ABOUT US

DALEEE at KTAOS Solar Center is a year round community hub with volleyball in the summer and après-ski in the winter, live music and games like trivia and bluegrass jams weekly. Plus, it’s Taos’s most lively Sports Bar with TV coverage for all the big games and happy hour specials to boot! Dale means “give it the gas” in Spanish. And boy, is it bringing it!

 

Owner Ricky Carlini came to Taos and started working at TAOS ski resort more than 11 years ago. “When I was young I would go ski in the nearest ski town to me in Argentina, which was like on the opposite side of the country,” says Ricky. “I grew up in the east and the mountains are the west. I always dreamed about finding a place to spend the whole season, and then someone told me about the J1 program [in Taos].” He reminisces, “I always felt like the mountain called me, I didn’t find the mountain. Actually, I was headed to upstate New York and didn’t get the job. Then I just fell in love with it here.”

 

Working almost 12 seasons at TSV, from trail grooming to the counter at the on-slope Whistlestop Café, gave him a lot of opportunity to make connections with the locals. He was playing drums with multiple bands and then started organizing shows like his “Latin Go” series. Having his own venue was the logical next step, it was just a matter of timing.

 

“I had great memories when this place was in its heyday then – volleyball, ladies night which they used to do every Thursday.” Then he thought, “…Taos is missing this, and let’s try to do it where we focus on embracing our diverse community and cultures. I always thought that music is powerful, and it can connect people and as multicultural as Taos is, it can play a role and bringing them together.”

 

DALEEE opened July 2, 2023. Events including volleyball, marquee concerts and one-off festivals like a Chile Cookoff to benefit local culinary students and Rez Fest during Taos Pueblo’s feast days keep it local. Join us for the fiesta!