There are 18 mountain restaurants marked on the ski map ranging from self-service eateries to hidden away mountain huts, some of which are reliant upon on good weather to pack the sun terraces with only limited seating indoors.
South-facing Crans-Montana is one of the sunniest resorts in Europe with spectacular views south from town and especially higher up on mountain. Non-skiers can buy a reduced price lift ticket to meet the skier family and friends for lunch easily at the Arnouva restaurant above Crans, Merbe above Montana or La Cure in Aminona. That said, mountain restaurants in Crans-Montana are not as good as some other Swiss resorts and not on a par with the restaurants in the town; but it’s worth heading up the mountain for lunch and to appreciate the views.
One such is the popular Cabanes Taules, a little hut with corrugated iron rook situated to the left of La Toula chairlift, with the bowler hatted proprietor preparing raclette dishes outside. It’s a fun place to stop for a drink or for lunch but with a limited range menu - the house speciality "as much raclette and potato as you can eat" is good. The Bellalui is worth it just for the view.
Buvette Pépinet is worth a visit, if you can find it. It’s perfectly visible on the map, but when skiing down the blue run from Les Violettes lift it’s easily missed in spite of a small sign post which appears to point in the direction of the piste but actually means to say turn sharp right away from the piste. Easily missed but worth riding the Colorado gondola back to Les Violettes and skiing down the red run on the other side, skier’s right, then it's visible on the left from above.
