Exciting dining news has come to Edwards. CAYA, which stands for “Come As You Are,” transforms the former E-Town location. This globally inspired restaurant and bar features seasonal cooking, music and a relaxed approach to dining that reflects how the local community actually lives and eats.

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A familiar Edwards restaurant returns with a new vision

The CAYA team rebuilt the former E-Town space, introducing a new concept, menu and perspective on everyday dining in Edwards. The name CAYA takes inspiration from a song by the Colorado-born band String Cheese Incident, a nod to the mountain community and the come-as-you-are spirit that guides the experience from day to night.

“We paid attention to how people actually dine here and built CAYA to match that rhythm,” says JD Childress, owner of CAYA. “You can come in for a quick lunch, share plates with friends or settle in for a special night out. The menu changes often, but the goal stays the same: make it easy to walk in and eat well.”

Seasonal dishes inspired by flavors around the world

Executive Chef Carlos Castro leads the kitchen and builds menus that feel familiar on the surface but reveal unexpected depth through ingredients and flavors from around the world. 

Guests may recognize a dish at first glance, then taste a twist driven by a spice blend, a sauce, a technique or a seasonal garnish. 

The menu will change with the seasons and feature dishes such as:

• Mussels with preserved lemon, confit tomato, fennel jus and fresh herbs
• Summer melon salad with watercress, feta, prosciutto, brown butter crumbs and strawberry vinaigrette
• porchetta panini with pickled fennel, broccolini, verde aioli and fresh mozzarella
• Shrimp and grits built on Creole shrimp, smoked pork belly, Anson Mills grits and smoked tomato jus

“I start with a dish people already understand, then I build layers of flavor with techniques and ingredients that might come from another part of the world,” Castro says. “That approach keeps the menu approachable, but it still lets us surprise guests with something they did not expect.”

Cocktails, mocktails and music take center stage

The beverage program, built by General Manager Kenna Herrmann, follows the same mindset, centered on four housemade shrubs and fruit-and-acid syrups, which flow across cocktails, mocktails and dirty sodas. 

Each shrub takes its name from a song that matches its character, tying the bar program back to the music-driven identity at CAYA’s core. Early standouts include:

• The Blackberry Way, a dark and floral pour featuring the blackberry-lavender shrub 
• The Cordozar, a refined gin built with aquafaba, elderflower, cucumber and white grape

The zero-proof program receives equal attention, with four housemade mocktails and four dirty soda builds that use the same shrub bases as the cocktail menu.

“Song titles give us a creative starting point, but we let the ingredients do the talking,” says Joe Cordova, bar manager and assistant manager of CAYA. “We make every shrub in-house, then build each drink around a single seasonal element using house syrups, infusions and cordials. The result feels playful on the menu, but it drinks with real balance.”

A community-focused gathering space

Community sits at the center of everything at CAYA, from the come-as-you-are philosophy behind the name to the team being built to bring it to life. The restaurant has hosted hiring events leading up to opening, drawing locals who reflect the welcoming, music-loving spirit the concept was designed around.

“I approached building the bar program the same way I approached building this team: with intention and with this community in mind,” Herrmann says. “Every shrub is made from scratch, every cocktail is named after a song and every person we hired reflects the spirit we want guests to feel the moment they walk in. CAYA was deliberately built with the valley’s people in mind.”

Caya details

CAYA seats approximately 125 guests and includes a 60-seat patio with covered seating options, along with a private dining section that features a separate entrance and accommodates up to 25 people. 

During patio season, live music will be hosted every Friday through Sunday.

For more information, visit Caya-Edwards.com and follow @caya_edwards on Instagram and Facebook.