Vail Chophouse

To be honest we almost left within 3 mins of arriving. We had a reservation for an early dinner but what we didn’t know is that happy hour was still going on & the live music was soooo extremely loud that it was setting off alerts on our watches of loud decibel levels. The hostess told us they would be ending soon. So we asked for a table the furthest from the performers. Once they finished & the happy hour crowd departed it was a lot nicer for our group. Food was delicious & our waiter was attentive.

The view is excellent, but the value for the price you pay is non-existent. I paid $20 to add shrimps to my salad, I got FOUR small shrimps. My friend ordered chicken - see pic - and it was a high end fast food. On top of all that, of paying too much for cheap food, no one was nice. I know Vail is expensive and I did pay over $100 for my dinner at a different restaurant, but the food and service was top notch! So you decide if you want to spend your hard earned money here.

I would definitely make a reservation. The night we went there was live music on the patio. Luckily, I sat inside the restaurant because the guy playing was loud enough for the whole village to hear! The receptionist was nice and took me to my table. It took a while for my waitress to come get my drink order. This was kind of the theme of my visit here. My waitress was great. She continued to check on me frequently throughout my meal. But it did seem like the restaurant was under staffed and everyone working was being overworked. Just an observation. But I wouldn't go expecting speedy service. The food was, eh, ok. The New York strip steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare but did not have much flavor. It was seared and maybe cooked in a pan rather than on a grill. I would rather give up some of the perfect cook to add more flavor by having it cooked on a grill. The mashed potatoes were just ok. The bacon wrapped asparagus were good. The asparagus was cooked all the way but not too much. And almost anything wrapped in bacon is good. Last is the Crab Mac and Cheese. The noodles were cooked well. There was a sauce in the bottom of the bowl but it was not cheesy Mac and cheese. There were 3 clumps of crab meat on top that were about the size of a silver dollar each. The Crab Mac and Cheese had pretty good flavor, it just wasn't cheesy enough to be called Mac and Cheese. Overall, I would not come here to spend $60 on a steak, $30 on Crab Mac and Cheese, or $15 for asparagus and potatoes each. There are places with much better food in Vail.

We visited Vail and haven’t been on vacation for a few years. Our last dining experiences were in Dallas, Vegas, and NYC. Our table had lamb chops, bone-in ribeye, the sea-food tower, Chilean sea bass….. EVERYTHING was perfect. The food, the drinks, the service. Spot on- congratulations to the management!!

My wife and kids liked it more than me. Their sandwich, lollipop chicken and shoe string fries were solid. My poke was disappointing (but should I expect more at a touristy spot in CO?). You could tell the tuna was recently thawed and the avocado was visually over ripe (ie brown-ish). Big surprise - it all cost a lot too. I'd go back if the lines at other places were long and would stick with a sandwich.