Tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 20, the free gondola starts running again, Thanksgiving is the ski resort's targeted opening day, and the downtown restaurants that define a Telluride winter night return on their own schedule over the following three weeks. Floradora closes the day after the gondola reopens and stays closed until Dec. 4. The New Sheridan's bar, Chop House and Rooftop stay closed through Dec. 3. La Marmotte and 221 South Oak are closed until Dec. 10. Winter here comes back from the top of the mountain down, and for the next stretch the mountain is a step ahead of the town.
Friday, the Gondola Goes First
According to the Town of Mountain Village, the gondola's fall maintenance shutdown ran Oct. 26 through Thursday, Nov. 19. Buses covered the gap, and the gondola reopens Friday, Nov. 20, on winter hours of 6:30 a.m. to midnight daily. The Chondola starts when the ski resort opens and runs through April 4, also 6:30 a.m. to midnight. Friday and Saturday service extends to 2 a.m. starting Dec. 18.
Mountain Village is waking up faster than downtown. On Visit Telluride's Off-Season Dining Fall 2026 list, Alloy Kitchen's closure ends Nov. 19, the same day the gondola's does. Alloy Kitchen is the former View at Mountain Lodge Telluride. The Telluride News reported that the room was renamed with a remodeled great room and a refreshed menu, launching July 15. Up there, Crazy Elk Pizza is open daily 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Telluride Distilling Company is open 2 to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The Village Market is open every day.
The rest of the Village returns in steps. Tracks Café & Bar is closed through Nov. 22 and Allred's through Nov. 25, the day before the targeted opening. La Piazza del Villaggio stays closed through Dec. 2. Siam Talay reopens Dec. 10 and Communion Wine Bar Dec. 11. Black Iron Kitchen, Kettle Coffee, Timber Room and the Telluride Brewing Company Brew Pub are listed with reopening dates still to be set.
Thanksgiving Is Opening Day, and Downtown Takes the Week Off
Telluride Ski Resort lists a targeted opening of Thursday, Nov. 26, with closing on April 4, 2027. The resort says winter dates can shift with weather and conditions. On opening day the Heritage Plaza ticket office in Mountain Village is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Lift 8 sales office on the town side opens with the season, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. The free Carhenge lot is at the base of Lift 7.
So the first ski day of the season lands on a holiday, and that same week several downtown kitchens are shut:
- The Patio, at 138 E. Colorado Ave., is open daily but closes Nov. 24 through 28.
- Floradora Saloon closes Nov. 21 and reopens after Dec. 4.
- The National closed Nov. 15 and stays closed through Dec. 4.
- Caravan and La Cocina de Luz are closed through Nov. 22. Both come back a few days before the holiday.
The holiday's organized meals cluster on either side of town. Alpine Chapel's annual free Community Friendsgiving is Saturday, Nov. 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. On Thanksgiving Day, Alloy Kitchen at Mountain Lodge Telluride, 457 Mountain Village Blvd., hosts An Outlaw Thanksgiving. It's a fire-lit buffet with live music from 2 to 6 p.m., priced at $85 for adults and $40 for children 12 and under. The KOTO community calendar also lists live music in Mountain Lodge's Après Lounge from 4 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 26 through 28.
The quieter days before the holiday run through Wilkinson Public Library. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, the library shows a free Toy Story 5 matinee from 2 to 4 p.m. On Friday, Nov. 27, it hosts You & Me / Tu y Yo, a parent-child program, at 10:30 a.m. in the Kids Area.
The Short List That Carries Opening Week
These are the downtown places Visit Telluride lists as open through the off-season, or open on a set weekly schedule, so they cover the week the mountain opens:
| Place | Off-season schedule |
|---|---|
| Baked in Telluride | Open daily |
| Brown Dog | Daily, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Butcher & The Baker | 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday |
| Cornerhouse Grille | Open daily |
| Kazahana | Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Last Dollar Saloon | Open |
| Rustico | Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Smugglers | Daily, noon to 8 p.m. |
| Steamies Burger Bar | Open daily |
| Stronghouse | Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. |
| Van Atta | Daily, 1 to 10 p.m., until 11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday |
| West End Bistro | Breakfast daily, dinner Monday through Wednesday |
| Telluride Truffle | Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
Liz reopened after Nov. 16, and Bruno's closure ends Nov. 19, so both are back in time for opening week. Down valley in Lawson Hill, the Society Conoco is open daily. Telluride Brewing Company Craft Kitchen & Pizza is open Wednesday through Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday. That kitchen took over the former Counter Culture space. When the Telluride News covered the sale, co-founder Chris Fish described the idea plainly: "We want to take care of locals first, without a doubt."
Visit Telluride notes that it is still updating the list, so it pays to call before you drive in for dinner.
December 3 to 17, Downtown Comes Back in Order
Downtown's return runs about two weeks behind the targeted opening day, and it comes back in this order:
- Through Dec. 3: New Sheridan Bar, New Sheridan Chop House and New Sheridan Rooftop Bar are closed.
- Through Dec. 4: Floradora Saloon, The National, and the Coffee Cowboy cart and General Store are closed.
- Through Dec. 6: The Grand is closed.
- Through Dec. 8: Tellurado Studio is closed.
- Through Dec. 10: La Marmotte and 221 South Oak are closed.
- Through Dec. 17: Sidework is closed, the longest closure on the list.
The first weekend of December has a festival of its own. The Holiday Arts Bazaar fills Ah Haa School for the Arts, 160 S. Fir St., Dec. 4 through 6. Hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. It falls on the same weekend the Sheridan, Floradora and The National come back. That makes it the first weekend this season when a downtown evening has most of its usual options.
Noel Night follows on Wednesday, Dec. 9, with the ceremonial Ski Tree lighting and shopping at local retailers downtown. The tree goes up a day before La Marmotte and 221 South Oak finish their closures. Mountain Village's Holiday Prelude is listed for Dec. 12 and 13.
O'Bannon's Is Open Through All of It, for the Last Time
While other places close and reopen, one downstairs bar on East Colorado Avenue keeps its usual hours all season, and this is its final winter. The Telluride News reported that O'Bannon's Irish Pub will close on Dec. 31 after almost 40 years. Until then the doors are open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Owner Ann Marie Fitzpatrick started bartending there in 1994, when O'Bs was on South Fir Street beside Baked in Telluride. In 2016 the bar moved into the old Fly Me to the Moon Saloon space, with its bar and stage. She and her husband, Randy, plan to retire and travel. She told the paper the bar will go out with "a big New Year's Eve party," adding, "in true O'Bs style, everyone is welcome."
The space has a buyer. The partners behind The Patio, the restaurant upstairs, bought the space but not the business. They plan to open a bar there soon after the closing, with very little change to the room, under a different name. The Telluride News covered The Patio's opening at 138 E. Colorado Ave. after its soft opening in September. The two floors of that building are already linked, and this winter O'Bannon's last season runs alongside the gondola's return, opening day and downtown's staggered reopening.
At The Overington Group, we keep calendars like this one for every mountain town we work in, because the weeks between seasons are when a place shows how it really runs. If you'd like the latest version of this list as more December dates come in, give our Main Avenue office a call or contact The Overington Group online.
