Came here with a party of 7. Upon checking in on yelp, received a coupon for a few entree. Asked the waitress about it and she had to check with the manager to figure out how to process it, but it was a pain free process. Placed our orders and our appetizers came out before the bread..guess they forgot to bring out the bread earlier and didn't catch on until it was time to clear the appetizer plates. No biggie.
Two from our table ordered the mahi mahi special. Others ordered the marsala chicken, chicken alfredo, grilled salmon, tuscan sausage pasta and I ordered the tuscan sausage pasta but substitued the sausage for grilled chicken.
When my dish came out the grilled chicken was rubbery, but the waitress asked the chef to grill me a new piece of chicken and when that came out it was perfect. Everyone else at the table enjoyed their dishes; I think the Marsala chicken is their standout dish, but it seemed that you can't go wrong with anything on their menu.
Price wise it's expensive for the area; I guess they survive off of tourists and not the locals (or I hope they offer locals a discount). Â If they offered the same quality of food for these same prices elsewhere like in the bay area, they probably wouldn't survive very long, but since there aren't many dining options in the Chester/Lake Almanor area, I guess they can charge what they want.
-1 star for the price, but food and service was great!
Stopping in for dinner and was pleasantly surprised. Â Nice restaurant for the area. Â Â Some tables have lake views as does the patio tables. Â Served pipping hot bread & butter. Â Fresh Bread/roll crunchy exterior and light and airy inside. Â Yum, Service was always friendly and helpful. Â Chicken Marsala was very tasty and nicely portioned. Â Had the homemade chicken & rice soup and it was outstanding. Â Steaks, salads, chicken dishes and more. Â Â Ordered specialty drinks from their menu and they were made very well. Â Too full for desserts. Â Â A good place to visit when you want dinner at the lake. Â I Â felt pricing completely reasonable around $18 for the marsala and for location and quality. Â Â Nice separate bar area from restaurant.
Review Source:Food was amazing! I had the chicken marsala, my husband had the rib eye and shrimp skewers. We didn't say much to each other once the food was served. For desert we had the homemade cheesecake, to die for.
I gave only 4 stars because we stood at the front desk for a good 3-4 minutes as several waitstaff and the manager (owner?) walked past us without as much as a hello. Finally we were asked if we had a reservation, we did not. Based on the reviews I didn't think we needed one. When I responded no, the menus were put down and the manager walked around the reasturant about 3 times. She did seat us in a nice romantic table for two. If you plan to go on a Saturday night I would plan ahead with a reservation. Â The waitstaff seem a little inexperienced, the service was slow.
The next time we are in the area we will be going back.
We went to the restaurant in the winter time for my daughters birthday. The only people in the place was our family of 5 and a table with a party of 3 at it.  It took 45min from the time we sat down to receive our food.  When we finally got it, my husbands order was completely wrong. When I asked what hold up in the kitchen was our server said they were short a prep cook. I found it  hard to believe that it took so long to prepare our order since we were practically the only ones in the place! We spent alot of money there on our dinners.The food was ok but we received no compensation for the delay or the mix up of the order. As we left my husband replied "I wont come back here again."
Review Source:I would encourage people to avoid this restaurant. Â When my family and I arrived, the ambience seemed welcoming, and after a long day in Lassen National Park, we were looking forward to a good meal. Â The reasonably expensive entrees seemed to promise that we would get one. Â
While our drinks were all brought out in a timely manner, it was over twenty minutes before a waiter took our order. Â After we finally ordered, we relaxed and enjoyed the atmosphere. Â
Slowly, we grew more hungry. Â Eventually, an hour had passed, our food had still not arrived, and our waiter had not returned once in the entire time. Â We managed to grab a different waiter's attention, and we asked whether he could let us know how much longer the food would take. Â Shortly after, the manager came to our table. Â He simply said that it was a busy night and did not apologize for the delay. Â At that point, we told him that we'd like to just pay for our drinks. Â We ended up getting pizza elsewhere, which turned out to be great!
Best restaurant in this area!!! Â Great food, great service, friendly staff. Â Full bar, outdoor seating in good weather where you can view the lake, good variety on the menu. Â Catfish tacos are great and a bargain for what you get. Â We are locals and eat here often and have never had a bad meal. Â Karyn M.
Review Source:This place is unbelievable. Â They play like they are some big time restaurant with their entree's priced at $20 and higher, but their food is disgusting. Â When a group of friends and myself went here we were expecting good food because of the prices, but when we got the food it was AWFUL! Â You could tell the food had been previously frozen, my friends burger meet was lierally GREEN and it tasted like meatloaf, not a burger. Â Later that same night after we hate here, 3/6 of our group got food poisoning...
Everyone STAY AWAY FROM HERE if you do not want to get extremely sick and eat bad food
I was hoping for a good meal and was extremely disappointed. The decor was nice, but the hostess was a bit unfriendly. The server was nice but unfortunately couldn't provide more than a cute smile. We were in town vacationing on the lake with my husbands family. Everyone was very disappointed in their food.They were out of just about everything we requested and had to settle on other options. Definitely will not return.
Review Source:We were staying in Chester for our anniversary, and asked the advice of the inn keeper of somewhere to eat. She suggested the Red Onion Grill, Â about 8 miles away. Having found that the most highly rated eatery in Chester was the Beacon Gas Station, we decided to make the trip. A big mistake.... The attitude of our waitress left a lot to be desired. We don't expect to hear the waitresses bickering with each other at the next table. My wife's virgin strawberry daiquiri was purple and tasted of blackberries. When we inquired if there was a mistake, we were told they didn't have anything else, and would she like to keep it? The crabcakes were burned, and the sausage in the Italian sausage pasta dish could not be cut with the knife supplied. The cost of the meal was out of all proportion to the quality. I guess there is really is no competition out here. Though we haven't tried it, I would recommend giving the Beacon Gas Station a try - it can't be any worse, and the price is about 80% less.
Review Source:This is a great place. Â They have a good variety of food, a separate bar room, good cocktails and a nice staff.
Can't beet the fish taco's and a beer on the deck for a great lunch. Â They have a few "dinner for two" offerings which are worth having. Â We're new to the area and so far this is the best place we've found.
My husband and I recently took a mini vacation to Lake Almanor. Â We had lunch at the red onion grill and it was amazing. Â Our server was very friendly and made us feel welcome. Â I had the fish tacos and my husband had fish and chips. Â The catfish was fresh and the servings were generous for the price.
Review Source:I am a local who lives in Chester. I have not been back to the Red Onion in over a year because the service is terrible, and there is nothing special about the food. Now, the Red Onion has moved out to the Peninsula in hopes of making it big. It is not worth driving out to the Peninsula just for the Red Onion. Two words: good luck!
Review Source:My wife and I ate here four times during our stay in Lake Almanor for the eclipse. The restaurant was right down the road from our cabin. They recently moved from their location in Chester to the Peninsula area, online maps haven't yet updated their location. Keep in mind the hours change some during the off season.
The first evening we had the ribeye for two, it was very good, with FANTASTIC clam chowder. They also had some quality beer on tap. The only complaint was the zucchini, which was a bit boring.
The next morning we had brunch. I had the eggs on english muffin with crabcakes, this was phenomenal. The crabcakes were excellent and the whole dish was good, apart from the potatoes which were a little greasy. My wife had the banana waffles, and she enjoyed it very much. Â
I had the burger, for lunch, and was brave enough to order it medium-rare and my wife had the chicken marsala. Another fantastic meal, we were both stuffed and happy. The coffee is fantastic. They apparently brew it per-cup. (Maybe an Americano?)
Finally, Monday before we headed home we had lunch. Since it was a Monday (and the first week since they'd reopened), they only had one server and she was brand new and was slow as expected. We weren't in a hurry so I ordered the calamari and chips, my wife got the burger. Again everything was very good.
The only negatives to the Red Onion Grill was everything was just a tad bit too salty, and some items (potatoes) were a bit greasy. Also, service is a bit slow, but since they just opened I can't fault them too much. Â As far as prices go (some folks here complained), I must say that these are on-par given the quality of the food and the nature of the area. Resorts like this require expensive shipping over long distances, if you want cheap, stay home.
Very mixed situation. Atmosphere ok although there were two fake electric fireplaces. Seriously?
Very personable staff. Bread in the basket excellent: warm chewy sourdough. My caesar salad was good but a little too drenched in rather salty dressing. The house salad was a disaster, drowned in a thick, overly sweet balsamic cranberry dressing, and most of the lettuce was inedible, either brown on the edges or downright black and rotten. This is one of my pet peeves: now that restaurants can get the bagged salad greens they have become too lazy to pick through and make sure it's fresh; they just dump it out of the bag onto a plate. Anyway, the crab-filled-and-parmesan-topped mushroom appetizer was okay. The mediterranean salmon was excellent - perfectly cooked and delicious - and the vegetables and potatoes that accompanied it were also done right. Our dessert of chocolate ice cream (they were out of vanilla) with "brandied" berries was so-so; it tasted like box ice cream and the berries weren't that tasty and just didn't work with the chocolate icr cream. This was supposed to be one of the best places in town. I gave it two stars although my companion felt the salmon bumped it up to three.
I have been here 2 valentines days in a row. The only reason we decided to go back is because of the lack of places to eat in Chester. The food is tolerable but nothing special. I had the shrimp skewer and the bf had seafood Alfredo. They were swamped and had only 2 waitresses. Same as last year. Once we were seated it took 1/2 hour to order and get our drinks. Then another hour went by by the time we got our food. After we finished eating we sat for a 1/2 hour before getting up and standing in front of the kitchen until they brought us our bill. Will definitely never go back! Thinking of hitting up the Chinese restaurant down the street next time. I hear they're pretty good.
Review Source:Best place to eat dinner in town.
Service was good, especially considering that there wasn't a table empty in the house on a Saturday night. I was truly impressed with how hard working the staff was without being rushed.
The steak was perfect and the seasonal veggies were fresh, not frozen out of a bag. We started with a appetizer on the special page: Tempura Asparagus. The tempura was light and crisp and the asparagus was cooked perfectly, still had some life in it.
After a long day of hiking, this is the place to refuel and enjoy a quiet dinner.
If you've spent all day on the lake, you are super hungry and you are easy to please, this is the place for you.
The portions are huge. I can't remember seeing an entree as big as mine for a very, very long time. Two in my group ordered steaks and liked them. One had the chicken pasta dish and didn't like it. I ordered the one veg dish which was pasta with zucchini in red sauce. It sounded great because they didn't mention that it had lots and lots of mushrooms. It should have been called pasta & mushrooms with red sauce and zucchini. I don't love a mushroom dish so I didn't eat it. If you like mushrooms it would probably be great.
The salads were decent and service was good but I don't think I would eat here again.
Chester is a small town with very limited offerings for meals. Most of the restaurants provide basic fare that is filling but not particularly memorable. My wife and I visit Chester ever couple of years or so and have eaten at most of the restaurants (many now defunct). We visited on the Fourth of July holiday weekend, 2011, and were tired of burgers and basics, so we went to the Red Onion hoping for something a little better. We were pleasantly surprised to find this mountain town gem. The restaurant was about 1/3 full when we arrived. The decor was upscale but comfortable and welcoming, with subdued lighting in a very clean restaurant. The service was prompt and attentive while not being overly intrusive. The food? The food was excellent! I had a steak which was done to perfection, on a plate that combined potatoes and vegetables cooked just right. The salad was fresh greens with a blue cheese dressing. At the waitresses suggestion we combined a raspberry vinaigrette with it. The combination of the sweet and tart was really a treat! My wife had the fresh caught salmon, which was also grilled to perfection. The wine list is limited, but the wines are well-selected and the wine we selected complimented the meal well. We didn't have room for dessert, but the list looked enticing. A full bar is available, and we saw several patrons enjoying themselves at the bar. Dress is casual (Chester is a tourist town), and so is the atmosphere. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants a nice, well-thought-out meal, prepared by a more-than-competent chef. This is not a place to come and bolt your food, but a place to enjoy a nice meal at a leisurely pace. While I have seen other reviews that complain of slow service, our experience was quite the opposite. The service, the food, and the ambiance all combined to make this place an establishment I would not hesitate to recommend to a friend, and look forward to visiting again sometime. Â I have only one very small complaint, and that is that the place does not stay open very late. We arrived near closing time, and though the staff never hurried us, it would be nice if the place stayed open a bit later.
Review Source:Good service. Beers on tap were good too. I am bias to the Alaskan Amber which they had on tap too. I had the special for the evening which was prime rib. It is also available on Friday and Saturday. I have had some pretty good steaks and I can say with all honesty that it was a Good steak. It came with real mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. I would definitely recommend this place and I would visit again.
Review Source:I agree with the previous reviewer in that this restaurant is trying to offer a high end experience in a small town. Â When you walk in, the restaurant is very tastefully decorated and sets up your expectations for a more elegant dining experience. Â However, the service was horrendously slow and just tainted the whole experience for me. Â The problem was the waitress who waited on us was young and very inefficient. Â Yes, the restaurant was crowded when we first walked in and waited to be seated. Â But, even when the restaurant cleared out later on, she was still painfully slow with service.
We had the rib eye steak and the fish and chips. Â While the quality of the steak was fine, the food was way over seasoned. Â The roasted potatoes were over salted, as was the soup that accompanied the meal. Â The French fries that came with the fish and chips were underdone. Â They used salmon for the fish, rather than the usual cod/white fish. Â We prefer the more traditional fish and chips.
The biggest thing that could be done to improve the experience would be to hire more experienced wait staff and to increase the number of servers. Â There were only two young girls serving as wait staff for the entire room, and they were clearly overwhelmed.
Red Onion Grill offers a big taste in small town Chester. Â Using locally grown and organic ingredients for the menu it's a pretty modern restaurant. For dinner my coworker and I tried the following items and they were all delicious.
1. Shrimp and Crab Fettuccine Alfredo (Fettuccine alfredo pasta tossed with large shrimp and rock crab meat in sweet cream and parmaigiano). Â The serving size is large enough to split in half between 2 people. Â
2. Chicken Imperial (oven roasted chicken breast rolled and stuffed with rock crab, finished with dill butter) served with pasta of the day which was penne mushroom with alfredo sauce. Â I enjoyed this selection and would try to make it at home. Â I never really thought to stuff a chicken breast with crab meat and why not. Â This was good.
All entrees includes choice of soup of the day or house salad made with fresh spring greens, cherry tomatoes and dried cranberries (served with dijion vinaigrette, ranch, gorgonzola cracked pepper, thousand island, or raspberry vinaigrette dressing).
We both had the raspberry vinaigrette dressing and it was a nice refreshing change to the regular dressings. Â
Dessert:
1. Sweet Surprise (vanilla ice cream topped with warm brandied forest berries) - the fruit reminded me of ligonberry jam which was sweet and not as tart as raspberries
2. Raisin-Rum Ice Cream (served with chocolate chip cookies) Â The rum flavor was pretty strong and if you're not a fan I wouldn't recommend this choice.
The service was good and we enjoyed our dinner here. Â Total for 2 people with tip was around $50.
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