On a snowy Saturday, my husband Peter and I wander over to Moose Girls Café (360 East Ave., Ketchum) for a late lunch. I make it sound like we’ve never done this…. we actually wander over to Moose Girls almost every Saturday for a late lunch. Moose Girls is our “Cheers-like” hangout where everyone knows our name (or at least our faces and orders).
Moose Girls Café is owned by two sisters, Marlene and Maxine, who have been in the restaurant business in the Wood River Valley for over a decade—and it shows—they know their stuff. It’s a casual restaurant with an open dining room and bar area, including two big screen TV’s (excellent for watching sports like football, but not intrusive if you don’t want to watch TV) and huge windows facing Baldy. The Moose Girls Café serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and are open 7am to 9pm.
The breakfast menu features mouth-watering Huevos Rancheros ($10.95) and their famous Moose Chips, ($10.95) a bed of potatoes and red peppers piled high with bacon, green chilies, tomatoes, jack and cheddar cheese, with two eggs any style. It’s a fantastic breakfast spot offering other tasty choices like: omelets, biscuits and gravy, pancakes and waffles, oatmeal, and several eggs benedict options to select from.
Left: The half pound Kobe burger with a Caesar salad is heaven on a plate. Right: The Cobb salad is huge and will not leave you wanting.
We are here for lunch today, so we browse the lunch menu for appearance sake. I want to kiss whoever invented the chopped salad. Being a salad nut, I always scan a restaurant’s menu for salads first, and when I see those beautiful four letter words (chop chop) my heart soars and my decision is made. Every time we’re at Moose Girls I order the Chop Chop salad ($11.50) made with romaine and green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, bacon, jack cheese, hard salami, artichoke hearts, avocado, blue cheese crumbles and tossed with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette.
But today I’m branching out and ordering the Kobe Burger ($12.95). We just snowshoed five-miles, so I feel I deserve it. This burger is killer. It’s ½ lb. of Kobe burger with a choice of four toppings. I choose blue cheese, avocado, tomatoes and lettuce and order a Caesar salad on the side. Oh my God. This burger paired with a glass of Oyster Bay’s Sauvignon Blanc ($28 per bottle or $7 per glass) (yes, white wine with red meat!) was heaven on a plate. Peter ordered the Cobb Salad ($11.50) made with chicken, bacon, hard boiled egg, blue cheese, avocado, tomatoes, chopped romaine and green leaf lettuce and tossed with homemade herb vinaigrette. This salad is a meal, it’s served with yummy Big Wood Bread and does not leave you wanting. These salads are first-rate and not to be missed.
Left: The Moose Girls dining room has a small bar area with high tables and big screen TV's (oh, and a full bar). Right: Moose Girls dining room is light and airy.
We haven’t been to Moose Girls for dinner yet, but after the holidays, we are going to go for dinner and try the BBQ chicken sliders ($8.95) appetizer and the lamb shank in red mole ($17.95) entree. Oops, I just drooled a bit on my keyboard, how embarrassing.
Regardless of which meal you choose at Moose Girls, I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the food and service of this exceptional restaurant. We can’t wait until the weekend to ski or snowshoe in the morning and then head to Moose Girls and see our friends.
Left: Julie Molema poses with James Dean at the Moose Girls bar. Right: Moose Girls Cafe & Bar is located in The Courtyard across the street from the Ketchum Town Square in the heart of Ketchum.
