Ralph's Pizza, A Fire Tower, and a Mother's Day in the Catskills She Won't Stop Talking About
The mountains are greener, the air smells like herbs, and the pizza is legitimately great. Here's how to do this weekend right.
If your mom is cool, take her to Ralph's Pizza in Big Indian. If she leans a little more refined, book a table up the hill at Urban Cowboy Lodge. And if she's both…. which, honestly, the best ones are, do both, back to back, and call it a plan.
Ralph's: The Catskills' Coolest New Spot Nobody's Overselling Yet
We went this past weekend. Ralph's is exactly what you want it to be. You order at the bar, grab a bench at a rustic cabin table, and settle in while arcade machines blink in the background and two ancient bowling lanes hum behind you. The walls are lined with taxidermy, funky artifacts, and enough character to keep you looking around all night. It's a playful time capsule, the kind of place that feels discovered, not designed.
“Yeah Baby! 72 Hour Fermented Pizza Dough”
Chef Auggie from Ralph’s Bar & Bowling
Then the food arrives and it earns its keep. A bright marinara pizza with real depth. A fire-roasted radicchio salad that cuts through perfectly. A polenta with mushrooms that's rich, layered, and borderline addictive. We paired it with a crisp sauvignon blanc and didn't look back once.
Ralph's is open Thursday through Sunday, 3 to 9 PM. 📍 822 Oliverea Rd, Big Indian, NY · (845) 254-5365
Is your mom cool…..bring her to the Catskills.
Want to Dress It Up?
Head up to Urban Cowboy Lodge for something more elevated. Same spirit of place, same Catskills soul, just dialed into a more refined dining experience. It's a natural one-two for a Mother's Day weekend that feels thoughtful without trying too hard. Lodging is really nice but adds up $.
Both are within 10 minutes of Alpine Four Season Lodge. You do the math.
Add a Fire Tower. Seriously.
Before dinner, earn it. The Catskills are dotted with historic fire towers that deliver some of the best panoramic views in the Northeast, and spring is the best time to climb them, before the summer crowds find out.
Three worth your time:
🗼 Bramley Mountain Fire Tower— a local favorite with big views and a great trail
🗼 Overlook Mountain Fire Tower — one of the most iconic in the Catskills, worth every step
🗼Red Hill Fire Tower— quieter, rewarding, and genuinely underrated
🗼Balsam Fire tower — for serious hikers the area offers 22 miles of trails
Pick one. Hike up. Let the view do the talking. Later, go eat a pizza at Ralph’s.
Come Midweek — The Mountains Are a Different Place
Here's the insider move: come during the week. This time of year, midweek in the Catskills is slower, quieter, and honestly more beautiful. The trails are empty. The roads are open. And the air, this is not a marketing line, the air genuinely smells different in early May. Fresh, green, herbaceous. You notice it the moment you step out of the car, like the mountain is reminding you it's alive again.
Start the day with coffee on the porch. Let the sun hit your face. Hike to a fire tower. Come back, clean up, and make your way to dinner. No itinerary. No noise. Just rhythm.
That's what spring in the Catskills is supposed to feel like.
The Weekend Plan, Clean and Simple
⛰️ Check into Alpine Four Season Lodge — 10 minutes from everything
🗼 Morning hike to a fire tower — views that earn the dinner
🍕 Dinner at Ralph's Pizza — rustic, fun, genuinely delicious
🥂 Nightcap or elevated dinner at Urban Cowboy Lodge — when the mood calls for it
☀️ Slow morning, coffee on the porch, long drive home
Mother's Day weekend fills fast — and this is one of the best windows of the year to experience the Catskills before summer arrives.
Book direct for the best rate and the most personal stay. → alpinefourseasonlodge.com
See you in the mountains.
Daniel & the AFSL Crew
32 Galli Curci Road, Highmount, NY 12441
