Eat food, get gas. While it’s important to have a sense of humor at a ski-country eatery, it’s even more important to serve up some good mess. The Route 6 Café between Vail and Beaver Creek in Eagle-Vail, manages to do both. Oh, yeah, it’s also a good spot to fill up your tank. Just as the T-shirt says, the eatery has the unusual distinction of offering customers premium petroleum from the pumps outside its front door and quality cuisine from the cozy dining room within. Featuring a classic “Route 66” roadhouse motif, the eatery is a locals’ favorite for lunch with a traditional array of hot and cold sandwiches, soups and sides, all for a buck or two less than the traditional Vail Valley pricing. Breakfast, including the unique “Route 6 Omelet” (chicken, spinach and goat cheese), is served all day (beginning at 6:30 a.m. every day except Sunday, 7:30 a.m.) and dinner is served Wednesday through Saturday 5-9 p.m.
Get there — Take the Minturn/Leadville exit off Interstate 70 between West Vail and Avon and follow U.S. 6 west to 41310 on the north side of the interstate. The Route 6 Café is on the left, behind the gas pumps. 970-949-6393.
Got eats? Know a great high-country restaurant/bar/cafe/burrito stand? Send tasty tips to outdoorextremes@denverpost.com.
