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Why we love this place

What’s not to love? The setting is beautiful — located on Gore Creek Park, overlooking the park and creek. The menu is thoughtful and creative, with much of the food cooked over an open wood-fired grill. The draft beer is cold, the cocktails are expertly prepared, and the wine list is impressively deep. Every dish is consistently excellent. The service is friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. The bar is usually a beehive of activity, yet it’s also a great place to enjoy a meal.

Menu highlights

Among our favorite appetizers are the buttermilk sea salt biscuits with pepper jelly and the warm pimento cheese, served with bacon cider jam, pickled celery salad, and grilled bread. There’s nothing else like these dishes in the valley. The salmon crudo is always fresh and flavorful.

Moving on to salads, the wedge is a standout with crisp iceberg lettuce, tangy Mayfair bleu cheese, puffed farro, and avocado. Another favorite is the rotisserie chicken salad, made with buffalo mozzarella, pickled Asian pears, Vidalia onions, and a pistachio Caesar dressing.

The entrées also shine. The Barney Rubble–sized pork shank is one of the best, served with gruyère potato purée, cabbage, green apples, puffed farro, and a caraway vinaigrette. The pork chop is outstanding, prepared over the wood-fired grill and served with a sweet potato sesame mole sauce, roasted yams, candied pecans, and grilled collard greens. Like the pork shank, the pork chop is generous enough for two — especially when paired with a salad.

The rotisserie chicken is another favorite. The wood-fired grill imparts a subtle, smoky flavor, and the bird is marinated in piri piri, then served with smashed steak fries, poppy seed yogurt, and spring onions. Pro tip: Try slices of rotisserie chicken draped over the wedge salad — it’s outstanding.

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Be sure to leave room for dessert. Our favorite finish is the Snickers ice cream bar, made with dark chocolate brownie, candied peanuts, caramel, and peanut ice cream.

The staff

Like the food, the service at Mountain Standard is consistently excellent. We’ve never had a bad server. The bartenders are friendly and possess a deep knowledge of both cocktails and wines. The owner, Matt Morgan, began his career as a busboy at Mountain Standard’s sister restaurant in 1987, worked his way up to bartender, then assistant dining room manager, and finally dining room manager. The Sweet Basil family opened Mountain Standard in 2012. In 2016, Matt bought out founding partner Kevin Clair to become the full owner of both Sweet Basil and Mountain Standard.

The vibe

Think of the best qualities of the top restaurants in the Vail Valley: fresh food prepared thoughtfully, an athletic-casual style, generous portions, and a warm, friendly staff. Mountain Standard has all of these, plus a wood-fired grill that imparts a primal aroma, making everything better. It’s hard to imagine how the vibe could be improved.

The bottom line

For us, Mountain Standard is one of the best après-anything spots in the valley. The food is consistently great, the staff is phenomenal, and the vibe embodies everything we love about our hometown.

Meg and Rick Sudekum are enthusiastic food and wine lovers who have made Avon their full-time home. Their column, “Good Food Vibrations,” highlights the culinary experiences our valley has to offer.