Iconic Vail bar to serve up its last margs and nachos this Sunday

Vail’s Closing Weekend often means that many businesses shut down for a while after the last chair spins on Sunday, but one beloved bar and restaurant will be closing for good.

Los Amigos, the restaurant at the bottom of Gondola 1 with the iconic patio facing Vail Mountain will be shutting down after 53 years of serving as Vail’s “Cheers” bar for locals and guests alike.

“What I like best about Los Amigos was that we not only had locals who were regulars, but we had tourists who also became regulars,” said Shannon Short, who worked at Los Amigos from 2017 to 2022. “There were people who’d been coming to town for years and they would come here every day that they were here in Vail. So, we got to know them, too. They were just as much my friends as the local regulars who came in.”

Drew Riley grew up getting root beers at the bar after skiing and playing with the dishwasher sprayer when he was a kid. In 1982, Drew’s parents, Ron and Ann Riley, purchased Los Amigos from original owners, Judy and Shirkie Evans, who started it in 1972.

“I remember as a kid when I was 11 or 12, the restaurant was getting slammed, and I don’t think the dishwasher showed, and I was playing out at Pirate Ship Park and my dad came out and said, ‘Hey, remember how you’ve always wanted to play with the sprayer in the kitchen? Come on back. Now’s your time.’ And there I was, pitching in when we needed help,” Riley said. He and brother, Nick, worked at Los Amigos while growing up. Ron Riley had some health issues in 2014 and Drew stepped in to help run the other restaurant Ron owned, Russell’s Steakhouse on Bridge Street. Drew also owns First Chair restaurant on Bridge Street.

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The lease for Los Amigos ends on April 30 and the restaurant has hosted celebrations all season long, like Legacy Nights where locals and visitors could share stories and say goodbye. The final Legacy Night held on April 16 was packed with people who came from all over to pay their respects.

“My dad was able to come out for it and there was definitely a ton of past employees who came up to him and thanked him. They were so grateful for how my dad cared for all of his employees,” Riley said.

Los Amigos wasn’t just a place to grab a beer or a margarita and nachos after skiing, it was a coveted spot to watch the Slide for Life, a spectacle where a lesser-skilled skier or snowboarder tries to make it down the short yet steep run on Vail Mountain called Pepi’s Face.

“It was always so funny when a new group would come here, sit on the deck, not know anything about this and they’d hear roars, cheering, laughter from the patrons, who were all staring at Pepi’s Face at some skier who’d just lost all of their equipment and was sliding down the hill,” Riley said. “We have one group of visitors who come every year for a guy’s ski trip, and they play a game where if the skier you choose falls, you must pay the entire tab! People have had a lot of fun with it.”  

Los Amigos was an institution, one that was a part of legendary events of the past like BB & B and the Great Race. Its deck used to host hot tub parties complete with sand that was hauled in and a tall lifeguard chair overseeing the shenanigans. That’s the way Anthony Keel remembers Los Amigos. Keel worked as a server, bartender and bar manager throughout his stints from 1993 to 2001 and 2006 to 2016.

“Los Amigos was so well established, and there’s no question that everybody there knew it as a focal point,” Keel said. “I’m just a little bit sad that some of the last vestiges of old-school Vail are going away.”

Rodney Johnson saw a lot during his tenure at Los Amigos, where he worked from 2002 to 2007 and 2010 to 2024.

“It’s an end to a beautiful era. During my times there, people would come in as young children and later they’d return as adults with their children. It was just a continuing saga of generation after generation of families coming through there and enjoying that spot,” Johnson said. “It was really cool for people that came to visit, because they’re sitting at the bar next to a local and they start hearing some of the stories. Next thing you know, they just became friends.”

How fitting for a bar whose name is Los Amigos, which means “friends” in Spanish.

During the last Legacy Night, Short and many of the other former and current staff posed for a photo behind the bar.

“That is what this place is about. The friendships. I mean, there’s never been a place like it. It’s the everlasting camaraderie and connection of the people that have worked there or hung out there or known people that worked there over the years. You could just feel the love at Legacy Night. It was palpable in the room,” Short said.

Los Amigos will close for good on Sunday at 4 p.m.

“I’ve been spending more time on this deck this season, just trying to soak it all in,” Riley said. “There’s just something about basking in the sun and watching people come down Pepi’s Face while drinking a beer and hanging with friends. I’m really going to miss this.”