We ate here several times during our three-night stay at Bridge Bay Lodge. The servers are friendly, and for the most part, they are helpful and attentive.
On our first night, I ordered rare prime rib. The meat was cooked perfectly, and the portion was...large - I wound up taking some of it to go. My husband ordered the fish and chips. There was a generous portion of nicely-fried fish, and the potatoes were excellent -- sliced in rounds and fried. The bar was closed on our first night due to a special event, but we were able to sit in the restaurant and have a cocktail before dinner. The waitress was unfamiliar with the selection of liquor in the bar, but after some back and forth we ascertained the type of bourbon they stocked and I placed my order. (To be fair, when we did go to the bar the following night, the bartender wasn't even familiar with what type of bourbon they stocked.) We had this same waitress on subsequent nights, and she was really very good in all other respects.
We had breakfast here the following morning. I called the front desk at the Lodge in advance to ask if dogs were allowed on the deck. They said only service dogs were allowed, so we left our dog in the hotel room. We had a nice table on the deck with a great view. (The views from the indoor dining room and the upstairs bar are also very good.) There was a couple seated next to us who brought their dog. It didn't appear to be a service dog. We're guessing that they didn't ask ahead of time and just assumed that dogs were allowed, and apparently no one questioned them.
Service at breakfast was slow. There was a large group having breakfast that morning, and the staff seemed overwhelmed. It took nearly an hour to get our food, which was a concern as we had tickets for a tour that morning and were afraid that we'd have to choose between walking away without breakfast or missing our tour.
I ordered the avocado toast. It was okay, but I'd expected the avocados to be mashed on the toast. Instead, the meal came with sliced avocados. My husband ordered the breakfast sammish with bacon. It came with sausage instead. The waitress apologized and asked if my husband wanted a couple of slices of bacon on the side. He declined, but she brought them anyway.
I had iced tea with my meal. It was freshly brewed and refreshing, although when I asked the waitress if they had plain, black iced tea, she said "It's not black; it's Lipton." Not a tea-drinker, I guess.
That afternoon, we dropped by the hostess station to see if we could make a 7:00 p.m. dinner reservation. This was on a Sunday. The hostess said they could only seat us at 6:30 or 7:30, so we chose the earlier time slot. We stopped by the bar for drinks before going down to dinner, and learned that we could order food up there too. But we opted to keep our 6:30 reservation. The restaurant was nearly empty and remained so through the 7:00 hour, which left us wondering why we weren't allowed to make a 7 o'clock reservation.
I ordered a triple bourbon burger. The menu said that they would substitute a chicken breast for beef and lettuce instead of a bun, so I chose those options. The lettuce wasn't crispy -- not an adequate substitute for a bun. And the chicken was overcooked. My husband had the fish tacos, which he said were good.
On our third night, we again went to the bar for drinks before going down to dinner. We mentioned our intentions to the hostess, and she asked us how many were in our party. We reiterated that we were going up for drinks first, but she preceded us up the stairs, repeatedly asking how many were in our party. The bar wasn't crowded, so there wasn't an issue with seating. It was just the two of us, and we took seats at the bar. She finally left us alone. We asked the bartender about this, and she said that it was a requirement imposed by the management. Weird.
One patron had his dog with him on the deck of the bar. It had a leash on, but the owner wasn't holding the other end of the leash, so the dog was allowed to wander around. It was a docile animal, but again, we were left wondering about their rules for allowing dogs on the bar and restaurant decks.
That night, I had the Thai chicken salad in the dining room. The chicken was tender and the salad greens were crispy and tasty. My husband had seafood fettuccini. The pasta was excellent, the seafood perfectly prepared, and the sauce was nicely seasoned.
Bottom-line: This place has a nice view, generally decent service, and some good menu items. It's worth a visit, even if you aren't staying at the Lodge.More
