The 5 Best Lunches Around Summit County

Midday meals carry unusual importance at elevation. A morning spent skiing, hiking, biking or exploring Summit County can build a serious appetite well before evening, making the middle of the day an opportunity for something more substantial than a quick snack. Local menus answer with scratch-made sandwiches, sourdough pizza, nourishing bowls, Thai-inspired fried chicken and Baja-style tacos. The Best of Summit recognizes establishments that make stopping for a midday meal worthwhile, whether the day calls for a leisurely table or food that gets diners quickly back to their next adventure.

Butterhorn Bakery & Cafe

Butterhorn Bakery & Cafe has spent more than four decades baking and cooking from scratch on Frisco’s Main Street. Its midday menu runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and puts the bakery to work in savory ways. The Ten Mile Turkey layers turkey breast and Muenster with house-made guacamole on a jalapeño-cheddar baguette, while the Muffaletta combines Genoa salami, turkey, ham, olive salad, provolone and Swiss on focaccia. Other choices include a Philly cheesesteak, Reuben, chicken salad croissant, pulled pork sandwich and several vegetable-focused sandwiches and wraps. Diners can also pair half a sandwich with soup or salad. Breakfast remains available throughout the day, so Eggs Butterhorn, biscuits and gravy or a breakfast burrito remain options for anyone who is not ready to move on from the morning menu.

Pure Kitchen

Pure Kitchen opens at 11 a.m. with a from-scratch menu designed to cover markedly different dietary preferences at the same table. The Frisco restaurant describes its approach as farm-to-table, sourcing whole-food ingredients from Colorado farms and regional suppliers while offering paleo, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan choices alongside meat and seafood. Bowls provide one of the central formats, joined by burgers, salads and grilled flatbread pizzas. That range makes the restaurant particularly useful for groups whose idea of a satisfying midday meal differs from person to person. Someone looking for vegetables and grains can take one path through the menu, while another diner can choose a burger or a more protein-focused dish.

Tin Plate Pizza

Tin Plate Pizza turns a familiar midday food into a process that begins days before a pie reaches the table. Its dough undergoes a 72-hour cold fermentation and uses heirloom wheat milled by Colorado’s Moxie Bread Company. The kitchen also makes its mozzarella and cultured butter in-house. Those ingredients become sourdough pizzas that range from recognizable classics to more involved combinations, including a signature pie topped with short rib braised for 12 hours. The restaurant opens at 11:30 a.m., making its pizzas available for a sit-down midday meal inside a restored 19th-century miner’s cabin or, when conditions cooperate, on the patio. Sourdough bread, salads and other starters can turn a shared pizza into a broader meal.

Bird Craft

Bird Craft operates inside Outer Range Brewing Co.’s Frisco taproom, where chef Chris Schmidt developed a Thai-inspired fried chicken concept specifically to complement the brewery’s beers. The kitchen gives a mountain-town midday meal a different direction from conventional burgers and fries, centering its food on crisp chicken and Southeast Asian-influenced flavors. Its counter-service format matches Outer Range’s open-seating taproom, allowing diners to order food without shifting into a formal restaurant experience. The surrounding mixed-market concept also includes Mountain Dweller Coffee Roasters, whose beans are roasted on-site, while Outer Range brews its beer in view of the taproom. With the brewery opening daily at 11 a.m., Bird Craft fits naturally into an early afternoon stop.

Chimayo Grill

Chimayo Grill keeps midday dining customizable with a counter-service menu built around tacos, burritos and Baja-style seafood. Its best-selling tacos feature hand-breaded Alaskan pollock, while hand-breaded shrimp and grilled fish or shrimp provide additional seafood choices. Tacos come on corn tortillas with fresh toppings, and burritos are assembled to order with rice, a choice of beans and other additions. Steak, chicken, pork carnitas and beans expand the protein choices beyond seafood. The chile relleno is another house specialty, built around a stuffed Anaheim pepper, while pork green chile, quesadillas, nachos and taco salad broaden the menu further. Vegan and gluten-free items are identified among the selections, including several bean, steak and carnitas preparations.

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