I was always to myself and others that restaurants in mountain towns were at best Just Okay. But here is Snake River Saloon changing my mind!
First, the atmosphere of the restaurant is a mix between an old west style steakhouse and an upscale diner. Lighting was low but we had plenty of light coming from the windows. Parking is pretty easy. Plenty of parking for the restaurant and they do get full, Christy Sports parking lot is also available.
We made reservations but we did also arrive earlier than our time slot. It wasn't an issue at all and we were seated immediately. Staff here is very nice and very attentive. Our server was Karen and she was on point with the service. The staff here worked like a team and that makes the experience even better. I love how attentive they were and helped out when it was needed.
The drinks menu was pretty interesting. Definitely not your usual restaurant/bar drinks. The drink I ordered was the Dog Gone Blues: Vodka, Triple Sec, and Blueberry Jam. Never had a drink with Blueberry Jam before so I had to get it. The bartender did not disappoint on this one! None of the ingredients were overpowering and all ingredients worked perfectly together. My wife ordered My Cup Of Tea: Tequila, muddled raspberries, jasmine green tea, grapefruit juice. It reminded her of a margarita. It was good but the lime and salt rim was too sour which didn't go well with the drink. She also mentioned that she hardly tasted the tea.
Now on to the food which was the star of the evening. For starters we ordered the Escargot and Bone Marrow. Please don't ask me to choose which was better because this will be a hard choice. The escargot was full of so much flavors. The snails were place on top of mushrooms, surrounded with this sherry wine sauce that was the perfect complement to the snails. Each bite was ridiculously good that it was this whole dish was quickly devoured. Once the last bite of escargot was eaten, a tear was shed. This was moment was like saying goodbye to your child when they go off to their first day of kindergarten. The only part of this dish that wasn't eaten was the bread. Everything else on this dish was so good, we lost site of the bread. Maybe next time bread, maybe next time. The Bone Marrow also got the same amount of attention. First, I was a little surprised on how much marrow was on the bones. I think there were 6 toasted slices of bread with the dish and all 6 had generous amounts of marrow slathered on them. I highly recommend putting the veggies on the toast. They will help cut the richness of the marrow and they add more flavors to the bites. With this combination, each bite will taste like a party in your mouth and you will be dancing in your chair while you eat. I know I did. For the main course I ordered the Ribeye with the snake butter on top. This boneless piece of hearty ribeye was cooked perfectly to medium rare, with a nice charred outer layer. Adding the snake butter on top puts this dish above the rest. I am not sure what's in the snake butter but the obvious flavor I got from it was... Love, yep that's what it was, a taste of love. The roommate got the stuffed halibut after our server Karen mentioned this special (which wasn't on the menu). The way Karen described this dish was almost like she hitting my wife and my wife fell for it. And it did not disappoint. Stuffed with spinach and then wrapped in this potato sheet then deep fried to a crispy consistency. Then it was slathered with this creamy white sauce that made me want to tell Karen to behave herself. I mean there were kids around.... The dish was so good that I did not mind this from Karen at all.
This experience has got me to change my mind about the mountain restaurants. Especially in Keystone. I am already counting the days until we come back here again. And I am looking forward to trying the other dishes that Snake River Saloon offers read more