Beer, whiskey and wine have a long hold on Estes Park, helped by a valley full of people who spent the day outdoors. Thirty-three listings cover breweries, a distillery, a winery and old taverns, all within the valley. The patios along the Big Thompson are the draw, and the cold mountain evenings do the rest.
Pick the patio by the river and arrive before the sun drops, because it gets cold fast at this elevation. For a late night, call first. Not much stays lit past 9.
Downtown
Yak is why most people walk in. The Grubsteak on West Elkhorn builds burgers from yak, elk and buffalo, and bison turns up across the menu, all served in an old building crammed with antiques and collectibles.
The elk burger is the order that keeps coming up at The Hive, the restaurant attached to Estes Park Brewery on Prospect Village Drive, half a mile up from downtown. Close behind are the bison bolognese, the fish and chips and a basket of fried green beans, and the altitude burger and bison short ribs have their own following.
Karaoke, pool and foosball on West Elkhorn. Lonigans is a pub without pretensions, with live music some nights, the game on, and taps that split between Guinness, Smithwick's and 90 Shilling on one side and Estes Park Brewery beers on the other.
At the foot of Prospect Mountain on West Riverside Drive, a short walk from Elkhorn, Rock Cut pours twelve taps from a seven-barrel system you can watch through the taproom window. The brown ale has a loyal following.
From May through October, the beer at The Barrel pours from a container bar with sixty-four rotating taps, set in a Bavarian-style garden on Moraine Avenue a few doors from Full Throttle Distillery. When the weather turns, everything moves inside to a hall with twenty-five taps.
Closing time is 2 a. m.
Moonshine is the reason to stop. Samples of the house whiskey, moonshine and other spirits are free, no reservation needed, and the tasting gets talked about more than anything on the plate.
A flight is the right way into this Moraine Avenue tasting room, next to Bogey's Sports Bar, since the list runs from the winery's own Riesling and a pomegranate wine to bottles from other Colorado wineries and meaderies. Hard cider, local beer and whiskey cover anyone who would rather skip the grapes, and a charcuterie board stands in for dinner on a light night.
Carne asada tacos are the order here, with chicken tinga and fish tacos close behind and a house margarita alongside. La Colina, which used to be Casa Colina, is the restaurant at Trailhead Lodge on Stanley Avenue, a block or so from the Visitor Center, and it is open to anyone, not only lodge guests.
Anniversary dinners land here a lot, and it isn't hard to see why: a small, warm room on Park Lane next door to Prospect Bistro, a wine list worth reading, and a chef who gets as much credit as the food. Brunch is the bigger draw by far.
Tostones are the order that keeps coming up, which is not what most people expect from a burger-and-cocktail spot on West Elkhorn. The burgers hold their own: the Tavern burger, a fig jalapeño version and the Hangover burger.
Moonshine is the point here, and the tasting costs nothing. Estes Park Distilling, which runs as a Full Throttle Distillery, pours samples of its flavored shines, whiskeys and vodka on West Elkhorn, no reservation needed, 21 and up with ID.
The whiskey list is the draw here, deep enough to have its own bar inside the Stanley Hotel. Dinner is a traditional steakhouse: the filet is the usual order, with bison, trout, pork belly and lobster bisque, and the whipped potatoes on the side.
On a football Saturday in the fall, this is the bar on West Riverside where the game is on everywhere, from the rooftop deck to the patio. It's next door to Snowy Peaks Winery and a short walk from downtown, with the Big Thompson running past.
Up Prospect Village Drive, half a mile from downtown, the town's established microbrewery keeps a sample bar going in the tasting room. The free samples are the first thing most visitors bring up, and they are the right way to start before committing to a full pint.
Up at the Stanley Hotel, the bar side of the Cascades Restaurant is where the whiskey and bourbon list lives. Flights are the way to work through it, and the old fashioned is the drink that comes up most.
Bourbon and old fashioneds come up more than anything else in this tasting room, which is a funny outcome for a distillery built on Scotch tradition. The whisky is made east of central Boulder by Graeme Wallace, who left Scotland for Colorado in 2016 to make Scotch-style whisky in the States.
Sauces get as much attention as the spirits at Elkins Distilling's tasting room and mercantile on East Elkhorn, by Bond Park. Tastings run through a winter whiskey, corn and white whiskeys and flavored versions, plus peach, lemon and sweet tea vodkas.
The same armchair works for a morning espresso and an evening espresso martini at this lounge on East Elkhorn, next to Antlers Rooftop Tavern and Estes Silver & Gold. It runs as a coffee house early and turns into a cocktail room later, with a speakeasy feel.
Cleave Street sits just off West Elkhorn, and the Lumpy Ridge Brewing Co. Publick House is on it, a few steps from the Danish Cone Factory.
The house pour is named 217, after the Stanley's Stephen King suite, which tells you where you are. The bar fills the hotel's old Music Room just off the main lobby, and the room still holds historic instruments, Flora Stanley's piano among them.
Whiskey is the reason to find The Vault, a bar on the Stanley Hotel grounds up on Wonderview Avenue, steps from Brunch & Co. and Chrysalis.
Around the valley
Out Moraine Avenue, a mile and a half from downtown on the road to Beaver Meadows, this is mountain food with some polish. Trout is the dish that comes up most.
The building went up in 1937 as a sandwich shop and added a dance hall in 1943, and live music is still the main event. The Rock Inn sits out on Highway 66, about two miles from downtown.
A mile and a half up Fall River Road, next to Nicky's Resort, the Wapiti has settled into its newer home, and the river view from the deck is now half the reason to go. Tables out there are the ones to wait for on a warm evening.
When the wine list matters as much as the steak, this lodge-style chophouse on Big Thompson Avenue, about a mile and a half east of downtown toward Lake Estes, is worth the drive. Bison is what people order most, followed by the ribeye and elk chops, with trout for anyone skipping red meat.
The original taproom is a converted old gas station on South St. Vrain, next to Estes Park Shuttle, and the building gets as much talk as the beer.
Belgian and French styles run the tap list at this family-founded brewery on Dunraven Street, just off Highway 7 and near the fairgrounds. The board turns with the seasons: a tart petite saison one stretch, a strong ale with raisins the next, an imperial stout when it gets cold.
Elk shows up three ways on the menu here: in the chili, over nachos and as a burger. The poutine is the other thing people order, and the burger list runs from a truffle burger to a donut bacon cheeseburger, with sweet potato fries and wings on the side.
Bourbon, rye and single malt are what people walk out talking about at Hogback's Moraine Avenue spot, a tasting room, shop and bar with a photo art gallery attached. The whisky is made east of Boulder by Graeme Wallace, a Scot who spent more than twenty years writing about Scotch before moving to Colorado in 2016 to make his own.
Circle 119 is the public tavern of American Legion Post 119, and it is open to everyone, not just members. The kitchen does homemade gastropub food, served on a patio facing the mountains or inside among military memorabilia honoring the post's veterans.
The bar inside American Legion Post 119 is open to the public, which plenty of people in town still do not realize. Tavern at The Legion sits on North St.
Nearly two miles up Fall River Road, the Rockslide Bar pours beer, wine, cocktails and liquor at The Inn on Fall River, with food and happy-hour drinks on the side. It is an evening-only place, open a handful of nights a week, so treat it as a drink after a day in the Park rather than a lunch stop.
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All 33 are based in the valley, so there is no drive up from Loveland to talk yourself out of. Summer is the busy season, and many businesses cut hours or close in winter. Check hours before you plan an evening around one stop.
Twenty-seven list a full bar, and 16 have outdoor seating. Eleven allow dogs on the patio, 9 list a kids' menu, and 18 offer takeout. Only 2 are listed as open after 9 p.m., The Grubsteak Restaurant and La Colina at Trailhead Lodge, so do not count on a late pint. Drinks and food often come together, since a number of these are restaurants with a full bar and some have a kids' menu. If you are driving back down the canyon afterward, plan a ride or a designated driver before the last round.
The mix runs from breweries like The Hive at Estes Park Brewery, Rock Cut Brewing Company and Lumpy Ridge Brewing Co. to a Bavarian-style beer garden, The Barrel, and Snowy Peaks Winery. Wheel Bar and Lonigans are tavern rooms with pool and music. Several restaurants with bars are listed too, so read the descriptions.
The listings include The Hive at Estes Park Brewery, Rock Cut Brewing Company and Lumpy Ridge Brewing Co. Rock Cut has twelve taps and a patio on the Big Thompson, and Lumpy Ridge began in an old gas station. Call for current hours.
Eleven of the 33 allow dogs on the patio, including Rock Cut Brewing Company, The Barrel, The Hive and Full Throttle Distillery & Grill. Patio rules shift with weather and season, so confirm before you bring a dog.
Only 2 of the 33 listings are marked open after 9 p.m.: The Grubsteak Restaurant and La Colina at Trailhead Lodge. Most close earlier, particularly in winter, so call ahead if you plan a late evening.
Yes. Snowy Peaks Winery is a tasting room on Moraine Avenue pouring its own wines plus other Colorado wineries and meaderies. Full Throttle Distillery & Grill makes small-batch whiskey and moonshine and offers complimentary spirit samples.
