Better known as a bar, the Tugboat was also a great restaurant and the only place on the mountain with a Foosball table. That was why we chose to dine there Christmas Eve. From the outside, the Tugboat was part of a strip mall and blended right in with the surrounding gift shops. The inside of the place was as far from a fancy ski resort as you can get, with rustic old wood walls and bar, and photos of people on the wall that were so old that no one knew who they were anymore... except for the concert poster advertising Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band from 1977 (sweet). The Foosball table was about the same age. We didn’t mind, because it still worked.

The food was fantastic, not what we expected from such a rugged bar. My husband had chicken Cesar salad and I had pasta Alfredo. We had nachos for an appetizer. The dinner plates were huge, and we soon regretted having the appetizer. We took boxes home and I had pasta for lunch for the next 2 days. The prices were great, slightly less than Slopeside. While playing Foosball, a band took the stage. Two guys and a girl, they sounded a little too neo-punk for the older crowd that was gathered at the bar but nobody seemed to mind, neither the band nor the patrons. If you are looking for place with great food, away from all the pretentiousness of ski resort restaurants–there’s a restaurant across the street called Cafe Diva. When we saw men wearing ties and women in furs walking out of it, we knew that was NOT a place we wanted to go. Skip it and go to the Tugboat instead.