Kevin Ballantine
My brothers, my wife, and myself were driving back to Florida from visiting our father in Oklahoma. The path we were taking was devoid of restaurants. So, after expanding my search I came across this lodge sitting on top of the Ouachita Mountains and we decided the 30 minute detour might be worth it. The views while getting here were magnificent, and refreshing to see coming from flat Florida.
The goal was to eat breakfast, but we got here right at 11am, and we were told they quit serving breakfast. These hours aren’t posted anywhere that I was seeing, unfortunately, and I did check their website too prior to getting here.
We didn’t argue; We were just grateful to have food to eat so we settled in for lunch.
We came on December 22nd, so it was out of season and we almost had the entire restaurant to ourselves. We were sat quicky with menues with no hassles. We ordered a round of sweet teas and ordered our sandwiches.
I ordered the Princess Club and it was good. This was perfect for me, as the portion of the Queens Club would’ve probably been too much. The tater tots were good and it didn’t taste like old grease was used to fry them.
So, while eating our meal, the waitress comes to check on us and asks us if she told us about the card situation. Most of us were halfway finished with our meals and we were just being told that they can only take cash, but if we really needed to use cards, they would have to take all the info for the cards. So there was an option to use cards, but we had to leave all the info if we did. However, since my brother carried enough cash, he paid for us all and I covered the tip. But just pointing out there were no signs anywhere and we weren’t told until halfway through our meals about the credit card situation, which the waitress explained that it was an issue they were dealing with this morning, and not something that arose while we were eating.
Now before we had even ordered our lunches, we saw the dessert options were plentiful of sweet treats that we liked, and we fully intended on getting a dessert as well.
Before we were finished with our meals, the bill was brought and left at the table. We had to ask for desserts and she got them to us and had to redo the bill.
The peanut butter pie was rich and sweet. The blueberry and peach cobblers, as well as the pecan pie were all good and seemed pretty fresh.
All in all the food was good. The staff was nice, but we felt that they could’ve been a little more on top of things as far as service.
… moreLauren G
Waitstaff is friendly and kind. I had several meals here over a few days and had the same two servers who made me feel like family. The food is very good overall, but they do some things incredibly well. The chicken tenders are seasoned to perfection and hand breaded, the meatballs are hand made and soft and rich, the salads are fresh and crisp, the hand made chips are crunchy and delicious, the pancakes are huge and fluffy, and the amount of bacon you get in an order is crazy. I also had very good freshly made oatmeal, and the eggs are freshly made to order. I had a fantastic slice of chocolate pie as well. All portions are huge, so I was able to make a second meal out of a couple of my orders. One note – skip the mashed potatoes. That was the only thing I ordered that I did not like.
… moreAll Things With Chrystal
We ate here for lunch. The service was great and the atmosphere was excellent. We loved being able to look out at the beautiful landscape. The food was good. Mostly, we loved the view while eating.
… moreKathleen Morris
This lodge is stunning and extremely clean! Staff were very friendly and helpful. However, the food that we had could have been much better. The sirloin steak was way over cooked, dry and tough. The rest of the meal items were just okay. Great place to visit
… moreRobert
We stopped here for lunch while on a road trip 11/17/25. The dining area is appealing. Sarah was by herself but was doing a good job going from table to table. If you pick a salad for a side you go to the salad bar which had a plentiful number of salad toppings. The lettuce was cold and crisp. The kitchen was having issues and after 30 minutes of waiting for for our roast beef and catfish dinner, I got up to leave and offered to pay for our drinks. Sarah promised that our order was the next one up. So after a couple of minutes, she delivered my $21 roast beef plate which looked like it came out of a pre-packaged container or can. It was slightly fatty. My wife said her $20 fried catfish was good but the hushpuppies were blackened. Overall, a disappointing experience.
… moredot smith
Views are breathtaking. The food was excellent and reasonably priced. The waiter was very helpful in deciding if I wanted my shrimp fried or grilled. My pictures didn’t turn out, so no good pics. The whole place is Very clean. There is a gift shop with lots of items.
… moreDOC
Really great place for food if you wanted something to eat in the area. Service is a bit slow but the food makes up for it. They had a limited menu today and a buffet. You need some kind of membership (that’s free at the hotel front desk) to order alcohol. Both the buffet and menu items were good. Peach cobbler is wonderful.
… moreKaren Cline-Tardiff
Out for a Sunday drive and decided to stop in. We will be back again! The restaurant is situated inside the lodge with wonderful views from almost every table. Our waiter was great. We started with homemade chicken n dumplings. Excellent and definitely made from scratch. I got the Reuben and hubs got the Chicken Sandwich with their homemade potato chips. The Reuben was fantastic, and I loved how they cut up the corned beef so I wasn’t fighting my sandwich to get a bite without pulling out the meat. Taste was wonderful. I wish I opted for the chips and ended up eating half of hubs’. He loved the chicken sandwich. Dessert was made-in-house cobbler a la mode: he got peach and I got blueberry. We had coffee with dessert. It was fantastic from beginning to end. Highly recommend for a relaxing drive and a great meal.
… moreTerri Hooper
I was put on the wait list at 1:35 pm and told it would be an hour. It was. I was surprised to see several open tables once I entered the dining room. I ordered a Ruben sandwich and a water. It took forever to get my food and I was only checked on once when I asked to have my water refilled. I had to wait a long time for my check even when it was clear I was finished with my meal and ready to pay (I had my credit card out on the table). The waitress cashed me out at 3:34 pm. During my wait, I counted 5 waitresses and the hostess. I consider this horrible service, especially with the number of open tables they had. My bill was $17.36 for my sandwich and water. Pricey in my opinion, especially for poor service.
… moreR Z
Both the quality and the service at the restaurant have decreased so much that we probably won’t return to the restaurant. It’s unfortunate because this was such a gem before, but now the food is subpar and costs much more than it did last time you visited! Breakfast was $16.95 for something you’d be disappointed in as a free continental breakfast at other hotels. We got one coffee that was never refilled, and we had to wait a long time for the bill. No one else was around. Not sure why we paid so much for so little. As I took a walk around the grounds, I overheard multiple other families coming out of the lodge complaining about how bad their breakfasts were. We brought our wedding party here 1.5 years ago and were proud to have them here at the hotel knowing we’ve got food covered at the restaurant, and back then, it was fantastic. Now? We would be embarrassed to bring our friends and family to eat here. We did it last night for dinner and were disappointed, then this very subpar breakfast for $16.95 this morning was just the final, never-again moment for me. It just feels like a cash grab. The food is a critical piece to wanting to be at this particular hotel.
… more