Montafon Mountain Restaurants
Montafon has upwards of 20 mountain restaurants in four main ski areas, ranging from the unusually big but satisfying Nova Stoba restaurant in Silvretta Nova to small traditional huts in Gargellen, nearly all of which have sun terraces, sometimes with live music.Silvretta Nova ski area has around a dozen mountain restaurants, the biggest and most popular of which are Bella Nova, Valisera Hűsli and the seriously big, yet impressive Nova Stoba with a major sun terrace and open-air disco. Also Brunellawirt, which is a traditional and cosy mountain hut lower down at Garfrescha.
It would be hard to find a seriously big mountain restaurant that delivers better than the Nova Stoba. With seating for 1400 downstairs, 420 upstairs, a corporate dining room for up to 120 guests and a small army of staff, it’s hard to imagine a mountain restaurant bigger than Nova Stoba, but it’s a fun place for lunch in spite of its considerable size. There’s also a special play area for children in the basement.
For the past 15 years or so on 26 December each year Nova Stoba has been the venue for a massive party; known locally as Swiss Day with upwards of 4,000 Swiss coming to Silvretta Nova – many of them just for the day – to party at the Nova Stoba. Apparently 1,000 or more ride the gondola up from Gaschurn for the party without ever bothering to ski.
Brunellawirt and the Alpenhotel at Garfrescha are good lunch venues, especially if you prefer somewhere smaller and quieter than Nova Stoba. Brunellawirt is also a fun place to stop for a drink later in the day when skiing blue 11 from Garfrescha down to the valley stations in St Gallenkirch – Gortipohl. If you like ski-in, ski-out accommodation, note that besides Alpenhotel many of the chalet style buildings nearby are available for rent on a self-catering basis.
Gargellen’s mountain restaurants on Schafberg are typically much smaller, traditional and cosy; Schafberghűsli, Oswald Hűtte and Kesselhűtte are among the most characterful mountain restaurants huts in Montafon.
Hochjoch offers a choice of six restaurants. Kapell Restaurant is a quite large but family friendly restaurant at the top of the Hochjoch cable car, which is convenient for mid-mountain beginner slopes and the Dreamland children’s area. Wormser Hűtte (2305m) and Grasjochhűtte (1975m) serve good food with great views and Gasthaus Kropfen (1335m) on the run back to town is also popular. There’s also a restaurant at each of the valley lift stations in Schruns, Urmonti and Zamangbar which are also popular venues for après ski.