Avanti Vail changes the dining landscape at Vail Mountain
5 new restaurant concepts under one roof at Golden Peak
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
“Where should we go to eat?”
That question can be answered with two words: Avanti Vail, the hottest new concept for breakfast, lunch, dinner and après ski at the base of the Riva Bahn Express (No. 6) on Vail Mountain.
Avanti Vail is in the base area lodge at Golden Peak. The space housed Larkspur restaurant for nearly 25 years. Last April, Vail Mountain and Denver-based Avanti Food and Beverage announced a joint $4 million investment in Golden Peak base area.
“We love Thomas Salamunovich of Larkspur, but we knew that Golden Peak needed a little bit of action and some new vibes, so we decided to partner together with Vail Mountain and open up a great new spot,” said Travis Christ, director of operations for Avanti Food and Beverage.
Instead of being one restaurant with one style of cuisine, Avanti offers a modern-day approach to food halls. Inspired by European markets and local food truck roundups, Avanti Food and Beverage launched in Denver in 2015 and expanded into Boulder in 2020. Location, food and views are paramount to the brand.
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“It’s very important for us at Avanti to have amazing outdoor space, especially with 300 days of sunshine in Colorado,” Christ said. “We want to be a spot you can come to at any time of day, at any time of year, and get great service, great food and great drinks.”
Avanti Vail has five different food concepts to choose from, so whatever tastes, preferences or food sensitivities your group has, everyone should be able to find something to order.
“Glo is our sushi and ramen concept. They have a brick and mortar in Denver that was Michelin acclaimed and founder and executive chef Chris Teigland wanted to come up and do an outpost in Vail. Here you can get ramen for under $20 and you really can’t beat it anywhere,” Christ said.
Backyard Burgers offers several takes on its smash-grilled burgers and a variety of sauces to go with them.
“They also have great chicken sandwiches and probably the best Philly cheesesteak I’ve ever had,” Christ said.
Boychik is one of Avanti Food and Beverage’s food stalls in Boulder.
“Typically, when we do a new Avanti location, we bring one of our favorite concepts into that new space. So, we still have Boychik in Boulder and are happy to bring this Mediterranean concept to Avanti Vail,” Christ said. “Boychik has great shawarma, gyros, falafel, hummus, dips and spreads.”
Pizza is always a crowd pleaser and Christ said that Powder Crust Pizza makes handmade tavern-style pizzas and Roman style pizza by the slice, along with Caesar salads, pretzels and wings.
While the other restaurant stalls open at 11 a.m., Detoor Day Cafe and Après Brasserie is open early for breakfast and will serve all day.
“Detoor has great breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches, then it flips over to a lunchtime menu at 11 a.m., where you can get handmade fresh sandwiches, several choices of soups, different styles of bruschetta and then they’ve got oysters by the dozen, poke, caviar as well,” Christ said.
“There’s a saying that the kiss of death in marketing is ‘Don’t try to be all things to all people,’ and naturally, what happened with Avanti, we became all things to all people,” Christ said. “You can come here with your family. You can be on a date. You can come with your college buddies, a bachelorette party, you can show up with all three generations, grandparents to grandkids, there’s always something for everyone and that’s what we want Avanti Vail to be.”
Avanti aims to have a vibrant après ski scene with music and plenty of outdoor seating with fire pits and heat lamps, an outdoor bar and booths with views of Vail Mountain in addition to the nooks inside the 10,000 square-foot space. Avanti’s signature cocktails like margaritas, old fashioneds and mules are priced at $12, and there is an extensive beer and spirits list with products from Colorado.
“We have the après ski bar, which has a great indoor fire pit, some lamb skin covers on the seats and then we’ve got the hearth area that has the big double-sided fireplace that leads into the great room. We’ve got a cozy little sushi lounge. All these spaces can be rented out for parties, or you can come as you are and just come in with a group of two and take a seat wherever you like,” Christ said. “We also have plenty of TVs to catch your favorite games.”
Locals were who Avanti Food and Beverage had in mind when creating this new location at Golden Peak.
“When we started talking about Avanti Vail, it was really the locals that pushed us,” Christ said. “They said they needed something like this and that really gave us the excitement and the energy to push forward because we know what it’s like when you want to do something last minute or you want to do something with a big group or have people coming in to visit. You don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, or you don’t want to plan and make reservations 30 days out. We want it to be the place where locals will come, and the visitors will follow. It’s like a big ‘Cheers’ bar, we want everyone to feel welcome.”
Free parking will be available at the ski school lot at Golden Peak from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Validation and parking will be free after 4 p.m. in front of the Golden Peak Lodge. The Golden Peak Lodge is also on the town of Vail free shuttle bus. For more information on hours, menus and Avanti Food and Beverage Denver and Boulder, visit AvantiFandB.com.
