New restaurant opens in West Vail
Look for a varied menu that is focused on the locals and affordably priced
Rime Restaurant/Courtesy photo
West Vail, you just got yourself a new dining and drinking option: Rime restaurant at Highline Vail, A DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton.
The space has had many past lives. Bull Crabs served up steak, Bagali’s featured Italian, Bearfish offered barbecue and most recently, Casa Mexico had Tex-Mex on the menu. Through its many incarnations, Steven Teaver always had his eye on the place.
“Ever since I moved here and saw this place turn into all the different restaurants, I’ve always wanted this space because I knew it would be a diamond for the West Vail neighborhood and Vail in general,” said Teaver, who is the managing partner of Rime. “When you look at the population density of Vail, it is almost 80% year-round residents who live from Sandstone to the west.”
Teaver said he’s aiming for a neighborly place where people can feel comfortable with the menu and come back often and try new dishes.
“It’s a very broad menu, we’ve got a little bit of everything. We have a couple of amazing vegan and vegetarian dishes, pasta and seafood dishes and an amazing friend chicken sandwich,” Teaver said.
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Teaver raved about the elote dirty fries on the menu.
“It’s probably one of our best sellers, so if you like elote street corn, we essentially took all of those ingredients and just threw it on top of French fries and it’s amazing!” Teaver said.
He also wants people to come back because of the friendly pricing.
“Dining out can be very expensive these days. We are priced for the locals,” Teaver said. “We’re looking to give our diners value.”
The kids’ menu is comprised of the usual suspects of chicken tenders, mac n’ cheese and a hot dog but Rime also serves up a couple of kid’s pastas and a scaled-down smash burger for a kid’s appetite. You can even go off the menu and order something special.
“If we have it in house, we can make it kid’s size meal out of it,” Teaver said.
Save room for dessert. Teaver has ordered key lime pies from the famous Mike’s Pies in Tampa, FL. They recently hired someone to come in and make baked goods and they will also have ice cream and brownies to top off the meal.
One thing that Teaver wanted to bring to West Vail was a good late-night bar menu.
“When people get off work, we want them to stop by and grab a bite to eat and a drink and socialize for a bit,” Teaver said. “We know the late-night options are limited.”
The bar offers a regular cocktail list and some mixtures you may have never even thought of before.
“We have a mango lassi, which is a traditional Indian drink and it is usually just mango and yogurt but we add some fruit juice and alcohol to it. We have a strawberry pistachio daiquiri that is unbelievable. The pistachio flavor is infused into the rum that we are using and then fresh strawberries and lime juice and it’s fire,” Teaver said.
Teaver has been in the food and beverage industry for 27 years, with much of that being in the Vail Valley. He has teamed up with Mark Yare and Zach Bailey of Local Joe’s Pizza to come up with a new dining experience in West Vail. Their staff runs deep with experience, with many of them having worked at places all throughout the Vail Valley.
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Rime will also have a different look and feel than the restaurants that were previously housed there. The team wanted it to feel very welcoming but also polished and give off a nice vibe.
“We enlisted the help of Premiere Design Group, which is my mom, so, my mom and I did the décor and we didn’t want it to feel super rustic like all the other mountain restaurants. We wanted it to feel like you’re in a friend’s living room,” Teaver said.
The first thing you’ll notice when you walk in is a good bit of color. The main palette is dark green and white. There’s a fun wallpaper mural running across the main dining room wall. Rime also has two separate dining rooms to host private groups and small functions.
Rime will be open from 4:30 p.m. until 2 p.m. They will open early for football games on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We’re excited to be open and to welcome the locals in with affordable pricing and a community feel,” Teaver said.