Vail Colorado Restaurateur Says Regular Menu Additions Are A Major Key to Increasing Customer Patronage

Ryan Thompson, proprietor of the WestSide Cafe in Vail, Colorado, considered by some to be one of the best restaurants in Vail, states that, after making some key menu additions, "Our business is up quite a bit from years past. We're seeing many repeat guests come in and enjoy all of the different specials we're offering."

Ryan, explaining his strategy further, stated, "Actually, we really haven't totally changed the menu. What we have done is added a number of daily specials to it. Three specials a day to be exact, one for each meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner). We wanted to spice up the menu this fall, really add something to it that the Vail valley restaurants were missing. Since we serve all three meals, we have a lot of options. We tasted a lot of different items, and of course, only the best of the best made it to the table."

Pinpointing some of the new menu items that have become especially popular, Ryan mentioned three. "One of the hits," according to Ryan, "is the 'Tailgate Special,' 6 buffalo wings, a Kobe beef slider (sandwich) and a house-made hot dog with a 16oz beer, all for $9.95." "For breakfast, the Leprechaun Benedict (Eggs Benedict) has been a big hit — a toasted English muffin topped with house-made corned beef, poached eggs and homemade béarnaise sauce, and you can't beat the price at $7.95." Finally, for the dinner menu changes, one of their most popular menu additions is their "Surf and Turf" — USDA Choice Top Sirloin beef medallions and creamy garlic shrimp, served with herbed polenta cake and their chef's choice veggie.

Some of their other exciting new menu offerings include breakfast tacos (Mondays), Caprese omlet (Thursdays), Loco Moco (Hawaiian), and quiches on Saturdays and Sundays. New lunch menu offerings at the WestSide cafe include a Hoosier pork tenderloin sandwich (Mondays), Ahi salad (offered on Tuesdays), Reuben burgers (Wednesdays), and crispy shrimp Po Boys (Saturdays).

For dinners, outstanding selections include crispy Calamari appetizer and chicken Marsala (Mondays), Wahoo kabobs with rosemary lemon aioli (Tuesdays). On Thursays you can order meatball tom-toms with Parmesan cream sauce (appetizer), Friday appetizers feature a crab cake on greens with a Creole remoulade, as well as an all-you-can-eat fish fry with cole slaw and french fries. Saturday and Sunday appetizer favorites include Bruschetta bread, with the special Surf-and-Turf entree.

The Westside Cafe, located in Vail, Colorado, is a casual, breakfast, lunch, dinner and catering restaurant. This Vail Restaurant is inspired by the everyday family cooking that we all grew up with. The public will feel at home while enjoying a great meal in their relaxed, western Colorado-themed dining room. The Westside Cafe offers an extensive menu, serving breakfast favorites all day long, like buttermilk pancakes, Cap N' Crunch French Toast, a variety of Egg Benedicts, and many more. They also provide full coffee and tea options as well as a full bar that serves Vail's best Bloody Mary. In addition, they serve a full lunch and dinner menu from 11:30am-10pm and offer a variety of salads, sandwiches and entrees.