The Wells House

Still closed as of July 15, 2012, but there appears to be quite a bit of renovation going on.

The turkey meatloaf was recommended and it was very good indeed. The menu was quite interesting and I am eager to visit again.

The Once Upon a Moose Cafe inside The Wells House hotel is like a great big pile of kitschy adorable, wrapped up in a blanket of bad puns, and dusted with a sprinkling of we're-not-being-ironic.

Seriously, the town of Pottersville is a trip. My fellow campers and I turned off of I-87, beckoned by the promise of that ever-intriguing knife and fork pictogram on the side of the highway. Pulling up to the center of town (aka, 3 or 4 businesses, a few houses) is like traveling back in time. Suddenly you're on the set of a particularly faithful adaptation of  "Our Town." It was clear our food options would be limited.

Luckily, the Once Upon a Moose Cafe stepped up to the plate. Their "Hunters Welcome!" sign made me feel less bad that I smelled like a campfire and probably looked worse. Their clearly handcrafted wooden chairs were a nice change from the cramped seating of my rental Kia. Their menu was surprisingly classy - featuring produce and cheese from local farms and ranging from standard burgers to a couple more exotic choices. I went for a smoked salmon sandwich, the rest of the party chose French Dip, Chicken Panini, and a Portabella burger. All the sandwiches were pretty decent size and cost between 7 and 10 dollars (including fries). The coffee was A+ (well, OK, I was desperately caffeine-starved. But I think it was pretty good.)

Overall, I'd say it was a success. I just wished they had still been serving breakfast. The breakfast menu was on the back of the lunch menu, and it was such a tease!