Downtown Aspen's November Reopening Follows the Lift Schedule

By the last week of October, the Central Core has started its offseason in earnest. Ajax Tavern, Element 47 and The Wine Bar at The Little Nell have been dark since October 19. The Wild Fig closed October 18, and French Alpine Bistro served its last night of the fall season on October 21. Aosta, The Monarch Steak House and Kenichi closed on October 25, and Bad Harriet followed on October 28.

Laid out on a calendar, the reopenings gather around two dates on the mountain schedule. Aspen Mountain and Snowmass are scheduled to open November 26, subject to conditions, according to The Aspen Times. Aspen Snowmass lists Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk for December 12. Downtown's dining rooms come back in step with those dates, and that tells you where dinner is on any given November night.

Two Lift Dates, and a Holiday on One of Them

November 26, 2026 is Thanksgiving, so opening day and the holiday fall on the same Thursday. That matters for the few kitchens that stayed open all fall. Matsuhisa at 303 E. Main has run through the offseason but closes fully on Thanksgiving Day. Yuki at 450 S. Galena is also closed that day. The restaurants that have been dark for weeks are the ones lining up to open that day.

The second date, December 12, is when the last two mountains open. A small group of downtown's more formal rooms is listed as returning in the days just before it.

The stretch between now and the first lift is uneven. Its leanest part comes in early November.

The Leanest Week Falls Early in November

On the eatAspen directory, the overlap peaks around the first week of November. Grateful Deli on E. Main closes October 30 and stays dark through November 16. Jing at 413 E. Main closes October 31. On November 2, two daytime staples go quiet at once. Paradise Bakery on S. Galena closes through November 8, and Meat & Cheese on E. Hopkins begins a closure that runs to December 9.

Meanwhile Ellina on E. Hyman is closed until November 12. Mt. Rubirosa at the base of the Gondola is closed until November 23. Aspen Brewing Co. on S. Galena keeps reduced hours until its own break from November 9 to 17. Kenichi on E. Hopkins is the first to come back, with its closure listed through November 3.

Here is how the gaps fall, in order:

1. October 30: Grateful Deli closes through November 16.
2. October 31: Jing closes through November 19.
3. November 2: Paradise Bakery closes through November 8. Meat & Cheese closes through December 9.
4. November 3: Kenichi's closure ends.
5. November 8: Paradise Bakery's closure ends.
6. November 9 to 17: Aspen Brewing Co. takes its break.
7. November 12: Ellina's closure ends.
8. November 16: Grateful Deli's closure ends.
9. November 18: Buck at 508 E. Cooper, otherwise open through the season, closes for this one day.

Yuki adds one more wrinkle. It's closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays from October 6 through November 18, so the middle of the week is especially thin until the week before Thanksgiving.

The Kitchens That Carry Downtown Through

Most of the stretch runs on the restaurants that are listed as open all offseason or simply open, usually with shorter hours. These are the reliable tables until the reopenings begin.

• Aspen Public House, 328 E. Hyman: open all offseason, with lunch and dinner six days a week starting the first week of November.
• Campo de Fiori, 205 S. Mill: open Tuesday through Saturday from 6 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday.
• Las Montañas, 205 S. Mill: happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. every night. No lunch until mid-December.
• Matsuhisa, 303 E. Main: open all offseason. The upstairs dining room is closed until December 11 except Mondays, when the Monday night football specials run upstairs and at the bar downstairs.
• Catch Steak, 515 E. Hopkins: 6 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• Clark's Oyster Bar, 512 E. Hyman: 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
• Acquolina Trattoria, 415 E. Main: from 5:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
• Casa Tua, 403 S. Galena: dinner, with lunch Friday through Sunday.
• The Golden Horn: 11 a.m. to midnight daily, the longest listed hours downtown.
• CP Burger, 433 E. Durant: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, until 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• Crepe Therapy Cafe, 401 E. Cooper: daily from 7 a.m., until 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• Explore Books Cafe, 221 E. Main: the cafe runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the bookstore until 5 p.m., seven days a week.
• 73 Cafe at The Gant: Thursday through Monday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Also listed as open are Steakhouse No. 316 at 316 E. Hopkins, both Sant Ambroeus locations, Little Ollie's at 308 S. Hunter, Brunelleschi's, Butcher's Block Deli, Big Wrap on weekdays, and New York Pizza on E. Hyman. At Hotel Jerome, the Living Room, The J Bar and Prospect are all listed as open.

The address 205 S. Mill shows how uneven the season is. Brunelleschi's, Campo de Fiori and Las Montañas there all keep serving, while their neighbor Cache Cache has been closed since October 3 and doesn't reopen until December 11.

How the Reopenings Line Up With the Lifts

Once you get past mid-November, the return dates fall into three groups. The first comes the week before opening day, the second lands on it, and the third arrives in early December.

The Little Nell's three outlets share one set of dates, so the hotel's dining comes back together the week before the gondola starts running. Jing's reopening on November 20 falls the same day those closures end.

The opening-day group is the largest. Aosta, the Alpine Italian restaurant from CP Restaurant Group, is in this group. It opened in December 2024 in the former Almresi space at 219 E. Durant, according to Aspen Sojourner's dining guide, so this will be its third winter downtown. Betula on E. Cooper is listed to come back with a 6 p.m. opening time.

The December group reopens between December 4 and December 11. Cache Cache's winter reopening is set for Friday, December 11, the night before Highlands and Buttermilk open. PARC Aspen and Matsuhisa's upstairs room are listed for the same date. Anyone planning a holiday dinner at one of these rooms will be booking around December, not opening day.

The Doors That Change Hands in Between

A few downtown addresses will look different by the time the December group returns.

At 624 E. Cooper, ZigZag has posted a farewell to its guests and staff that begins, "We stayed. Tonight, we close the door." In its October 2 roundup of winter openings, eatAspen reported that Le Cafe will replace ZigZag in the former Mezzaluna space. The listing gives the timing as December 2026, with no specific day.

The same roundup records two downtown arrivals from this summer that will have their first full winter. LoLa 41 opened in the new White Elephant Hotel on Main Street. The Golden Horn opened in a below-ground space in the Golden Horn building on the Mill Street pedestrian mall, and it's the late-night place in the open-all-offseason list above. Further out, eatAspen reports that Hillstone plans to open next to The White House Tavern, in a new building at the former Elevation, Aspen Tap and Over Easy address. No date has been given.

One room won't be coming back. eatAspen lists Marea Aspen at the St. Regis as permanently closed.

Offseason hours change from week to week, and eatAspen says its offseason lists are updated daily. The phone numbers in its directory are the quickest way to confirm a table before you walk over. The lift dates depend on conditions too, so if Aspen Mountain's opening moves, expect some of the reopening dates to move with it.

At SSC & Company, our hospitality work runs on the same seasonal calendar that downtown's kitchens keep. If you're spending the holidays in town and want help timing a dinner, hosting guests, or getting a residence ready for opening week, we would be glad to help. Schedule a Private Consultation.