The Greenhorn Grill

What a pleasant find!  This is an out of the way spot near lake Isabella.  I had the blue ox which was a 20 ounce bone in rib-eye covered in blue cheese and portabella mushroom!  My steak was cooked to perfection the baked potato was smallish but who's complaining with a HUGE steak on my plate!? The veg that was served with it was a lil disappointing...but then, it was a side dish.  We started with wings and calamari, both were good and covered with parmesan cheese.  The dipping sauce for the calamari was a pesto/oil and while not my favorite...but it was good.

The wife and I visited this place seven years ago and it was fabulous.  This time around it was below ok.  The folks working there are very kind and friendly, so,  two thumbs up to them but the quality of the food was not what it was seven years ago?  My wife and I are extremely concerned about the success of this beautiful place.  I really hope that someone can come in and revamp the menu to reflect seasonal local freshness.  Not sure if there is an executive chef there but respectfully either step up or step down please for the sake of this awesome place.  I'm available as a consultant if interested - Thank you.

My wife and I made the trip to the Greenhorn Mountains today to have a steak. We checked the hours and made sure that the place we remembered, the Greenhorn Grill, was open.
Made the long drive from Ridgecrest and realized this place IS hidden. Without our GPS we would still be driving thru the primeval forest looking for the restaurant. Found it nestled between the trees. Being Desert dwellers we are not used to those big green things being everywhere. :-)
There was plenty of parking. It looks like this is a favorite spot for weekend motorcyclists to get refreshment. (Comment not meant in a bad way).
The interior is divided up into a Bar and a Dining room. Bar side noisy, dining room side quiet.
The tables seem like they are a quarter acre in size. We were seated promptly and given water and menus.
Imagine our disappointment in finding that the dinner items (steaks etc.) are only served after 4pm. During the day it is hamburgers, fries, rings, soup and salad.
I mentioned this to our server and she said she would see what she could do. She came back and told us since they did not want to disappoint us there were two "Flat Iron" Steaks available. But, alas, no baked potatoes.
After thanking her profusely we ordered soup for my wife, salad for me and a basket of onion rings to share. Since they were busy with the hamburger trade, we noshed on the soup and (large, fresh) salad while waiting. Both were excellent. Our server was constantly checking on us and giving a play by play on the progress of our meal.
When the steaks arrived they were cooked and seasoned to perfection. We could not get over it!  Nothing like this is available in Ridgecrest!
After eating and relaxing we asked to see the manager. To our surprise our server, hostess, drink runner, bus person and Jill of all trades was one of the owner/managers. Her name is Suzanne. She is bright, bubbly and eager to please. We told her she saved our day by getting us our steaks. She told us that the campers and bikers eat hamburgers and it just was not profitable doing steaks during the day. It was the locals that ate the dinners.
I told her that since I (old guy) avoided driving at night (70 mile trip home) we probably would not be back for a dinner. She immediately told us to call her a couple of days in advance and we would get our steaks. That is customer service!   We definitely will go back, and soon.