and salsa are free, and the menu is built so a second visit the same week is no big deal.

As featured in

Berthoud Weekly Surveyor

Paul Hughes profiled Osito's on April 13, 2026, including the bear story, the Mexico–New Mexico menu, and the family's first weeks on 5th Street. Read the full feature.

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