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Mountain Standard

Restaurants
 Vail, 81657

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About

Mountain Standard is the creekside tavern the Sweet Basil team opened in December 2012, on the ground floor of the same building on Gore Creek Drive. Most of the menu is cooked over an open wood fire, on wood-burning grills and a rotisserie, and the restaurant describes the creekside room as high-energy, with first-class service and no fuss.

It suits skiers who want a proper lunch, groups who want a lively dinner without dressing up, and anyone who comes off the mountain between meals: the kitchen serves straight through from 11:30 a.m., with an in-between menu in the late afternoon.

Cooking over fire

Chef McLean Hyde builds the menu around the fire. Recent dishes include wood-grilled octopus, a blackened rainbow trout with gumbo, a rotisserie lamb gyro and rotisserie chicken salad, alongside a raw bar of oysters and crudo and a steak burger with pimento cheddar fondue. Crab mozzarella sticks are a nod to Sweet Basil. The menu changes with the seasons.

Drinks and wine

The bar mixes seasonal cocktails and pours local and national craft beer; even the non-alcoholic list uses rotisserie-roasted fruit. Sommelier Jeremy Gramling's wine list draws from America and Europe.

The room and the bar

The restaurant sits creekside on the north side of the building, beside the Gore Creek walkway. The 18-seat bar serves the full menu without reservations, first come, first served. The dress code is mountain casual, but ski boots come off in winter. There is a children's menu for kids 12 and under.

Groups

Parties larger than eight book through the groups coordinator as a contracted event with a set menu. The Front Room along the creek-side windows seats up to 18 in summer and 24 in winter, the bar area up to 14, and a full buyout up to 64.

Sister restaurant: Sweet Basil

Sweet Basil, the Vail Village dining room that has been open since 1977, faces Gore Creek Drive at street level in the same building and is run by the same owners. It is the more polished, special-occasion choice; Mountain Standard is the casual one. Gift cards work at both.

Sources: Mountain Standard, about, food menu, FAQs, groups. Checked September 23, 2026.

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Contact Information

Company Name
Mountain Standard
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Location
193 Gore Creek Dr Ste 201
Vail, 81657

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About Mountain Standard

Quick answer: Mountain Standard is a restaurant at 193 Gore Creek Dr Ste 201, Vail, CO 81657. Mountain Standard: the Sweet Basil team's creekside Vail Village tavern, cooking over a live wood fire from lunch through dinner. As of October 2026 it is closed for the fall off-season and reopens Wednesday, November 19, 2026, for dinner at 5 p.m., per its website; reservations during the closure are through OpenTable.

Last updated

Mountain Standard is the creekside tavern the Sweet Basil team opened in December 2012, on the ground floor of the same building on Gore Creek Drive. Most of the menu is cooked over an open wood fire, on wood-burning grills and a rotisserie, and the restaurant describes the creekside room as high-energy, with first-class service and no fuss.

It suits skiers who want a proper lunch, groups who want a lively dinner without dressing up, and anyone who comes off the mountain between meals: the kitchen serves straight through from 11:30 a.m., with an in-between menu in the late afternoon.

Cooking over fire

Chef McLean Hyde builds the menu around the fire. Recent dishes include wood-grilled octopus, a blackened rainbow trout with gumbo, a rotisserie lamb gyro and rotisserie chicken salad, alongside a raw bar of oysters and crudo and a steak burger with pimento cheddar fondue. Crab mozzarella sticks are a nod to Sweet Basil. The menu changes with the seasons.

Drinks and wine

The bar mixes seasonal cocktails and pours local and national craft beer; even the non-alcoholic list uses rotisserie-roasted fruit. Sommelier Jeremy Gramling's wine list draws from America and Europe.

The room and the bar

The restaurant sits creekside on the north side of the building, beside the Gore Creek walkway. The 18-seat bar serves the full menu without reservations, first come, first served. The dress code is mountain casual, but ski boots come off in winter. There is a children's menu for kids 12 and under.

Groups

Parties larger than eight book through the groups coordinator as a contracted event with a set menu. The Front Room along the creek-side windows seats up to 18 in summer and 24 in winter, the bar area up to 14, and a full buyout up to 64.

Sister restaurant: Sweet Basil

Sweet Basil, the Vail Village dining room that has been open since 1977, faces Gore Creek Drive at street level in the same building and is run by the same owners. It is the more polished, special-occasion choice; Mountain Standard is the casual one. Gift cards work at both.

Sources: Mountain Standard, about, food menu, FAQs, groups. Checked September 23, 2026.

New American Burgers Bars Fine Dining restaurants restaurants/american restaurants/lunch restaurants/fine-dining nightlife nightlife/apres-ski restaurants/vail-village

Quick Snapshot

Neighborhood: Vail Village
Cuisine: New American
Service: Lunch • Dinner
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Business Hours

Closed for the season · Reopens Nov 19

Amenities at Mountain Standard

  • Full bar
  • Creekside patio (request only)
  • Children's menu
  • Vegetarian and vegan dishes
  • Non-alcoholic cocktail programme
  • Bar seating
  • Group spaces and buyout
  • Gift cards shared with Sweet Basil

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the hours of Mountain Standard, and is it open in the off-season?
When open, Mountain Standard serves lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., an in-between menu 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., and dinner 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. daily; the official site states no day-of-week variation (some directories show a Sunday 11:00 a.m. open and Friday/Saturday 10:00 p.m. closes; the restaurant's own site does not). The restaurant closes between seasons, and the closure is the fact diners most need from this page: in fall 2026 it is closed for the off-season and **reopens Wednesday, November 19, 2026, for dinner service at 5 p.m.** During the closure no phones are answered; questions go to [email protected]. Always check the closure dates before a shoulder-season trip, because listings keep showing normal hours while it is closed.
How do I make a reservation at Mountain Standard?
Book online on OpenTable or through the restaurant's site, up to one month (30 days) ahead; reservations open at 9 a.m. Mountain Time and are strongly encouraged. By phone, call (970) 476-0123 extension 6 (the restaurant's pages give the receptionist's hours as both 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; during the fall closure phones are not answered at all and OpenTable is the only route). A credit card is required to book, cancelling within 24 hours of the reservation costs $25 per guest, and arriving more than 10 minutes late may lose the table. The 18-seat bar serves the full menu with no reservations, first come, first served. Dress is mountain casual, and in winter you will be asked to remove your ski boots before dining.
What should I order at Mountain Standard?
Almost everything comes off the live wood fire, the wood-burning grills or the rotisserie. Start with the Warm Pimento Cheese ($18, the dish reviewers name most), the Crab Mozzarella Sticks ($23, which the menu itself notes came from Sweet Basil), or oysters on the half shell ($30). At lunch, order the Rotisserie Lamb Gyro ($25), the Standard Steak Burger with pimento cheddar fondue ($24), or the Blackened Rainbow Trout with gumbo ($30). At dinner, the signatures are The Corned Pork Shank ($49), the Rotisserie Piri Piri Chicken ($39), and the Angus Hanger Steak ($54); the Crispy Whole Rainbow Trout Bo Ssam ($75) is the family-style centrepiece. Dinner entrées run $39 to $54 and desserts are $15. The full menu is at mtnstandard.com/food-menu.
What do reviews say about Mountain Standard?
Reviews are strong and the counts are large. As of October 2026, Google rates Mountain Standard 4.4 out of 5 from 1,583 reviews; OpenTable rates it 4.7 from about 1,285 verified diner reviews (food 4.7, service 4.6, ambience 4.7, value 4.3), with a Diners' Choice "Most Booked" award for the region; TripAdvisor rates it 4.4 from about 1,466 reviews. Diners praise the fire cooking above all (the pimento cheese, the pork shank, the piri piri chicken), the service, and the creekside patio; the recurring criticisms are noise at the bar-adjacent tables, occasional pacing at peak, and thin allergen information on the menu.
Is Mountain Standard related to Sweet Basil?
Yes. The creators of Sweet Basil, the Vail Village dining room open since 1977, opened Mountain Standard in December 2012 in the same building at 193 Gore Creek Drive: Sweet Basil sits at street level and Mountain Standard on the ground floor below it, on the north, creek side. The official site calls Sweet Basil its sister restaurant, the two share a gift card (a Sweet Basil/Mountain Standard gift card is valid at either), and the kinship is on the menu: the crab mozzarella sticks are annotated "yep, we got it from sweet basil!". Sweet Basil is the polished, special-occasion room; Mountain Standard is the casual, fire-driven one.
How much does a meal cost at Mountain Standard?
Starters run $6 to $24 (the raw bar reaches $45), lunch sandwiches $22 to $29, and dinner entrées $39 to $54, with the family-style trout at $75; cocktails are $13 to $17 and wines by the glass $13 to $22. OpenTable's "$31 to $50" band describes a main course, not an evening: budget roughly $70 to $120 per person for two courses and a glass of wine, before tax and tip.
Can I sit on the patio at Mountain Standard, and can I reserve it?
Yes, in summer there is a creekside patio along Gore Creek, and no, you cannot reserve it. The restaurant takes patio requests but does not guarantee them and does not reserve patio tables; book the dining room as normal and ask on arrival. Two official cautions: in cold weather patio seating can require a jacket, and pets are not allowed on the patio (a dog must be secured on the outside rail; ADA service animals are welcome inside, under your table).
Can Mountain Standard host a large group or private event?
Yes, for parties over eight, as a contracted group event with a pre-selected menu, arranged through the groups coordinator at [email protected]. The Front Room along the creek-side windows seats up to 18 in summer and 24 in winter, the bar area up to 14, and a full buyout up to 64 seated. Two conditions diners miss: booking several ordinary tables separately does not guarantee they will be together or at the same time, and **the restaurant accepts no group events from December 24 to January 1**.
Is Mountain Standard good for kids, and what about dietary needs?
For kids, yes: there is a children's menu for ages 12 and under, and the official site asks you to flag booster seats, highchairs or stroller room when booking so the table can be set. The room is lively and dinner runs on reservation time, so early seatings suit families best. For dietary needs, the honest version matters: the menu offers vegetarian and vegan dishes, but the restaurant states that all major allergens are present in its kitchen, most dishes cannot be modified extensively, and cross-contamination cannot be guaranteed; no dish is labeled gluten-free on the official menu. Talk to your server, or email [email protected] before booking if an allergy is a hard constraint; a shellfish-allergy party in October 2026 found very little it could eat and wished it had known in advance.
Where is Mountain Standard, and where do I park?
At 193 Gore Creek Drive in Vail Village, on the ground floor, north side of the Sweet Basil building, along the Gore Creek walkway. The catch: the street address directs you to Sweet Basil; from the children's fountain, take the stairs down to the creek path and Mountain Standard is on the left. There is no parking at the restaurant: use the Vail Village parking structure (free after 3 p.m.; fees vary by season and no business in town can validate), then cross the Covered Bridge and walk up Gore Creek Drive to the fountain. For accessible parking, stop at the Checkpoint Charlie booth on Vail Road and the officer will direct you.

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