Mather Lodge Restaurant

Reviews & Tips

• 0

  My husband and I had not been to the lodge or restaurant since the renovations.  We camped at the park this past weekend and decided to go to breakfast on Saturday at the restaurant.  We were pleasantly surprised with the renovations, the food and the service.  I am not a big buffet fan, but the waitress mentioned that they had an omelet station so I went to investigate.  They had a fair selection of choices for the ingredients.  When we saw the size, my husband and I split one.  It was excellent.  The buffet had a great selection of fresh fruit- all perfectly in season.  We were in breakfast nirvana!  It's a huge improvement over what we've seen done there in the past and well worth the reasonable price.  (I think it was $8.99) My only complaint at all was that they could have probably made myself and others happy by walking around with a coffee pot and refilling coffee.  Mornings are a tough time to leave the caffeine-deprived sitting around like drooling zombies.  
  
  Cudos on the improvements!  Keep it up.

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  Posted on 10.08.13 Christine J.

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  My wife and I were staying the park for a week and decided instead of cooking we wanted to stop at the Mather Lodge for a late lunch. Since the last time we stayed in the park the lodge had gone through a complete renovation and expansion. The new addition to the lodge is amazing. They did an incredible job on it.
  
  The new restaurant has breath-taking views of the vistas from the top of Petit Jean Mountain. Our food today was okay. My wife had a hamburger and I had the shrimp plate. My wife enjoyed her burger but not the fries. She doesn't like "coated" fries. My shrimp plate (10 shrimp) plus two sides was good but nothing to write home about. The shrimp were a bit greasy for my taste.
  
  Overall we had a very nice experience and will definitely dine again at the lodge next time we stay in the park.

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  Posted on 05.24.13 Chuck M.

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  Excellent atmosphere. Our service was very good. The food was good with generous portions. Would recommend it for the experience, ambiance and especially the great view!

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  Posted on 05.08.13 Liza K.

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  We were staying the night at Petit Jean State Park, which is beautiful! The next closest place to eat is at least 30 minutes away. The Lodge itself is nice and the atmosphere is beautiful as it looks over the canyon. The people who wrote the menu were far superior in their writing skills than the cooks were in their ability to prepare the food. The menu reads in a way to make you believe the chicken fingers were made fresh saying, "twice dipped in buttermilk and prepared with a special blend of spices" or something similar. What you really get is frozen chicken fingers with more batter than chicken. It was supposed to come with a sauce for dipping but they were out of the sauce. The waitress was nice and the service was fairly prompt. The salad bar was probably below average as far as selection goes but overall pretty decent. For two adults and two kids, we spent $35.00 before tip. That was two BLT's and two chicken fingers.

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  Posted on 10.12.12 WT M.

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  I've been to this restaurant a few times over the years. The inside was redone in May of 2012 and it is much nicer inside. The view over the forest is amazing!
  
  The menu is still the same as it ever was (boring), and the staff are still very slow.
  
  The thing everyone should keep in mind - this place is upscale for a park/campsite restaurant, and the staff are all locals so you if you expect Manhattan level service then you've set the bar too high. I've camped at dozens of state parks around the USA and this is by far the best state park restaurant I've seen.
  
  I usually cook at our campsite so taking the family here is a real treat, even if I do find the slow service a bit frustrating. I guess it is a good reminder that we're camping... whats the big rush?

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  Posted on 06.09.12 Jason F.

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  While the lunch/dinner menu was good, the breakfast menu is just so-so.  Not a whole lot of options...
  
  Hits:
  - Pancakes, golden and fluffy
  - Hash browns, crispy on the top
  - Biscuits, homemade goodness (but not the gravy)
  
  Misses:
  - Omelets, small and flat
  - Gravy for the biscuits, not much taste

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  Posted on 06.02.10 P H.

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  Not sure why this says closed because I just ate there. Food was just ok but there aren't a lot of options up there so it was ok.

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  Posted on 03.28.10 Sarah J.

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