Iconic Vail lounge being replaced by a steakhouse

Mickey Poage and Mickey's in Vail Village are done July 31

Longtime Vail Village entertainer Mickey Poage says his iconic piano bar, Mickey's, located in the Lodge at Vail, will close at the end of the month.

VAIL, Colorado — Another Vail icon is being swept aside: Mickey's in Vail Village is being replaced by a steakhouse.

Mickey Poage has been playing there for 35 years, since he was a teenager, but the run is over at the end of this month, July 31, he said Sunday morning as he headed in to play for a Sunday brunch at The Lodge at Vail.

Construction of an Elway's steakhouse is scheduled to begin Aug. 31, he said.

His most-requested is “The Last Run of the Day,” a song he wrote, he said.

“I'll end with that on my last day,” Poage said.

The Lodge at Vail falls under Vail Resorts' umbrella as part of its RockResorts hotel chain.

Repeated phone calls to Elway's in Denver over the past week have not been returned. Vail Resorts officials said last week they expect to make an announcement soon.

While the Elway's steakhouse deal has been in the works for months, sources told the Daily the deal was finalized only a week to 10 days ago.

Poage said he and the Mickey's staff found out late in the ski season, when he was called in and told Elway's was taking over.

“That was a month before the end of the winter, so I've known for a while,” Poage said.

Some Mickey's regulars have been circulating petitions, asking that Mickey's be saved. There's a Facebook group dedicated to it.

Poage said he appreciates it all.

“It's going to happen. It's the corporate world, they rule it, and that's the way it is. We should try to be positive,” he said. “I've heard they (Elway's) run a very good operation. They're very good at what they do.”

He said he's not sure what's next for him, but it's one of those crossroads-of-life decisions, and he won't rush it.

“It's going to take some time to make that kind of a decision. We'll see where it leads me,” Poage said.

He said after July he might start looking around for other options, such as whether to move Mickey's somewhere else or whether stay in the business at all.

“There are not a lot of options for moving an operation like this to another location in the village, where it's not just background music or the music isn't bleeding over into the restaurant or condos. I don't know if I'd want to be in a place like that,” he said.

Elway's people have asked for Poage's contact information, but they haven't called yet, he said.

“I'd have to fit into that scene. Maybe I could. If they call, I'll definitely talk with them,” Poage said.

In the meantime, Poage keeps doing what he's been doing for three and a half decades, since Vail was a tiny place with dirt streets and Edwards was a long-distance phone call beyond the edge of the world.

“It's a sad thing. Every night, it's emotional. Last night there were tears,” he said. “Lots of people are just finding out about it, and they're up the wall about it.”