Park City's Shoulder Season Ends Twice, and the Dinner Reservations Follow the Lifts

Park City's restaurants don't all come back from shoulder season on one date. In 2026 they reopen in two groups, and each group follows a ski resort. KITA and Shabu reopen Nov. 20, the same Friday Park City Mountain is targeting for opening day. La Stellina at the St. Regis reopens Dec. 5, the day Deer Valley is slated to open. Firewood on Main and The Nelson Cottage by High West come back two days earlier, on Dec. 3.

The Park City Farmers Market at First Time Chair Lift was scheduled to run Wednesdays through Oct. 28, which closed out its 2026 season, and November starts Sunday. To plan a dinner out in the next five weeks, the useful question is which resort a restaurant's reopening date lines up with.

Two opening days, fifteen days apart

The resort dates set the frame. Vail Resorts' 2026/27 guide says Park City Mountain is "targeting Friday, November 20, 2026, for Opening Day, subject to weather and conditions." In a Sept. 16 press release, Deer Valley said it is "slated to open to the public on December 5, 2026, conditions permitting."

Now set those two dates next to the fall closure list that Dishing PC published Oct. 19 from Park City Area Restaurant Association data:

Looked at this way, the timing makes sense. The town has no single quiet stretch. Some kitchens go dark in late October, some don't close until mid-November, and the reopenings bunch up around the two opening days. Several Main Street restaurants are on the later, Deer Valley schedule, so Old Town's dining options stay thin into early December, even after skiers are riding lifts across the valley.

The first wave, around Nov. 20

The Nov. 20 group is small but it's the one people plan around. KITA's dinner service and Shabu both return that Friday. The Stein Collection follows the next Tuesday, when 7880 Club and Cena reopen Nov. 24, and The Hirsch's closure ends Nov. 25. In Prospector, Dos Olas Cantina closed for the season Oct. 3, and TownLift reported it expects to reopen before Thanksgiving.

Getting to the base areas also changes when Park City Mountain opens, and the change is bigger at Canyons. The Park Record reported that free all-day surface parking plus a ride up the Cabriolet "is history." The new 10-person Canyons Village Skyway opens alongside the new parking structure. According to Park City Mountain's parking page, the garage costs $29 a day and is free after noon. Vehicles with four or more people get free carpool parking when space allows, and a limited number of free first-come surface spaces remain beside the garage.

The Mountain Village lots follow the resorts' fifteen-day gap closely. From Nov. 20 through Dec. 4 they're free but still need an advance reservation. Starting Dec. 5, the same day Deer Valley opens, reservation parking at the First Time and Main lots costs $29.

The second wave, around Dec. 5

The later group is larger and closer to Main Street. Firewood on Main reopens Dec. 3. The High West Distillery and Saloon on Park Avenue are closed Nov. 16 through Dec. 1, and The Nelson Cottage reopens Dec. 3. Courchevel Bistro has been closed since Oct. 24 and plans to return in early December. La Stellina has the closest match of all. It closes Nov. 9 and reopens Dec. 5, Deer Valley's opening day, and switches to nightly service from 5 to 10 p.m.

Deer Valley is opening with more terrain this season. Its Sept. 16 release says the new Hail Peak Express adds 200 skiable acres and seven new runs, running from Deer Valley East Village up to the resort's easternmost terrain. The new buildings come later. The East Village Lodge, with its ski school, rentals and food hall, and the Park Peak Lodge, with a Live Fire Food Hall planned at roughly 860 seats, are both scheduled for the 2027/28 season. KPCW reported that East Village plans more than 70 shops and restaurants by the 2028–29 ski season.

East Village is already serving dinner, though. The Park Record reported that Canopy by Hilton Deer Valley opened in late August as the second hotel in the base area. It has four dining outlets, now open. Its two lobby restaurants, Tavolona and Fornetto, serve dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Tavolona also serves breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Who keeps regular hours through the gap

These are the places that weren't on the closure list. Their posted fall hours run straight through November, per the Dishing PC guide:

• 350 Main: Tuesday–Saturday, 5–9 p.m.
• Alpine Distilling Social Aid and Pleasure Club: Tuesday–Saturday, 4–10 p.m.; Sunday, 2–7 p.m.
• Butcher's Chop House & Bar: daily, 4–10 p.m.
• Grub Steak and LOMA: nightly, 5–9 p.m.
• Flanagan's on Main: lunch and dinner daily, open until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
• The Spur Bar & Grill: daily, 11 a.m.–1 a.m., with live music every night
• No Name Saloon: open until 1 a.m. daily; Annex Burger, 11:30 a.m.–8 p.m. daily
• CHOMP Donuts & Coffee: daily, 6:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
• tupelo Park City: Wednesday–Sunday, 5–9 p.m., until ski season
• The Glitretind: nightly, 6–9 p.m., with Sunday brunch; Troll Hallen Lounge: daily, 7 a.m.–midnight
• The St. Regis Bar and Brasserie 7452: daily, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.
• Deer Valley Café: daily, 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Some places on the same campuses are already closed. At Deer Valley, Carpenter Café and Royal Street Café are closed for the season, and The Brass Tag and The Sticky Wicket are on a seasonal break. At the St. Regis, RIME Seafood & Steak keeps breakfast and lunch every day but has no dinner service Sunday, Nov. 1, and Sunday, Nov. 8. Hours can change on short notice this time of year, so call ahead before you drive up.

Two kitchens that open on neither clock

Two new places are scheduled to open in the gap itself. Koyoté, the Salt Lake ramen restaurant, is moving into the former Hana Ramen Bar space in Kimball Junction. Both the Park Record and TownLift reported in September that it was projected to open in October. Check its status before you go.

Tannin Bar, a wine bar and kitchen in Quinn's Junction, lists a soft opening in late November 2026 on its own site. Its restaurant association listing gives the address as 3952 Front St #B115. If it opens on time, it will be one of the few Park City dining rooms opening in the stretch when others are still closed.

The quiet-weeks calendar

The weeks before opening day still have events. In order:

1. Saturday, Oct. 31: Howl-o-ween on Main Street runs 3 to 6 p.m., according to the Historic Park City Alliance. Main Street closes to cars at 2 p.m., and the Alliance encourages walking, biking or free City Transit.
2. Nov. 6–8: The Adopt-A-Native-Elder Navajo Rug Show & Sale takes over Snow Park Lodge. Deer Valley says public admission is free Nov. 7 and 8.
3. Nov. 8, Nov. 13–15 and Nov. 19: Park City Film Series screenings, per the Park Record community calendar.
4. Through Jan. 3, 2027: Kimball Art Center's free exhibition "Between the Lines" stays up across both reopening waves.
5. Friday, Nov. 20: Park City Mountain's target opening day, plus KITA and Shabu back for dinner.
6. Thursday, Dec. 3, through Saturday, Dec. 5: Firewood and The Nelson Cottage reopen, then La Stellina and Deer Valley open on Saturday.

Between the first and last items on that list, the restaurants that never closed carry most of the town's dining.

When ski season starts, the town looks different, and those changes are what James Roth films for American Dream TV. If you're thinking about selling a Park City home this winter, James Roth can talk you through timing your listing photos and video with the resort openings. Work With James.