Mountain Standard

What a wonderful meal and great atmosphere! The Porkchop was cooked perfectly and even seafood in the mountains are awesome. The family had a great time and we enjoyed a couple specialty cocktails. Would definitely come back again.

I have to say that I’m not a fan of mountain standard. Although the atmosphere is lovely and the wait staff was great, the food was just not worth the price. Everything I tasted was weird. I’ve never had salmon in a mushroom broth and I don’t care to have that again as it just a strange combination. My husband a pork shank that just had strange flavors. Every time we took a bite we were wondering what we were eating. Sorry to be harsh but when you spend $ 150 on a very simple meal with no appetizers or anything extra you expect good flavors not artsy-​fartsy weirdness.

We went for dessert and drinks as recommended by the concierge. Staff was wonderful. The dessert was expensive, but we were told it was worth it. It was an ok dessert. Looks like they ran out and cut ours in half. 3 bites for $ 10. High rating because of staff, our waiter was tremendous.

Amazing food and incredible location. Sat on the patio – creek near by. The food was sensational! Reasonably priced.
Highly recommend.

Was up in Vail for a conference. Visited with friends. The food was good, and the bartender was great, however, our waitress did not want to be there and it was very obvious.
I wasn’t super hungry when I visited so I only had a couple of apps. We ordered the steak tartare, which was delicious and the very tasty southern pimento cheese. Overall, the food was pretty great, but the salmon that was ordered was sent back because it was far too overdone. I would have given this place another star, but the service at our table was absolutely miserable. The waitress was rude, inattentive, and intimidating. I obviously can’t generalize or speculate as to the rest of the staff, but we were unimpressed.

From the start, I knew this place was legit. Appetizers were terrific. Steak tartare and bruschetta were on the money. Main courses were fabulous. 4 for 4. Pork shank, trout, lamb and chicken were A+. Lamb is spicy so beware. Mud pie was a great way to end the meal. Mike was a great host too.

If you only come here for a small bite or snack, definitely order the shrimp and grits! They are so fantastic that (apparently) they are one of the only items to stay on the menu consistently since opening. Whoever their chef is knows what they are doing with grits. So flavorful, cooked perfectly and the different elements of the whole dish went so amazingly well together that if no one was watching, I probably would have licked my plate. They also have a fantastic selection of wine — we opted for a bottle of French Rhone red and were not disappointed. The bar staff was fantastic and the restaurant had such a homey, welcoming vibe.

Came in for some afternoon snacks.
Has the onion rings (crispy flavorful goodness), ½ Dzn oysters (fresh & tasty), tomato soup (good & not too rich), bruschetta (mediocre).
Not much here for vegetarians.

I love everything about Mountain Standard, aside from the wait for table on nights I forget to make a reservation.
It’s on the Gore Creek, right under it’s sister restaurant (Sweet Basil). The rotisserie chicken salad is my go-​to for a quick stop in at the bar. When I’m in less of a hurry, the rest of the menu is an explosion of taste bud happiness.
Be sure to end (or start) your evening (or afternoon) with an Irish coffee — it’s modeled off of the same drink at The Buena Vista Café in San Francisco and it is delicious.

Best wedge salad, onion rings and club sandwich we have EVER had!!! This is a must visit when in Vail!

Ambiance is Excellent, along with the service!
Our food (pork chop & steak) was O.K., but lacking in flavor.
Open kitchens are nice in concept, but we didn’t appreciate watching one young man that couldn’t help himself from snacking behind the line

What a TERRIBLE experience! We’ve eaten here several times previously and were satisfied with the quality of the food and service, and I’ve even hosted a business dinner here last fall.
This time around though was a completely different experience — for the WORSE! Server was sick and my wife’s trout dish was grossly overcooked. Worst of all, she got VERY ill as soon as we got home from the restaurant and I’ll leave out the details of how sick she got.
Called the restaurant to tell them to check the fish for freshness, and got told by the manager that «no one else had complained». Was pretty surprised by the manager’s attitude overall, as he offered no apology whatsoever and only a question as to what «I’d like for him to do». Told him to check on the fish and credit back the cost of just that dish. He promised nothing but a return call, which as you could probably guess already, never happened.
Won’t be going here ever again, as Vail has lots of great choices for nice restaurants with solid food, service and true mountain hospitality!

Outstanding restaurant! We came in for lunch after a ski day. We had the carpaccio for starters (defiantly recommend) the turkey club, seared tuna special, and hamburger. All were pleasing to the palate! This is the sister restaurant to Sweet Basil which I believe is equally amazing with abut of a different in menu. Both are worth trying while a visit to Vail. Enjoy!

This place was hopping on a random Wednesday winter night. Definitely make a reservation. We were lucky to get two seats at the bar. Fun atmosphere. Very noisy but great energy. The bartenders were super friendly. One helped a patron get a last minute reservation for Friday night by putting him down as a friend of his. That was super nice. The girls next to us got the bone marrow and the bartender served them shots through the bone afterwards. Just some examples of the fun and friendly atmosphere. Great cocktails and food! Definitely check this place out when in Vail.

Two five-​star reviews in a row ain’t my style. But there is such a thing as an exception. Enter Mountain Standard.
My last review? Sister restaurant and «it» locale, Sweet Basil. Hardly a coincidence.
On our last night in Vail, my dad and I changed our dinner plans last minute and headed to Mountain Standard sans reservation (easier than it looks/​sounds). We couldn’t deny the rave reviews of it on virtually every dining and travel site out there – Unilocal,TripAdvisor, Zagat – you name it.
While Sweet Basil gives off more of a refined vibe, Mountain Standard is far more rustic (goes with the name, I suppose). It’s larger and cozier. Both are fairly relaxed environments as far as fine dining establishments go, but at Mountain Standard you can just feel right at home, winding down from a full day of skiing and winter weather (in my case). My dad and I decided that we’d like to sit at the bar, which ended up helping that vibe reach its utmost potential. There will be a wait for the bar as well at peak hours, but don’t bail too quickly. It’s worth it. Read on.
Mountain Standard boasts some fun craft beers as well as some specialty cocktails, so of course I had to try both. Like any good craft beer establishment, you’ll be able to sample whatever you’d like on tap. Like any GREAT craft beer establishment, when you ask to try one, the bartender will take the liberty of giving you two for comparison purposes. I ended up going with a rye IPA, which was fabulous. I typically don’t like IPAs, so this is a bold statement. Our bartender (more on him later), also whipped up a few bartender’s choice cocktails for me over the course of the night, one of which was incredible (the other was an experiment – not bad, and I greatly appreciated the effort): the Paper Planes (bourbon, aperol, amaro). While the menu cocktails looked delicious too, I got the sense that this bartender valued creativity (I also love watching bartenders at work), so I deferred and went the original route.
We maybe might have perhaps ordered too much food. When you’re sharing and the entire menu is mouthwatering, it’s easy to make fewer choices instead of ruling something out completely. After all, opting *for* something is opting *against* something else. As was the case at Sweet Basil, everything we ordered here was unbelievably flavorful and downright yummy:
Alaskan King Crab w/​cocktail sauce and Joe’s mustard sauce (A)
Mountain Standard has a fairly impressive raw bar considering Colorado isn’t exactly near any large bodies of water, so obviously this crab wasn’t the freshest of fresh. Even so, it really hit the spot. The sauces deserve almost as much praise as the main event – «cocktail» and «Joe’s mustard» don’t do them justice. I had only tried cocktail sauce and melted butter on king crab legs before this point, so this was a welcome innovation to behold.
Wood Roasted Baby Carrots w/​grilled cauliflower, lemon yogurt, ras-​el hanout, golden raisins and crunchy bits (A++)
Sadly this was a pretty small salad, so I only got a few morsels. And what good morsels they were. A delicious, flavorful (have I said that enough yet?), comforting winter salad. Savory yet slightly sweet and perfectly seasoned.
The «Standard» Wedge w/​crispy prosciutto, maytag blue, puffed farro and avocado (A+)
The puffed starch concept must be a hallmark of this restaurant group, and I’m a fan. I don’t exactly jump at the chance to eat iceberg lettuce (I might as well just eat plain ice), but as should be the case, in this dish it was simply the vessel to hold the harmonic texture and flavor profiles. My only issue was that the dish might’ve been a bit excessive on the maytag blue, but that could just be the health freak talking. Lovely presentation, even better taste.
Charred Octopus w/​black-​eyed peas, ham hock, preserved lemon, garlic crumbs (A)
I’m an octopus snob, so I’ll say that this was a «touch» overdone. But I still thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Creative ingredients and wonderfully balanced flavors are hard to critique. I’m a fan of pairing legumes with octopus, so that octopus/​pea combo was much appreciated.
Undeserving of their own graphs but still tasty were our side orders: Smoked Mushrooms/​Black Kale (A-​) and the Brussels sprouts w/​peanuts (A). The mushrooms/​kale were pretty standard – considering rest of the deliciosity that we consumed, they were comparably «meh». As for the Brussels sprouts and peanuts? Always a winning combination. Whereas the kale and mushrooms were pretty bare bones, these weren’t exactly the healthiest of Brussels sprouts. But sometimes that extra crispiness is just worth it, and we found that out first hand.
Service was A+ and more. Our bartender was such a treat, which led us to happily order a six-​pack for kitchen (it’s an actual option on the desert menu – cute touch). Whenever this order is placed, a reverberant cheer sounds throughout the venue. Gave us one more thing to smile about!

Mountain Standard, and its sister restaurant Sweet Basil, are both in the top 3 – 4 of our favorite Vail restaurants. The atmosphere is warm & inviting and the staff are very friendly. The food is all prepared perfectly, with a creative menu that suits any tastes. My wife really liked her Trout entrée, that came with a ton of blue crap on top. Very good value, considering the portion size and quality. I had the roast chicken, which sounds pretty plain but was cooked to perfection. The highlight of my meal was the wedge salad, which is a derivative of a traditional wedge, but adds avocado and prosciutto substituted for bacon. Very good.
If you’re in the mood for an after-​dinner cocktail, they make the best Irish coffee this side of the Buena Vista in San Francisco. It was excellent.

On top of quality food, such great service. I wish I remembered her name, but our waitress was very accommodating during our whole meal and even called our taxi for us after dinner.
Cheese plate– as good as a cheese plate could be, nothing unique but paired well with our red wine
Duck & sausage entrée– the duck was very tender and flavorful
I can’t remember the names of our other appetizers, but I’ve attached images of them.

A burst of bold flavor is how I’d describe Mountain Standard. There’s nothing standard, however, about the restaurant at all.
The atmosphere is warm and welcoming and you quickly feel at home. Between the staff and the dynamic energy, it’s easy to enjoy a meal here. Don’t be put off if you don’t eat pork (their logo is a pig and there’s even pig artwork in the restaurant), because there are many non-​pork options.
For appetizers we ordered the coal roasted olives, squash bruschetta, and wood roasted carrots. The olives were mixed with raisins and pine nuts and were some of the best I’ve ever tasted. I’d recommend the roasted carrots (with a lemon yogurt sauce) as well.
We all ordered the grilled salmon, which was incredibly tasty with Brussels sprouts, beets, and lentils. We also had a side of wild rice, which again had a wonderful roasted flavor to it. And if that wasn’t enough, there was an amazing mint ice cream sandwich with chocolate fudge on the bottom layer for dessert.
Our dinner was so delicious that we came back for lunch two days later. The rotisserie chicken salad (with apples, beets, avocado, pecans, and a yogurt vinaigrette) was super yummy. Definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Vail!

Bring back the root vegetable dish!!! Loosing more and more Vegan options each year. Thank G they still have the baked olives. Delicious! We dream about them all year.
Mostly nice staff. One cold waitress. Sweet hostess.
Want to add one more star, just add back the Vegan dishes, please.
Went back a few more times and discovered that the french fries are Vegan (separate frier). The chef made me a special Vegan meal each time. Always delicious!

Mountain Standard is always a favorite when we’re in Vail. The atmosphere is warm and intimate, the service is attentive and friendly and the food is always outstanding.
Most recently I had the carrot and vegetable soup with toasted pumpkin seeds and squash /​pear bruschetta.
My husband had the bone marrow and hot oysters, all of which was delicious.
For desert we had the maple pecan bacon tart and the mint ice-​cream sandwich. You’ve never had anything like it, the ice-​cream sandwich wasn’t peppermint, but crème de menthe and real mint flavor, it will blow your mind!
Sol, one of the chefs came out and talked us through some of the new menu options both here and at sweet basil, explaining the inspiration behind them and telling us about the local ingredients… some of which literally came from outside the front door!