Where have you found the best meal in the National Park System?/Rebecca Latson file
Where in the National Park System have you had your best meal?
That can be a tough question to answer. So many restaurants, chefs seemingly always on the move, seasonal help not always that helpful. Those and other reasons can lead to a wide variety of meals in the parks. I've had wonderful meals at the Yosemite Lodge in Yosemite National Park, the Far View Lodge in Mesa Verde National Park, at Lake Hotel in Yellowstone National Park, and at the Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park. I've also had unimpressive meals at Far View Lodge, Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone, at Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park, and at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park.
And maybe that reflects the greatest problem park restaurants have: inconsistency. And yet, I've also encountered some incredible efforts by restaurant staff to provide a satisfying meal under trying conditions. There was the time at Crater Lake Lodge in Crater Lake National Park when the power went out and greatly limited the menu items that could be prepared for dinner. The staff at Grant Village in Yellowstone did a good job during the height of the covid pandemic to deliver satisfying meals in to-go boxes. And I've never forgotten the dinner at Tuolumne Meadows Lodge in Yosemite when I was told they were out of lamb chops but could substitute lamb tenderloin.
Where have you encountered your best meal in the National Park System? It can be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And have any restaurants in your park travels been reliably consistent?
Comments
The best dinners I ever ate within a national park were served to me at The Rim at Volcano House in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Each meal was beautifully presented and cooked to perfection. That was back in 2014 and as I enjoyed cioppino and a steak salad, I kept asking myself if I was at a national park dining establishment or a nice restaurant downtown somewhere. I looked at The Rim's dinner menu recently and naturally, dining choices have changed in the last 10 years (as I would expect). I hope the same time and care is taken to cook and present dinners now as they were back when I visited.
Honestly, the best dinners I've had in national parks have almost always been the ones I cooked on the stove in my little portable motel. But full disclosure, I'm a guy who thinks Dennys is a good restaurant.
Virtually all the park restaurant meals I've had were badly overpriced and really not all that tasty.
Except for one that was really delicious at the Metate Room at Mesa Verde. SEVERAL years ago. I hope it's still that way. It was also the meal that produced one of my most pleasant surprises ever when I asked for the bill and the waiter said, "Your meal has been paid for you by someone who wishes to remain anonymous."
I was stunned. And then spent the next couple of days trying to figure out who in the world might have been guilty of that act of generosity. The only thing I could think of was that it might have been the man climbing the 32 foot tall ladder beside me on the Balcony House tour. A little over halfway up, he apparently had a kind of panic attack and froze up. I coached him up by telling him not to look down, keep three points of contact, and find the next rung by feel instead of looking. He made it quite easily after that.
So besides a memorably good dinner, I may also have enjoyed a memorable thank you after providing a very simple act of kindness to someone else.
I guess the moral of the tale is that just a little bit of consideration for another fellow traveller can bless a person who gives it away.
The three best meals I've had in a national park were three rib dinners at Roosevelt Lodge in Yellowstone (in three different years). And I'm not a meat-lover.
BEST: High Sierra Camps in Yosemite. All made from scratch in the backcountry served family style.
WORST: Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone. Frozen never freesh and $$$.
My most memorable meal at a National Park was when we hiked rim to rim at the Grand Canyon. There were eight of us who started from the north rim to the bottom of canyon where we endured temperatures of 120 F. After spending two interesting nights at the Phantom Ranch we hiked out of the canyon to the south rim. Our party of eight had dinner reservations at the Ell Tovar restaurant. The dinner was our victory celebration for our achievement of hiking the canyon from rim to rim. After a year of planning and training for a group of novice hikers we culminated the experience with a memorable two hour meal at the El Tovar restaurant.
So far the best we've had has been Jordan Pond House in Acadia (You absolutely must try their popovers, and if you get the chance try their fish chowder/stew. I also got a special once where their meatloaf had bacon, it was amazing!). Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic and Paradise Inn in Mt Rainier also had really really great dinners too. Dont miss out on either!
Metate Room at Mesa Verde. Nothing else comes close out of the 20 + NP units I have been privilged to visit. (although El Tovar was quite enjoyable too)
Two meals - and parks - immediately come to mind. The smoked salmon hash topped with poached eggs I had at Kalaoch Lodge in Olympic National Park was amazing. And the elk steak I had at Far View Lodge at Mesa Verde was equally wonderful.