Restaurants

A wide choice from fine dining, steaks to tex-mex, burgers and pizzas.

The hottest restaurant table in Vail is at Kelly Liken where the absurdly young-looking eponymous chef serves American seasonal produce in smallish but incredibly flavoursome portions. There are over 100 wines on the list, with 30 by the glass. Larkspur ,at the base of Golden Peak, is a slick, contemporary American restaurant that uses first-class ingredients and has an extensive wine list. Many visitors prefer to eat at the stylish bar.

The Cucina Rusticana , specialises in Italian cuisine and has a very impressive list of Italian wines. It, like The Wildflower, is situated in the Lodge at Vail. The Wildflower has to be on the list of any visitor seriously interested in food. Literally, across the street from the Lodge is Sweet Basil, another popular choice. It has been going since 1977 and serves light, contemporary American food and has an award-winning, catholic wine list. It also has an excellent cocktail bar that serves especially good Bloody Marys, made with vodka marinated with peppers and garlic. It expanded for 2006/2007 and has an enlarged bar area as well as extra booth-like tables. Other establishments at the upper end of the choice and price are La Tour and Terra Bistro. Russel's is a small, friendly steak and seafood restaurant, also in Vail Village centre by the Covered Bridge. A few steps along Bridge St is the Ore House also serving steak based cuisine.

For the more budget conscious dining, The Red Lion serves typical American Burgers and Pizzas. Pazzo's is also a good choice for inexpensive pizza. It will be busy on peak dates - so be prepared to wait.

In Lionshead, Centre V , inside The Arrabelle. is a French style bistro. Prices are not over the top bearing in mind location and that it is in a 5 star property. Also within the Arrabelle is the Blue Moose Cafe serving pizzas which are surprisingly inexpensive considering location.

Montaukis good for seafood, while Garfinkels is good for high-quality fast food. Sushi restaurants have recently sprung up everywhere for those seeking a change from American portions. Mezzaluna has a sister branch to the popular Aspen haunt - a firm favourite there since 1987.

The sumptuous Game Creek Club on the mountain is open to the public at night and is reached via the gondola to Eagles Nest and then by snowcat. Incidentally, the Eagles Nest complex itself is open in the evenings and in addition to bars and restaurants has a variety of night-time activities including ice-skating.

Nightlife

At the foot of the slopes in Vail Village is Los Amigos, a lively Mexican-style bar with a big sun terrace for use in spring. Along at the Lionshead base area is the excellent Garfinkels, a huge apres-ski bar/restaurant which has always had a tremendous atmosphere from mid-afternoon onwards. There is sometimes live music on the vast sun-deck and the Margaritas are first-rate.

In Vail Village itself, the Red Lion is one of the resorts original bars and it still has a great ambience today. It serves a variety of beers from Colorado micro-breweries, including 90 Shilling Ale from the ODell Brewing Co. in Fort Collins and Great Sex Honey Ale from the Gore Range Brewing Co. in Edwards. Bully Ranch in the Sonnenalp is the place to go for something called a Mudslide, made with Vails official premium cordial - limited by the bar staff to three each as it is deceptively strong.

8150 (previously Garton's) is a large bar that features lots of live music, much of it tending towards Country & Western in style. There is a large dancefloor here and the place is very popular with Vail locals after 10pm. The Club is a scruffy cellar bar with live music that appeals to those in their 20s and 30s and those that like the style of Bananas in Val d'Isere will feel at home here. Vendetta is just the place to go if you want to pick up a ski patroller or you need late-night sustenance they carry on making pizzas here late into the night. FuBar is a popular disco.

For a relaxed yet sophisticated European style drink, the King's Club in the Tyrolean-themed Sonnenalp hotel is the place to go. In the Lodge at Vail, Mickeys famous piano bar is still going strong with the youthful-looking eponymous Mickey. The chances of spotting visiting celebrities here are much lower than they were a couple of decades ago. For a really sophisticated drink the place to head for is the bar of Terra Bistro in the Vail Mountain Lodge & Spa. This is particularly attractive to champagne lovers, since modest mark-ups mean that a huge variety of vintage champagnes are on offer at bargain prices. For late night dancing, try Sanctuary.

Non Skiers

Vail itself is a big, sprawling resort with plenty of shops many of them selling designer labels restaurants, spas, bars and cafes that are not just open but lively during the day. It is easy for skiers and boarders to come down to resort level for lunch in both Vail and Beaver Creek and it is also possible for non-skiers to get up the mountain using the Eagle Bahn Gondola, for a mid-day rendezvous, with the Eagles Nest complex above the Lionshead area of Vail being the most obvious meeting point.