Head-to-Head · Aspen
Clark's Oyster Bar vs Le Petit Trois
Clark's is Aspen's oyster bar; Le Petit Trois, Ludo Lefebvre's new French bistro. Book Clark's for seafood, Petit Trois for Paris cooking.
The Verdict
Clark's Oyster Bar is the bright, blue-and-white seafood room at 517 East Hyman Avenue in downtown Aspen, open from late morning to night and built on supply-chain discipline rather than fireworks. The raw bar carries East Coast oyster selections, the lobster roll is the order people repeat, and the whole thing reads as the easy, all-day table you drop into after the gondola. It carries no Michelin recognition, runs a la carte from roughly 60 to 110 dollars a head, and scores 9 for food, 8 for the room and 8 for value. It is the lighter, more spontaneous of the two.
Le Petit Trois is the richer proposition, and the newer one. When Ludo Lefebvre opened the bistro inside the MOLLIE hotel on South Garmisch Street on 10 December 2025, it was Petit Trois's first location outside Los Angeles. The cooking is unapologetic French comfort: the Big Mec double cheeseburger with bordelaise, the French omelette and steak frites au poivre, all dishes that made the LA original a cult. It also carries no star, runs a la carte at roughly 80 to 160 dollars a head, and scores 9 for food, 9 for the room and 8 for value.
Scores, Side by Side
| Score | Clark's Oyster Bar | Le Petit Trois |
|---|---|---|
| Food | 9 / 10 | 9 / 10 |
| Atmosphere | 8 / 10 | 9 / 10 |
| Value | 8 / 10 | 8 / 10 |
Which One for Which Occasion
| Occasion | Editorial Pick |
|---|---|
| An après-ski lunch | Clark's Oyster BarAll-day service, oysters and a lobster roll make it the easy, bright table to fall into straight off the mountain. |
| A rich French dinner | Le Petit TroisThe Big Mec, the omelette and steak frites au poivre give Aspen a serious bistro night that Clark's does not try to be. |
| A date night | Le Petit TroisThe intimate MOLLIE room and Ludo Lefebvre's indulgent cooking suit a dinner you want to feel like an occasion. |
| A walk-in | Clark's Oyster BarBar seats kept for walk-ins and an all-day kitchen make off-peak oysters possible without a booking. |
| Lighter eating | Clark's Oyster BarRaw shellfish and clean seafood beat a bordelaise burger when you want to eat well without the weight. |
Price and How to Book
The split is light versus indulgent. Clark's is the all-day, a la carte oyster room that takes OpenTable bookings and keeps bar seats for walk-ins; the full picture is in the Clark's Oyster Bar review. Le Petit Trois is the newer, richer bistro inside the MOLLIE, where prime dinner slots go early, as covered in the Le Petit Trois review. Both sit in our wider Aspen dining guide.
For cuisine context, weigh Clark's against the best seafood restaurants worldwide and Le Petit Trois against the best French restaurants worldwide. For occasion fit, line them up with our picks for a first date and an anniversary. More match-ups sit on the compare index, including Le Petit Trois vs Rustique Bistro.