This casual neighborhood cafe focuses on fine wine from around the world (also available for sale in the adjacent gourmet market) and more than 100 artisan cheeses. The spacious patio hosts local live music, creating a welcome escape where you can spend an entire afternoon. Among the spread of small bites, salads, shareable plates, bruschettas, and paninis, don’t miss the king crab legs and oysters on the half shell.

This bustling bistro is all about modern versions of classic sandwiches like po’ boys, French dips, and Reubens. Beers from Colorado and beyond are on tap, and there’s a wide selection of whiskey. Lunch and dinner are served daily (except Monday), with Led Zeppelin usually blasting in the background on the hi-fi and a shuffleboard table at the ready.

Recently expanded with a new lounge and dining area, this bohemian bakery, bar, and restaurant is worth a stop on the Riverwalk. The all-day menu includes a citrus beet salad, avocado fries, and “chef’s choice” tacos. The extensive cocktail menu is impressive, too; order a signature shiso highball or Mexican mistress, and sidle up to the vintage pool table and dartboard.

The luxurious Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch is tucked away in its own enclave of Beaver Creek and worth a winding detour up the mountain road for a meal at the resort’s signature restaurant. Chef Jasper Schneider channels bold cooking techniques, local ingredients, and hyper-seasonal flavors for lunch and dinner. Weekends bring live music on the patio for lunch and inside for dinner.

This wine bar is the perfect pre-dinner pit stop, offering a daily happy hour with the best value on wines by the glass. But after drinks, you might as well stay for the food. Chef Charles Hays prepares seasonal small plates, including PEI mussels and braised pork cheeks, along with large plates like seared U-8 scallops and pan-roasted Alaskan halibut. For dessert, try the sparkling CBD root beer float with mountain flower vanilla gelato, Amarena cherry, and vanilla whipped cream.

Just off of I-70 (the main drag of the Eagle-Vail corridor) and situated in a strip mall (also where you’ll find the only cannabis dispensaries in the area) lies an Italian eatery beloved by longtime locals and perfect for date nights. Once inside, you’ll forget your surroundings thanks to dim lights, a bottle of Chianti, and classic regional cuisine from Northern Italy, including petti di pollo alle fragole, gnocchi principessa, and vongole en brodo. Ending the evening with a mini cannoli is also a must.

More than a century old, this mining-town hideout is all about the ambience. The bar, once a secret gambling room, is chock-full of memorabilia and known now for its award-winning margaritas. On the food menu: pork green chile and a chef’s mixed grill of quail, duck, and ribs. The saloon makes for a fun celebratory stop for off-piste skiers who’ve just completed the legendary Minturn Mile. This season, tacos and fajitas are available for diners to assemble at home, while packages of enchiladas and barbecue ribs come ready to serve.

Hatched in Vail by three friends (and followed by a second location in Boulder), this fast-casual homage to chicken serves up a heart-healthy twist on fried and roasted birds. The all-natural, vegetarian-fed, hormone-free, antibiotic-free chickens are sourced from local farms. Fresh side dishes include smashed-potato fries, organic citrus quinoa, crunchy red slaw, and macaroni pie.

Nepali and Indian cuisine are Himalayan highlights at this Mount Everest-inspired canteen, located inside the Evergreen Lodge at Vail. Naan fresh from the clay oven and steaming plates of paneer, masala, and curry go best with a cup of cheeya (black tea brewed with milk and Nepali spices) after a long day of adventuring.

You might mistake Vail Village for Paris inside this French bistro, which serves traditional brasserie fare complete with poisson en papillote (seasonal fish baked in parchment), escargot, beef bourguignon, and steak frites. The walls, adorned with posters and antiques, make an Instagram-worthy backdrop for the equally attractive food, especially if you order the decadent Champagne brunch (available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.). 

The valley has a handful of fresh sushi options (including splurge-worthy Matsuhisa and more affordable quality at Joy), but Osaki’s is the spot to seek out for one epic Japanese dinner. Chef Takeshi Osaki learned sushi-making from his grandfather in Osaka, and he trained at Nobu’s Aspen outpost before opening his own spot in the heart of Vail Village.

When La Nonna Ristorante replaced Campo de Fiori, longtime chef Simone Reatti remained through the overhaul. Growing up in Cortina d’Ampezzo, he learned to cook from his own nonna, whom he honors through a menu of rustic Italian cuisine. From fresh pasta made daily (using Pivetti flour from Italy) to mouthwatering antipasti, dinner features Reatti’s favorites from his native village in the Dolomites.

This French-influenced bistro not only brings modern and creative dishes to its guests, but also prides itself on top-notch hospitality and a fabulous wine list. Truffle French onion soup, wild Burgundy escargot, imported Dover sole meuniere, and an Iberico bellota pork chop are all highlights.

This cozy, chic spot is worth seeking out for a drink before or after dinner — although the kitchen crew, veterans of the now-closed Restaurant Kelly Liken, prepare small plates that make a perfectly solid meal. In addition to its excellent wine list (50 pours by the glass), Root & Flower serves draft beers and craft cocktails. Drinkers should work their way through the multiple liquid menus, divvied up into categories like “underappreciated & misunderstood,” “pretty & pink,” “slow & serious,” and “rustic & complex.”

As the in-house restaurant and bar of the new location of Gravity Haus — an uber-cool collection of community-forward base camps in Vail, Breckenridge, and Winter Park — the Slope Room offers breakfast, lunch, happy hour, and dinner, all focused on protein and produce from Rocky Mountain farmers and ranchers. The vibe in the sleek, off-lobby space is sexy steakhouse meets the spirit of the Old West.