Chef Greg Topper brings healthy breakfast to 520 Grill, dubbed Eggs@520, resuming service Dec. 2.
Jeremy Wallace/The Aspen TimesLocals dig into Powder Pancakes, offered complimentary on all four Aspen-Snowmass mountains when the morning report tallies at least 8 inches of snowfall.
Daniel Bayel/Courtesy Photo
Gwyn’s High Alpine
Aspen Times file
Aspen’s oldest watering hole, The Red Onion, offers two happy hours daily.
Aspen Times file
Welcome! If you’ve just moved here for the winter 2019-20 season, congratulations! If you’ve lived here for decades: also congratulations! As Aspen locals will attest, the colder months represent prime time to enjoy all that our former mining town-turned-ski sanctuary has to offer, food included.
Still, as a miserly taxi driver might note: Many affordable, mom-and-pop restaurants have gone the way of the Snowmastodon. Cheap, satisfying breakfast is rare; food delivery is legitimately pathetic, not to mention exorbitantly expensive; and nobody will praise our dining landscape for diversity. Not to fear, however; options for good meals — and deals — do exist, if you know where to look.
BELLY UP TO THE BAR MENU
The single most suggested tip about Aspen dining: Order from the almighty bar menu, a timeless local cornerstone. At L’Hostaria’s 23rd anniversary celebration last week, in fact, our table of six — seated at a first-come, high-top bar table, natch — agreed unanimously: nobody could remember the last time he or she actually sat in a dining room. Those who perch at the bar in Jimmy’s, Bosq, Campo de Fiori, Cache Cache, Ellina, Steakhouse No. 316, or The Monarch (among many others) are privy to a separate, often more gently priced menu in addition to the regular restaurant menu. A lively bar scene (sometimes set to live music) provides the coziest atmosphere, anyway, as well as a chance to rub elbows with the folks who’ve lived here longest.
FOLLOW THE SKI BUMS
And gather intel on the gondola….
