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 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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