Gore Restaurants

All,

Happy December.  We are going up to Gore Dec 28-Jan 1.  What restaurants do you recommend for dinner?  On a short solo trip two years ago, I enjoyed Bar Vino and Basil and Wicks.  Two families of four, each with an 8 and 6 year old. Someone told me Bar Vino is 21+.  

Thanks in advance.  I have been to Gore a handful of times for the Master the Mountain clinic in the past three or four years and then for a spring trip to ski rumour.  Any tips on how to hide from crowds appreciated.  The kids and other adults are blue/green skiers.  The area by Pete Gay looked like a good hide out zone.  

Best,
D

The Inn at Gore puts out a very good meal.  I would not stay there but would eat there every time

restaurant scene around Gore is FAR from strong.

That being said, I heard as well that BarVino was changing things up and going 21+ with specific seating times, service at bar first come first served kind of thing. I don't have any more info than that...and even then it's second hand.

you know about B&W already

Beck's is a solid choice and kid friendly.

If you're willing to travel a bit further, I can vouch for both of these joints:
-Cafe Adirondack in Pottersville, ~14 miles, very good table restaurant, higher end/quality, a bit pricier
-Sticks and Stones in Schroon Lake, ~20 miles, bar/restaurant, good vibe, kid friendly, fireplace roaring all winter

Or if you're real lucky, maybe the pizza place in downtown NC will be open after 3+years of being in progress....

Hide from crowds= North Quad. Should have some terrain open there by then. Holiday period will follow a typical holiday pattern: gondi crowded from about 915a-1130a, then again about 1p-2p or so. Avoid those times. Get up the mountain early--if you make it to Gondi or ADK quad @ 830ish you'll snag a few runs lower mountain before the crowd sets in. Then I'd suggest some North quad action with a stop in the saddle for the little folks. If you feel like exploring the summit areas, Headwaters is a great choice for the less experienced in the group.

Enjoy!

Owl at Twilight is highly recommended (Olmsteadville)
OP Fredricks or The Place, Loon Lake
Garnet Hill Lodge - North River

I read that The Copperfield was bought with NYC big money and will be completely revamped in the future.

Friends lake Inn is a good choice and they also have a casual room.

Owl at Twilight is awesome but closed in the winters...

Thanks guys - all much appreciated.  

15 minute drive but I’m a fan of The Place on Rt. 8.  Dependable ‘red check tablecloth’ Italian.

BarVino for sure.  But be sure to check out their new seating/reservation policy.  Also Beck's.

Fellow NYSkiBloggers -

Thanks for all the tips.  We skied four days (12-29/1-1) at Gore and had a blast.  

As for restaurants, we only ate out twice, but both good places.  My thoughts:  Basil's was reliably good (not great - don't mean that in a negative way) and Beck's was very good, with an interesting menu that was somewhat central European-inspired.  For Beck's would recommend the mozzarella sticks (the only ones I have ever had in my life that you could tell were hand-made), poutine, and potato perogies.  The goat cheese salad and beet salad were equally tasty.  Did not partake of adult beverages because I was driving and too tired.  They had a tenderloin that was on the special which was good, if a bit undercooked for a medium rare.  (None of this is intended directly or indirectly to start a debate, just to be helpful; yes I know there are a lot of approaches to rare, and for the record, I mean steak house medium rare is my preference, which is what a lot of folks would consider rare).  

A few trip highlights:

-The rainy day limited us to the Poma and the Sunway chair, which was awesome for my six year old.  The conditions that day were actually the best, and we were rewarded with some snow falling on top of soft springlike in the afternoon.  It was fun to be the only skier down Arena, which hasn't happened in my handful of days at Gore.  Bet that doesn't happen too often.  

-Day 1:  Six year old did not want to ski the rest of the way down lower Sunway (which I knew would happen but let her go down because she was insisting, as her friend was doing it).  She walked a bit, and when she realized I wouldn't carry her down, she skied down.  Even though she pushed to go, I probably should have just barred her from going and stayed on the Poma, but it was a good learning experience.  

-Day 4: Six year-old skiing Twister no problem.  

-The Gondi-down day was an experience, but surprisingly people were being reasonable in line and the line moved.  When the Gondi opened, the line on the ADK chair instantly evaporated.  

-Big shoutout for New Year's eve skiing at the ski bowl.  Large flakes coming down from 6-8 pm, and our group was 8 of the 11 skiers on the hill.  Very magical.  

-My son losing his poles actually helped his skiing.  It was fun to hit up some of the blues with him faster than a pack of 8 with two 6-year olds can move.  The lost poles were probably dad's car-loading mishap.  Can't blame my guy for that one.  

-Got to have a ton of fun with my wife, two kids, and another family of four, all with great attitudes (adjusted for age ability to tolerate life/fatigue).  Probably the best part.  

-New Year's Day I unexpectedly got up to Lies at about 1:30 p.m. when the two families skiing together took a break.  The conditions were not great on Lies at that point but fun and challenging.  Some places clear ice, some two inches of pow over ice, and some places powder/pp or frozen granular.  Did two combinations of side slips/slides for life and still managed to get some good turns in.  Some people were owning Lies, but many more were taking long falls.

-Saw some friendly faces, including 64er and garnered the benefits of the ski school from early bird lessons for 8 on Day 1.  

Happy New Year!  

Glad you found two restaurants you liked. The misses and I will stop at B&W on our way through NC from time to time - yes, reliable. Tried Becks twice - Blah. However we met friends who insisted we try the Inn at Gore, hadn’t been there for maybe 15 years. The food was really good but the atmosphere, it was like walking into a time warp to the 70s. But who eats atmosphere, I’ll go back for the food.

I miss Smith's Diner

PeeTex -- you remember that joint?

Good to hear about Inn at Gore.

I think Becks may be under new management . . . .  

DomB wrote

I think Becks may be under new management . . . .

This would surprise me?

I would stop for breakfast at Smiths, very woodsy. The two places I miss and they were only there for a few years was Andie’s (really good German, not like Becks) and Wally’s which served a classy meal at a great price. I also miss Pete’s Ah - would grab a pie there on the way back to the wilderness.