So where do you go in Basalt on Friday night?

This was an innocent question addressed to Richard Duddy, a presumably innocent man. If truth need be told then ye should know Richard to be typical of many Basaltines, a triple-threat who ran and sold a software company, ran and sold Bistro Basalt, and is now running like hell as a real estate agent in Basalt with Wendy Lucas & Co.

What better person to ask about what’s happening in what has to be considered a happening scene in Basalt? None better as it turns out: Richard has the whole evening scoped so long as it starts at the Riverside Grill and ends with the live music at Bistro Basalt.

We never got that far because we were having too much fun at Riverside Grill. From 5 to 6 PM, you can get “well” drinks for $4 that will make you feel very well indeed. We had a tasty calamari appetizer served with pineapples and duck sauce, and than a humongous take-no-prisoners chicken nachos plate that had the genius to be broiled and hence crunchy as hell. Even the service—spotty at best in the past—was quick and spiffy this time around.

Even so, you don’t go to the Riverside Grill for the food and drinks—you go to sit by the beauteous Frying Pan River as it flies past. Shaded by languorous and leafy trees, the outdoor deck is expansive and puts you smack in the river. Just under the roof is a jumbo rectangular bar full of locals who know a good thing when they see it.

One last word to commend the Riverside Grill on a Friday night: it’s a world away from Aspen, with the aforesaid locals and a stray tourist or two dominating the scene—normal people having an abnormally good time at more-than-reasonable prices. What could be better than that?