To Bagel or to Pretzel?

I never met a pretzel I didn't like, but I'm considering packing up my bags and moving to Steamboat just to be closer to the twisted pretzel at Mahogany Ridge Brewery and Grill, a large pretzel covered with cheddar cheese and served with strong mustard and porter cream sauce.

This isn't your average pretzel. For example, I used to consider Auntie Anne's Pretzels as "some good pretzels." Not anymore. Where most pretzels are golden brown and kind of "snappy," this pretzel was more doughy and mild. Husband and I were so impressed with this pretzel that we asked the bartender what made it so different. He said something like, "I don't know, they just come that way."

We were dismayed! Alarmed even! The best pretzel we've ever had and it's prepackaged in bulk? No way! So we asked a few more questions and found that the pretzel was, in deed, not made at the restaurant.

Instead, it was made at the bagel shop down the street, Bagel Works.

The pretzels are baked until almost finished and then "shipped" five blocks to the Mahogany Ridge Brewery to be topped off with cheese and finished off in the oven before serving.

We figured that if the pretzel was so good, the bagels had to be good too, so we grabbed breakfast there on the way to the mountain one day. Great quick and fresh breakfast, very friendly staff and decent coffee. A nice touch is that you can see into their kitchen and see that they are making the bagels/pretzels right there in the shop. this was a great find and something I wish I would have known about before the last day of our trip. 

The Ticket at Bagel Works: Italian bagel with cream cheese; sausage egg and cheese bagel; two large water bottles, coffee and soda. About $14.


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Steamboat, CO - Trip Report

We spent our first afternoon in Steamboat scoping out restaurants and bars, coffee shops and stores along the main street. Our hotel, Hotel Bristol, was right downtown, so we could walk everywhere.

 We had a lazy day, which was okay because we were tired from traveling. That night, we grabbed a table near the big screen at the Tap House and watched the Mavs game.  

This was our first ski trip in about a year, which is normal, but it felt like five years. Thursday morning, we woke up, got dressed for skiing and caught the free shuttle to  the mountian. First mistake: I said hello to a cute little girl and she decided to talk to me for the whole ride, which would have been okay if her mother wasn't incessantly telling her to be quiet and to sit down and if she wasn't ignoring her mother in order to talk to me. She kept saying, "How are you doing, good?" That became mine and Preston's quote for the rest of the trip. 

This first morning was full of frustrating moments. We had to get our skis and boots, forgot to look at a map so didn't know where we were on the mountain, and then I realized that my boots were to wide, and when your ski boots don't fit, skiing is no fun. 

Not to mention that we skipped breakfast and the snow was whipping our faces so we couldn't see. 

We took a break for some clam chowder (great), chili and french fries, and then went down the mountian to get me new boots and a hot drink. 

This was also the first time either of us wore helmets while skiing, so it took some getting used to.

Afternoon skiing was much better, the sun was out, we could see and it had stopped snowing. It basically stayed this way for the rest of the weekend. 

This is also the day that I invented the "Wheee" method of skiing. Every time you turn, you say "Wheee." It keeps you breathing and by the time you have to say wheee again, it's also time to turn. You've been so busy saying wheee that you didn't have time to freak out about the turning part, which is what I do. And no, you don't sound silly, you sound like you're having fun, because your saying "Wheee, wheee, wheee!"

Most of the ski days were amazing. We started early, around 9am, and were at the base of the mountain by 3:30pm for our hot beverage at the beer tent. 

My favorite was the The Olympian - hot cider with rum. By 5pm, when we were back to our room, we watched long jump practice on Howelsen Hill from our window, which neither of use had ever seen in person.

The town was pretty empty for the first few night, but then got packed because of the holiday. What holiday, you ask? That would be President's Day. I've never heard of people taking a long weekend for President's Day, but they sure do in Colorado because this town got busy.

I do have to tell you that I met my weakness on this trip. Sea Salt Caramel. That's right. My super hero weakness is sea salt caramel. Just like Superman can't jump tall buildings, or whatever, when exposed to kryptonite, I can't do anything when exposed to sea salt caramel except consume sea salt caramel. En masse. It's a good thing we were skiing down giant mountains all day or I would have gained a few sizes.

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Steamboat Springs, CO

Steamboat Springs, CO - Trip Report
To Bagel or to Pretzel?
Seat Salt Caramel
A Beautiful Moment
Steamboat Restaurant Reviews

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Dinner in Steamboat

Beau Jo's Mountain Pies  *highly recommended*

We saw this restaurant from afar and assumed it was Cajun. WRONG. It's all about the mountain pies, and by that, I mean pizza. Glorious, lovely pizza. You walk in, order at the bar and then find a table and wait for them to bring you the best pizza you've ever had. They had several specialty pizzas on the menu, but we went with an 8 inch pepperoni mountain pie and a small Caesar salad, perfect for two people to split.

 

The place had a great vibe, where other customers let you know they are about to leave so you can have their table and give you the remaining half of their pitcher of beer because they can't finish it. When I asked for dipping sauce, for the crust, they brought us three different sauces on the house. Only warning: The mountain pies have a lot of crust, so if you like a thin pizza, go with the prairie pie. 

 

Customers place pins on this map to represent their hometown. We were the first to claim Nacogdoches!

The Ticket: An 8 inch pepperoni and sausage mountain pie with three cheeses, a small Caesar salad, one beer and one glass of Chianti. About $30.

Mahogany Ridge Brewery and Grill  There were a few expensive items on this menu, but the pretzel wasn't one of them. I ordered a skewer plate from the appetizer section, two veggie and two steak, that turned out to be a less expensive version of the larger plates.

They have a large selection of wine and brew a few different beers. Husband wasn't too crazy about the lager but was more impressed with the second beer he ordered.

The Ticket: twisted pretzel with cheese and porter cream sauce, Build Your Own Satay Platter with two veggie and two steak skewers served with three different dipping sauces ($3 per skewer!), an Italian beef sandwich, two beers and a glass of wine. About $40.

The Tap House Sports Grill  Only place in town with the NBA package. We ended up here three times during the trip, and it got a little old on the last night. Pretty good bar food for low prices. Excellent French onion soup and garden salad. The wings were average, although it's hard to appreciate wings when Flashback Cafe, right here in my hometown of Nacogdoches, serves the best wings ever. The food was pretty average, good, but nothing to rave about. The big highlights were the NBA package and the low prices and the Big Buck Hunter arcade game in the back. 

The Ticket:  French onion soup, garden salad, double rum and coke, Hawaiian chicken sandwich with fries, 5 beers. About $30.

Noodles and More Saigon Cafe and Sushi Bar Sushi bars are always a little intimidating to me, but this one was pretty comfortable. It was a bit expensive, compared to everywhere else we went in Steamboat, but in my opinion it was worth it. I ordered two rolls, which were both great. The only thing we didn't like about this meal was the pork in the pork spring rolls, which was impossible to bite into. 

The Ticket: Softshell crab roll, shrimp tempura roll, pork spring rolls, beef stirfry, 2 sporros and a glass of wine.About $50.

La Cantina

I am a firm believer that Mexican food north of Texas will always lead to the statement, "They call this queso?" We only ordered drinks at La Cantina, but it had a great atmosphere, friendly bar staff and all the plates that zoomed by us looked and smelled amazing. It seems like a Mexican restaurant that might break my rule.

The Old Town Pub  This was okay, nothing to write home about in my opinion. I ordered a buffalo burger that looked great but tasted like it had been frozen.

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Steamboat Restaurant Reviews

A guide to the restaurants we visited in the downtown Steamboat Springs, CO area. Take an hour or so to walk along the storefront shops on Lincoln and check out the menus and specials in the shop windows on the first day. There are lots of happy hour specials, early bird specials and I noticed free wine samples on specific nights at two places (Mazzola's and the wine/beer store). Like always,  dining on the mountain and at the base is expensive, but the cider and rum beverages at the beer tent at base made for some fun memories.
  
Breakfast Reviews
Dinner Reviews
Others Worth Mentioning

Foodie Features:
To Bagel, or to Pretzel?
Five Pounds of Fudge

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Others Worth Mentioning

Off the Beaten Path *highly recommended* This is a great local book store with a welcoming sign, inviting atmosphere and isles of staff picks and book club recommendations that I could spend hours perusing. It was a little small, but rather than say it was stuffy, I'd say it was cozy. I didn't eat or have coffee here, but the coffee bar looked great.

Bella's Wine Bar 

When I think wine bar, the first thing that comes to mind is sampling different types of wine, or a wine flight, so I was surprised to find that this wine bar didn't offer anything like that on their menu. They were happy to fix something up for me regardless and the wine was really good. This place feels like it could be pretentious. They served very authentic Italian meats and cheeses and I think I may have been sitting on a wolf skin that was draped across my bench, but the wine was so good that it was worth it.

The Ticket: One large German beer, one glass of wine, one wine flight (three generous samples). About $24.

Other recommendations from locals and visitors that we didn't get to sample: Creekside Cafe and Grill, Sambi, Winona's, La Montana (Mountain area)

A restaurant and dining guide for the Steamboat, CO area

http://www.steamboat-dining.com/

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Breakfast in Steamboat

Bagel Works: Food Feature - To Bagel, or to Pretzel?

The Shack Cafe  *highly recommended* It looked like a bit of a wait when we found the line trailing out the door of The Shack Cafe. The other groups in front of us were large groups, so we we quickly moved to the front when a table for two became available. This is a cute little place,with friendly waitstaff and great breakfast food. I remember saying out loud, "Now that is what a pancake is supposed to taste like." The coffee was on par with coffee in Steamboat, a little weak in my opinion, but very tasty.

The Ticket: An omelet (spinach, bacon, tomatoes, feta cheese and salsa) with hash browns and a pancake instead of toast; a plate of french toast, two eggs, sausage and hash browns; a soda and an endless cup of coffee. About $20.

Johnny B Good's Dinner

I think we would have been more satisfied with Johnny B Good's if we had sat at the bar top, there was very slow service at the table. Average breakfast food, not as tasty as the breakfast we had at The Shack Cafe, but with the early bird special at about $4 each, it was a very good price.

 

The Ticket: Two early bird specials (two eggs, bacon, ham or sausage, piece of toast and hash browns for less than $4 between 7-9 am); coffee and a soda. About $14.


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A Beautiful Moment




Steamboat, CO

 Do you ever get the feeling that you're standing in a place where people are not meant to be? I felt that here at the top of this mountian. The skies had been cloudy all morning, with snow blasting our faces. This was my first good look at the sourranding area. Even though the snow had cleared, it was still so windy at the top of this mountian that the loose snow raced around the skiers like moving water in a picture with a long exposure. It also covered ski tracks so it felt like there was noone else up there but us. Just wanted to share the beautiful moment, although I'm not sure I entirely captured it with my iPhone camera.

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