SF Chowhound trying to figure eating itinerary for the Beaver Creek area for 10 year Anniversary

[vis]

Hi everyone. I'm considering spending our 10-year anniversary in the Beaver Creek area in early September. I'm just starting my research about things to do and see (we love nature, hiking, biking). I'm also interested to learn about the "must-eat" places - we are willing to drive within a 30 minute radius of Beaver Creek in case there's something outside of town.

We will have 3 dinners out, 1-2 breakfasts and 1 or 2 lunches (i figure some portion of time we'll be on a trail or ride somewhere). Any great places you guys recommend? One of the nights I'd like to go somewhere more upscale (up to, but hopefully not above, $250 for two people including wine). The other nights I'd like to keep it more reasonable - nice spots but not too expensive. We love all types of food, although we already get plenty of Asian and Indian options in the Bay Area.

Thank you ahead of time for any/all suggestions!

[ClaireWalter]

Lots of good options in Beaver Creek -- all fairly expensive. AT BC itself, special occasion restaurants include Spago at the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch, Splendido in the Chateau and charming Mirabelle at the entrance to Beaver Creek. For tapas and small plates, try the bar at the Osprey. On-mountain dining is run by the ski company. Most famous is Beano's Cabin (does or did serve prix-fixe dinners). Various methods of getting there, including on horseback. Down the hill in Avon, the Avondale in the Westin Riverfront is very good. West of Beaver Creek, Mirador at the Lodge at Cordillera has had a number of incarnations over the year, but I liked it the last time I was there. Down in the valley, Dish is terrific -- very creative chef and good vibe. Zino is reopening at riverside this summer right along the Eagle River. And remember that Vail is just 10 minutes down the road to the east.

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Mirabelle Restaurant At Beaver Creek
55 Village Rd, Vail, CO 81657

Beano's Cabin
PO Box 294, Avon, CO 81620

dish restaurant
56 Edwards Village Bld # 230, Edwards, CO 81632

[ddavis]

IMO the best food for the money in BC is Golden Eagle Inn. Best food and room at the highest prices is Splendido at the Chateau. Also pricey and excellent food is Grouse Mountain Grill in the Pines Lodge. Foxnut is good for sushi and asian and relatively inexpensive. Our experiences at Spago have not been good and we have tried it over and over. Food has been generally good to excellent but service has been poor and it is obscenely expensive.

Ten minutes away in Edwards is Dish, a small plates restaurant that is excellent and reasonably priced. In Vail, about a twenty minute drive, is Larkspur, a wonderful place with excellent food, service and a beautiful room. It is also very expensive, but in early September they may be running some excellent specials. At slow times they offer some great food specials and often offer everything on the wine list at 50% off.

This doesn't begin to list all the excellent restos in the area, but should give you a start. Please give us a report when you get home.

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Grouse Mountain Grill
141 Scotthill Road, Avon, CO 81620

Foxnut
45 Thomas Place, Avon, CO 81620

Golden Eagle Inn
118 Beaver Creek Plz, Avon, CO 81620

[BlueOx]

DD, knows the Valleys, listen to him.

The geography can be confusing, but Vail is on Gore Creek and calls itself the Vail Valley (by the way Vail was the name of the highway engineer who designed the road into Vail). After Vail, comes the Eagle River Valley, the change happens at Dowd Junction (close to Minturn) on I70. This is really no big deal, from Vail to Edwards is only 15 miles, with the Beav a 2 mile up hill spur out of Avon. DD and I tend to focus on the Big 7, Larkspur, Sweet Basil, Avondale, Dish, Juniper, Grouse Mountain and Splenido. We are probably going to have to retry, Kelly Liken, due to the media attention.

What we have neglected to say is there are probably 15 more places that are really good fun, with very good food. Take a look at the Vail Daily for who is offering good deals.

Now a word of advice, the crews who run every place here are your friends, not your servers. Treat them that way and you will have a great time. They probably did 4 times the hike or ride you did today and still made it into work to help you.

Let me know if you are doing road or mountain biking, I've got some sweet (not killer) rides.

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Avondale
Avon, CO, Avon, CO

Sweet Basil
193 E Gore Creek Dr Ste 201, Vail, CO 81657

Kelly Liken
12 Frontage Rd E, Vail, CO 81657

[ddavis]

Blue Ox's comment that "there are probably 15 more places that are really good fun, with very good food" got me thinking about all the possibilities that exist in "the valleys." Here is a listing of places not previously mentioned by Blue Ox or me that my wife and I have enjoyed and have had very good food. Not all have been excellent all the time, but there are none of them that we would not try again.

VAIL
Up the Creek
Blu's
Terra Bistro
Bart & Yetti's
Campo De Fiori
Sapphire
Vendetta's
Pepi's
Centre V

EAGLE-VAIL
Restaurant Ti Amo
Route 6 Cafe

AVON
Avon Bakery & Deli
Columbine Bakery
Nozawa

BEAVER CREEK
Mirabelle

EDWARDS
Gashouse
Marko's
Larkburger
Gore Range Brewery
French Press
Eat! Drink!
Fiesta's
Sato
Balata at Sonnenalp Golf Club (Singletree)
Mirador at Cordillera
Grouse on the Green at Cordillera

EAGLE
Eagle Diner
Grand Avenue Grill

MINTURN
Chili Willy's

RED CLIFF
Mango's Mountain Grill

These range from fine dining (Mirabelle) to 50's style diners (Eagle Diner) to great fish taco places where you would never guess you would find it (Mango's). This area truly has great dining if you just know where to find it.

VAIL

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Centre V
675 Lionshead Place, Vail, CO 81657

Terra Bistro
352 E. Meadow Drive, Vail, CO 81657

Eagle Diner
0112 W Chambers Ave, Eagle, CO 81631

Campo De Fiori
100 E Meadow Dr, Vail, CO 81657

Gore Range Brewery
105 Edwards Village Blvd, Edwards, CO 81632

Avon Bakery & Deli
025 Hurd Ln, Avon, CO 81620

Gashouse
34185 Highway 6, Edwards, CO 81632

Larkburger
105 Edwards Village Blvd, Edwards, CO 81632

Chili Willy's
101 Main St, Edwards, CO 81632

The French Press
85 S Union Blvd Ste H, Denver, CO 80228

The Columbine Bakery
PO Box 18308, Avon, CO 81620

Route 6 Cafe
PO Box 1542, Vail, CO 81658

Mango's Mountain Grill
PO Box 266, Red Cliff, CO 81649

The Grand Avenue Grill
678 Grand Ave, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601

[BlueOx]

Hey DD, great list. Hope you don't mind if I add a couple:

VAIL
Wildflower at the Lodge of Vail
Lord Gore at the redone Manor Vail (great spot before and after Bravo Concerts)
Atwater in the Cascade Resort
New Sushi place that is opening near "Checkpoint Charlie"

AVON
Ticino (you need detailed directions)
Blue Plate

MINTURN
The Saloon for Margaritas and Quail only

EDWARDS
Maybe Zinos, it opens next Monday
Cut for $5 beers and burgers on Friday evenings

And a correction to my earlier post, I said friend when I should have said that the workers here understand that visitors are guests and for the most part that's the way they will treat you.

[vis]

thank you for all the suggestions. All sounds great! I'm looking forward to it!

[ddavis]

I just got an email from Larkspur saying their summer specials have begun. This includes a dinner special of 2 courses for $29 or 3 courses for $39. You order from the regular menu. They also are repeating their 50% off all bottles of wine special.

[RobynS]

Great tips from everyone of course. I'll add The Bookworm in Edwards for crepes for breakfast and fantastic Novo coffee roasted in Denver. Best cup of coffee I've had in a long time.

[vis]

All sounds great - thank you!

I might do my first night in Boulder and am thinking of either Frasca or The Kitchen. Both sound good (one is obviously a notch higher on the culinary and price scale it seems).