Strip & Tail, Winter Park

The Food

The "strip" in the restaurant's name not only refers to the hearty beef served here, but also delicious wild game meats. Buffalo tops a nacho appetizer, while a game platter of buffalo, elk, venison, and duck calms growling bellies. For entrees, choose from medallions of elk or a buffalo rib eye steak.

On the seafood side, the kitchen stuffs trout with crab cakes, grills fish, and hosts an all-you-can-eat crab leg night. Also, lobster tail and scallops can be added to any "turf" entree for a small fee.

The Drink

In addition to pouring the local IPAs on tap, bartenders craft potent specialty drinks. Pirate Jack's Hurricane blends different flavored rums with fruit juice, while the Tail Martini imparts citrus flavor with clementine vodka, orange juice, and cointreau. Warm up on cool nights with grown-up hot chocolate, spiked with whipped cream vodka or peppermint schnapps.

The Atmosphere

According to the Denver Post, "the Strip & Tail . . . conjures up images of old-school culinary kitsch in the best possible ways." Inside, the log cabin–style building features a peaked ceiling with wood rafters. Hanging from one is a chandelier made from deer antlers; from another, an old-fashioned lobster trap. A live guitarist provides background music on many nights, soliciting requests for Jimmy Buffet songs and, also according to the _Post, "kill[ing] it on the Beatles' funkier stuff."