Vail Resorts is putting what it calls its largest investment in food to date into the lunch staples on its lodge menus. Chili and burgers are getting a rework this winter, and the changes reach well past the grill.
Higher-quality ingredients and better recipes are coming to ski-day classics such as pizza, hot dogs, chicken strips and mac and cheese. One example is the new Steakhouse Burger, a butcher’s blend burger with melted New School American Cheese and Summit Sauce on a butter-toasted brioche bun. The company says the upgrades won’t raise prices beyond normal inflation.
Lodge Staples Get an Upgrade at 15 Resorts
The food upgrades cover the menu items behind most dining purchases at 15 regional and destination resorts. They follow a fiscal year in which the company’s mountain dining revenue fell 7.6% while skier visits dropped 13.4%. Epic Pass holders get 20% off dining all season.
New Things to Eat and Drink This Winter
Beyond the lodge staples, several winter resorts in the Vail Resorts network are adding new food and drink this season, including these five.
- Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia: Steeps adds caviar and Champagne service on its patio, and Christine’s on Blackcomb opens On The Rocks, an ice bar with outdoor seating for cocktails and bubbles.
- Park City Mountain, Utah: A traveling S’mores Sleigh brings fireside treats to surprise spots around the resort. The mountain is also expanding its Peak to Plate Dining and Skiing Experience, where guests ski and dine their way across the mountain with a guide.
- Vail Mountain, Colorado: The new Vail Ice Bar sits next to the Legendary Back Bowls Gate, and the Two Martini Lunch returns to The 10th.
- Breckenridge, Colorado: The new Climb and Dine series pairs a climb under your own power with dinner, and the Hot Dog Tower is back.
- Mount Snow, Vermont: A new Maple Syrup Flight pairs tastings of locally sourced syrup with sweet and savory bites.
Five more Vail Resorts mountains have food news this winter: Keystone, Beaver Creek, Crested Butte, Stevens Pass and Hunter Mountain. Crested Butte’s Uley’s Cabin sleigh ride dinners return for the resort’s 65th anniversary season. Stevens Pass is celebrating its 90th anniversary season with The 90th, a custom beer it created with a local brewery.
Shorter Lines and Some Date-Only Dining
Vail Resorts says it’s adding new technology and operational changes to cut wait times and add seating. Beaver Creek’s Alpine Table Series, with sommelier-selected wine pairings, is back, and its new Spruce Saddle Cabin Corner serves cabin-inspired dishes only on select dates. Check your resort’s dining page for dates before you go.