In mid-November, the paper signs on downtown restaurant doors list reopening dates, and each date matches something on the ski calendar. Betula's says Nov. 26, the day Aspen Mountain is scheduled to open. Cache Cache's says Dec. 11, the night before Highlands and Buttermilk start spinning. Paradise Bakery's says Nov. 8, which doesn't line up with any lift date at all.
That pattern is easy to see once the dates sit side by side. The Aspen Chamber's fall dining guide, published Oct. 22, 2026, lists close and reopen dates for dozens of Aspen restaurants. Read against the mountain schedule, the reopenings fall into a clear order. Daytime spots come back first. The slopeside hotel kitchens open about a week before the lifts. A big group reopens on opening day, and most of the dinner-only rooms hold out until the second mountain weekend in December.
The Calendar the Kitchens Are Working From
The Aspen Times reported Aspen Snowmass's announced opening days in September. Aspen Mountain and Snowmass open Thursday, Nov. 26, which is Thanksgiving, and Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk follow on Saturday, Dec. 12. Here are the scheduled reopenings set against those dates:
| Window | What's happening on the mountain | Scheduled restaurant returns |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 8 to 18 | Lifts still closed | Paradise Bakery, Spring Café, Aspen Brewing Company, Yuki Aspen |
| Nov. 20 to 22 | Final week before opening | Ajax Tavern, Element 47 and the Wine Bar at The Little Nell, then Velvet Buck at The St. Regis |
| Nov. 25 to 26 | Aspen Mountain and Snowmass open | French Alpine Bistro, Bad Harriet, Betula, The Monarch, The Wild Fig, Willow Creek Bistro |
| Dec. 4 to 12 | Highlands and Buttermilk open, Wintersköl | Duemani, Ellina, Meat & Cheese, BOSQ, Pine Creek Cookhouse, Cache Cache, PARC Aspen, Highlands Alehouse |
These are the dates restaurants announced, so any of them could still shift.
Breakfast and Lunch Come Back First
The first places to reopen don't need ski traffic. Paradise Bakery at 320 S. Galena St. took the shortest break on the list, closing Nov. 2 with a scheduled return Nov. 8. Spring Café closed Oct. 31 and is due back Nov. 11. Aspen Brewing Company at 121 S. Galena St. is shut Nov. 9 through 16 and scheduled to reopen Nov. 17. Yuki Aspen at 510 E. Durant Ave. has been closed since Oct. 6 and is set to return Nov. 18.
Even with those early returns, the second and third weeks of November are the thinnest stretch of the year for eating out. Red Mountain Grill is closed for the first two weeks of the month. Meat & Cheese closed Nov. 2 and Velvet Buck closed Nov. 1, and neither has a date until later in the season. Kenichi closed Oct. 26. Through Nov. 21, Acquolina is serving a four-course prix-fixe menu for $65, Tuesday through Saturday, finishing with the day's soft serve. The menu ends the same week the hotel kitchens start coming back.
The Little Nell Goes a Week Early
Ajax Tavern, Element 47 and the Wine Bar at The Little Nell all closed Oct. 19 and are all scheduled to reopen Nov. 20, six days before the gondola carries its first skiers of the season. The St. Regis follows close behind. Velvet Buck is set to return Nov. 21. On Nov. 22, the hotel starts Alpine Winter Afternoon Tea, served daily from 1 to 4 p.m. The same day, its pool deck becomes an Alpine Winter Village from 3 to 5 p.m., with a complimentary hot chocolate station, a s'mores garden and a pop-up bar serving Glühwein, raclette sandwiches and mini fondue. A Friday wine tasting with the resort sommelier starts Nov. 27 and runs 4 to 5 p.m.
There's a reason Gondola Plaza matters more this season. Aspen Mountain's new Nell Bell high-speed quad replaces the Bell Mountain and Little Nell lifts and runs from Gondola Plaza to the top of Bell Mountain in about nine minutes, according to Aspen Snowmass's 80th-anniversary announcement. The restaurants closest to that base are the ones reopening first.
Thanksgiving Is Opening Day, and the Biggest Group Returns With It
Because Nov. 26 is both Thanksgiving and opening day for Aspen Mountain and Snowmass, the largest group of reopenings lands on that date. French Alpine Bistro at 400 E. Hopkins Ave. gets a one-day head start on Nov. 25. So does Petit Familia, Chef Ludo Lefebvre's rooftop concept at MOLLIE Aspen. It runs Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m. and adds a $12 après-ski margarita from 4 to 6 p.m., DJs on Fridays and a firepit on the Roof Terrace this winter.
The next day, four downtown dining rooms are scheduled to reopen together:
- Bad Harriet at Hotel Jerome, closed since Oct. 28
- Betula at 525 E. Cooper Ave., No. 201, closed since Oct. 11
- The Monarch, closed since Oct. 25
- The Wild Fig, closed since Oct. 18
Willow Creek Bistro, at the Ritz-Carlton Club at Aspen Highlands, is also scheduled to reopen Nov. 26, more than two weeks before the Highlands lifts start. Anyone planning Thanksgiving dinner out should know that most of the town's best-known dinner rooms are still closed that night.
Most Fine-Dining Rooms Wait for Wintersköl
Most of the dinner-only rooms on the Chamber's list skip opening day and time their returns to the second mountain weekend. Duemani, closed since Sept. 29, is set to reopen first, on Dec. 4. After that, the dates come close together:
- Dec. 9: Ellina, and Meat & Cheese at 301 E. Hopkins Ave.
- Dec. 10: BOSQ and Pine Creek Cookhouse
- Dec. 11: Cache Cache
- Dec. 12: PARC Aspen, and Highlands Alehouse at 0133 Prospector Road
That's the same week the town starts filling up again. Wintersköl runs Dec. 10 through 13 for its 75th year. This year it adds a Stories in the Sky drone show at Wagner Park at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11, along with the festival's usual torchlight descent and fireworks. Saturday, Dec. 12, is opening day at Highlands and Buttermilk. For the 80th anniversary, Aspen Snowmass is selling lift tickets for $80 at all four mountains on Dec. 12 and 13. Cache Cache reopens the night of the drone show, and PARC and Highlands Alehouse reopen on the first of the two $80 days.
The yurts come later still. Angelo's and Duemani are bringing back their winter yurts for the holidays, Dec. 20 through Jan. 4.
The Ones That Stayed Open
All of this has a flip side. The Chamber's Oct. 22 guide lists a long run of places as open through the off-season, including:
- Jimoto, JING and Matsuhisa
- Hickory House, Home Team BBQ and CP Burger
- Clark's Oyster Bar, Brunelleschi's and Campo de Fiori
- Little Ollie's, Bangkok Happy Bowl and Mawa's Kitchen
- Louis Swiss Bakery, French Pastry Café and Explore Books & Coffee
- J-Bar, White House Tavern and Zane's Tavern
- Woody Creek Tavern, for anyone willing to drive downvalley
During the gap between Acquolina's last prix-fixe night on Nov. 21 and the Thanksgiving reopenings, these are the places with no paper signs on their doors.
New Doors on Hyman and Main
Some of the changes this winter are permanent. The Chamber lists Zig Zag and Madame Ushi as permanently closed. Madame Ushi's space at 415 E. Hyman Ave. becomes Guest House Aspen, scheduled to open on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31. It's RDM Hospitality's fifth location, with a 220-seat dining room, an RSVP lounge for cocktails and late-night music, and the first sushi menu at any Guest House.
One block west, 315 E. Hyman Ave. now has two tenants under one address. Eddy's Marketplace serves specialty coffee, chef-prepared meals and groceries daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Across the patio, Eddy's Kitchen is open Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., with happy hour from 4 to 6. The same address is home to The Grove, Buckhorn Public Arts' new flexible space and the base of the Aspen Arts Club, which hosts dance, yoga, comedy and game nights.
In the West End, White Elephant Aspen at Main and Garmisch opened June 15, 2026, and is going into its first ski season. Its restaurant Lola 41 makes its winter debut there with a menu of seafood and sushi, alongside a new lounge called 41 Below. At The Gant, the new 73 Café sits just off the lobby across from the pool and serves breakfast, lunch and grab-and-go from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday through Monday. It's named for the year the property opened. This is The Gant's last winter before it closes temporarily on March 29, 2027, for a property-wide renovation.
Following which businesses are opening, closing and changing hands on Hyman, Galena and Main is part of how Jessica Hughes keeps track of Aspen block by block. If you'd like to talk through what this season's changes downtown mean for a property you own or are considering, schedule a confidential consultation.
