July 8, 2009
Typical brewpub atmosphere: sports on TV, family crowd, wood panels, nothing fancy, nothing special, nothing horrible, just very neutral and been-there-done-that. Beer quality was so-so. Ignored by the server for too long, service was questionable. 10-12 taps in total, but most of it pretty typical US brewpub fare.

April 17, 2009
Tucked away nicely between the surrounding mountains, this place has "location" hands down. Inside is a little grubby and could use a good cleaning. The food is just okay. The service was very friendly and accommodating. Their beer selection is nicely varied and of the ones I’ve tried, quite good. This is obviously the best place to dump some unique tap offerings after a full day of skiing.

September 7, 2008
I’ll go back if I’m in Telluride. Great-looking building - glass, masonry and wood in that modern mountain style. Writing on the walls - a real watering hole. Beers are true to style and ambitiously selected. They could use a cask.

September 21, 2006
Sep 06: Let me start by saying I LOVE TELLURIDE. It is one of the most naturally beautiful spots in the US and if I could afford it I’d live there year-round. But I can’t. This was my first time to Smuggler’s (It wasn’t here last time). Since it was a festival weekend, it was packed, nearly around the clock. We ate and drank here twice during the weekend. The food both times was above the bar for brewpub food; as for the beer, I agree with the previous rater ... for the most part, they were below average, but there were a couple diamonds in the rough ... the SkyHop and the Imperial SkyHop being by far their best offerings. (I never did get to try their espresso porter ... damnit!). They have cool ski-lift chairs on their moderately sized patio dining area. The dining room otherwise is pretty small (how does this place fit the crowds during ski season?). Anyway, there aren’t that many places to get really good beers in Telluride, so if you are fortunate enough to find yourself in this awesome valley some day, Smuggler’s is atop your destination list for beer lovers in Telluride.

July 7, 2005
Walked in wearing a beer shirt (pretty much all I own are beer t-shirts) and I was greeted with a smile and "You gotta buy one of our shirts before you leave." The place was smaller than I expected, but it was relaxed. The bartender was very friendly, cool, and decently knowledgeable about beer. I was surprised to find they had 14 beers on tap. Half were average, but half were actually pretty good. A couple stood out above the rest (especially the 11.2% Imperial San Juan Skyhop on tap). The food we ordered was pretty good ... but after climbing up to 14,000 feet, anything tastes tremendous compared to a Power bar. Not to discredit their cooking at all, but I might’ve been biased. At any rate, the food was good, the beer was good, and the atmosphere and service were very accomodating. Oh, and yes, I bought a shirt. If you find yourself in Telluride and you don’t stop here, there’s something wrong with you.