A good option in downtown Steamboat is the Old Town Pub. This historic building on the corner of 6th and Lincoln was originally built in 1904 by Ernest Campbell as the Albany Hotel. It was one of the area's finest hotels and catered to the upscale Steamboat visitors who arrived by train. As Steamboat Springs prospered and the needs of the town expanded, this two-story Victorian structure was converted to the town's first hospital by Dr. Willett.
The Old Town Pub later became a post office, general store, and movie theatre. It was also a library, a ceramic shop, a barber shop, and a radio shop. The Odd Fellows maintained their lodge in the building and the second floor was once used as a dance hall. In 1983, it became the Old Town Pub & Restaurant.
The menu wasn't your typical pub menu; there was some good variety. The thing we liked best was that the serving sizes were realistic. The American propensity for huge servings that no one could possible eat always amazes me. They seem to equate big dishes with value for money, even though they can only eat half the serving.
We shared the Fancy Schmancy Platter as our entrée—coco shrimp with a sweet chilli sauce, grilled chicken skewers with Thai peanut dipping sauce, apple-and-brie quesadilla wedges with a berry couli, and caprese crostinis for $14.95.
For mains we tried the elk, a grilled two-bone Rocky Mountain rack of elk served atop onion and dried cherry marmalade for $25.95, and the ribs, fall-off-the-bone pork ribs smothered in a homemade sweet and smoky BBQ sauce and slow roasted for $16.95 (half rack).
The service was good and the food was excellent. There were a lot of families in the restaurant, perhaps partly due to their smoke-free policy—even the bar is smoke free.
They have a good selection of local beers, including Colorado's Best Microbrews. I didn't try them all, but I recommend passing on Steamboat Ale (in my opinion), but Avalanche Ale is worth a try.
They open for lunch from 11:30am and dinner from 5:30pm.
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