APRIL 10, 2025 | FEATURES | By Anya Potsiadlo and Olivia Harris
“Ok guys, this is really exciting,” says Kim Season as he walks up to our table. Out of all the exciting aspects of this action-packed second Saturday, the anticipated arrival of our food at Otto’s was probably the single moment we were looking forward to the most. And thanks to Season’s generosity, this moment had just gotten a whole lot better: Instead of bringing us a try of fries accompanied by Otto’s special sauce, we were given a flight of all eight house-made sauces.
Welcome back to Pow and Chow — we’re back for another week of post-ski grub reviews at the spot that inspired it all.
We spent the day on the lovely slopes and bowls of A-basin. On Saturday, the mountain was heavily populated with CC students wearing denim and making frequent stops by the beach, where CC Freeride hosted a Denim Disco party (including a costume contest where we took home the first and second place prizes in the “denim disco” category.) We couldn’t resist the freshly grilled, 200 cent hot dogs they were selling, but made sure to eat them early enough in the day that by the time we were rolling down I-25 through Fairplay, we were ready to chow down on a crispy, juicy Otto’s sandwich.
Otto’s is the kind of place that is hyped up so much, whenever someone new comes to try their famous chicken sandwich, loyal fans are plagued by the lingering fear that a new unbiased opinion will find it to be underwhelming. But it’s also the kind of place that makes such a damn good chicken sandwich that these fears are squashed upon first bite.
It had been a while since we last had the pleasure of biting into an Otto’s chicken sandwich, and our excitement was palpable. We ordered “The Original Chicken Sandwich” and the “Otto’s Special Chicken Sandwich”, along with a side of fries for the table, of course.
Although we’d like to try something new, for the sake of a proper review, the Original Sandwich was a must order. The crisp and flavorful chicken shines through and the dill pickles and crispy but soft bun are the only other (integral) components. This sandwich puts any other simple chicken sandwich to shame.
The star of the “Otto’s Special” was the special sauce, which had a satisfying dill flavor that managed to stand out even in the party of flavors that came with each bite. The sauce also gives the sandwich a juicy quality that miraculously doesn’t compromise the incomparable crispiness of the fried chicken patty.
The food never disappoints, but what makes Otto’s even more special is the pride and community that is evident upon talking to anyone who works there.
After bringing us our flight of sauces, Kim Season sat down with us for a few minutes and told us a little bit about the man, the myth, the legend, and the one who started it all: Brian “Otto” Beck.
“He came up with the name Otto, his nickname, because he looks like and he acts like the bus driver from the Simpsons. He does a bunch of drugs, has all these tattoos,” said Season.
“He looks a lot like that,” he said, pointing at a Bitmoji printed on the napkin holder at the table next to us.
Season has been working at Otto’s since his very first day living in Colorado—on the last day of 2019, just a couple weeks after Otto’s had opened their first location, a food truck that still exists just a few miles up the road in Alma, CO.
Back when Season first started working at the beloved joint, the menu wasn’t quite as robust, and the sauce selection wasn’t as large as the one we had the pleasure of indulging in.
“I remember when we had four, and we just kept creating them,” Season said.
As we made our way through our pile of fries, we dipped and redipped in each sauce, making sure each had its due time on our palettes. When all was said and done, a few favorites emerged: evident by the relative emptiness of their cups due to repeated dipping. These standouts were the Cowgirl Ranch, Carolina Sweet Mustard, Garlic+Herb Aioli, and of course Otto’s Special Sauce, though all eight offered a unique flavor packed bite.
In our last review, it was the absence of sauces like these that made us dock them a few points. It’s safe to say that Otto’s satisfied the cravings of these sauce enthusiasts, leaving no fry undipped and no sandwich unsmothered. Therefore, we can’t fathom giving Otto’s any score lower than a 10/10. It’s conveniently right off I-25, has a great atmosphere, and leaves us wishing we could eat this chicken sandwich for every meal.