Where to Drink and Dine Outdoors at Deer Valley Resort

It’s summer at the Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. What better time to enjoy an outdoor gourmet meal with a view? The resort has plenty of choices, from the super casual Snack Shack to an award-winning brick-oven restaurant and summer concert picnics. Here’s the lowdown.

The Deer Valley Grocery ~ Café

The Deer Valley Grocery ~ Café is exactly as it sounds: part market, part bistro. It also has a huge deck on the Deer Valley Ponds, which is why it’s at the top of this list. As early as 7:30 a.m., you can order a lemon ricotta pancake skillet, sit under an umbrella and watch people catch trout against a dramatic mountain backdrop. The café is open until 8:30 p.m. daily, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as local coffee, cocktails, beer and wine. Gourmet grocery items and take-away entrées are also available.

The menus are seasonal and usually locally sourced. This summer, the breakfast menu’s highlight is the housemade coconut yogurt and granola with local honey. Paninis are a popular lunch choice, as well as the classic Deer Valley Turkey Chili. The café’s dessert menu includes another signature dish: the vanilla ice cream sandwich, with chocolate chip cookies and hot fudge sauce. It’s in the Snow Park Village base area and is first-come, first-served.

Royal Street Café

Located at Silver Lake Village, the Royal Street Café offers scenic dining on an impressive deck at mid-mountain. Open daily for lunch, it's pricier than the Deer Valley Grocery ~ Café at the mountain’s base, but you get what you pay for. Royal Street’s $22 maple bacon BBQ bison burger, for example, is huge and comes with smoked cheddar, onions, guacamole, habanero aioli, and shoestring fries. Royal Street is also known for its cheese and charcuterie platter, all made in-house. The resort has an award-winning cheese maker, who specializes in bries. The resort’s sausages and prosciuttos are also fantastic. For dessert, check out the pie of the day. Insider’s tip: Look for the rhubarb-cherry pie.

Silver Lake Snack Shack

For a more casual mid-mountain bite, the Silver Lake Snack Shack offers freshly made wraps, tacos, chili and hot dogs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.In the summers, you’ll see plenty of mountain bikers ride up and grab a quick treat. The Snack Shack is at Silver Lake Village, close to two chairlifts. It’s open seasonally, while the lifts are running.

The Brass Tag

OK, so it doesn’t have outdoor seating, but this restaurant is fabulous and warrants a spot on the list. For a sit-down meal with great cocktails, The Brass Tag is the place. Nearly everything is made in a brick oven: Pizzetes, seafood skillets, seared meats, and fish. They also have a to-die-for pork chop, with bourbon-glazed roasted peaches, cheddar truffle chive spaetzle and honey-mustard vinaigrette.

Two popular appetizers, easy to share, are the freshly baked pretzels with fig mustard, and the oven-fired chimichurri chips with cheese, bacon and scallions. In 2015, The Brass Tag won the Park City Area Restaurant Association’s annual summer cocktail contest with “Evangeline,” a beehive “jack rabbit” gin with cassis shrub, basil-infused local honey and rose lemonade. This year, restaurant seeks to defend its title with “Hawkeye,” a Brazilian rum with aperol liqueur, lime, sugar, salt and jalapeno-pineapple shrub. The bar is open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and has a eight local beers, California wines, and an impressive cocktail menu.

Located at the base area on the resort’s north side, the restaurant also has a children’s menu and accepts reservations, so it’s a good for groups and large families. Prices range from $14 to $39 for dinner entrees.

Picnic at a Summer Concert

Possibly the best outdoor dining experience at Deer Valley is a picnic at one of the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater shows. Spread a blanket on the grass and listen to the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera, country stars, folk singers, and pop artists. You can bring your own food, or order a basket from the resort. Deer Valley’s gourmet picnic basket includes smoked salmon or chilled beef, with antipasto, house-made salami and brie, fruit, baguettes and dessert. A vegetarian tofu option is also available. Prices range from $47 to $84.

Deer Valley also offers picnic bags, which include wraps, salad, housemade chips and cashew caramel popcorn. A children’s picnic bag is also available. Prices range from $32 to $56. A concession stand also sells burgers, chili, hot dogs and salad.

Written by Kara Guzman for RootsRated in partnership with Deer Valley.