Ryan F.
Yelp
Goldminer's Daughter is one of a handful of historic lodges located slopeside at (the now 75 year old) Alta Ski Resort. My friend and I were staying 10 minutes away over at Snowbird, but we patronized the bar/restaurant here for some well-deserved après ski!
On the ground floor, they've got a cozy bar area and plenty of tables, with some sofas scattered around in the nooks and crannies. It was down here that we discovered "Joe's Famous Chili," a generous portion and hearty blend of everything that's good in life for around five bucks. The chili was EXCELLENT, and topped with a heap of shredded cheddar for $0.50 additional. A pitcher of Alta's locally-brewed limited edition 75th anniversary beer ($15) washed the whole thing down. On the ground floor, they also sell coffees and teas, with an assortment of candies for only $1 apiece. For a ski resort, the prices here are VERY reasonable...like drugstore/gas station reasonable, but in a much cooler setting!
After getting a gist of the ground floor bar, we decided to venture upstairs into what appeared to be another bar area. Upstairs, we found a half-vaulted room with more seating, an additional bar, and beautiful panorama views of the base area and mountain. Go up one more floor and you'll find a more formal restaurant area with complimentary cold cuts, cheeses, cookies, hot chocolate, coffee, and tea from 5-6pm. Something tells me this was probably a "hotel guests only thing" but nobody looked twice as I snagged a generous plate to split with my buddy downstairs! (shhh)
All in all, Goldminer's is a cool spot worth checking out, especially if you're skiing at Alta. This is also probably the closest semblance to "nightlife" you'll find on the mountain, so if you're looking for some reasonable (or maybe even free!) aprés ski food & drink, head on over!