Restaurants

National Parks

There are outstanding restaurants in the Adirondacks. The best of them feature fresh, locally sourced foods and know how to fix Rainbow Trout (like the planked version shown above) and Elk Steak (shown at left).

Since you have a gourmet restaurant in The Brown Swan without driving anywhere, our standard is : Is whichever dinner restaurant we're recommending as good as the Brown Swan so it justifies your driving 30-60 minutes to eat there? But then there's lunch. While you're adventuring across the Adirondacks, you need a place to grab lunch. Lunch may only mean a sandwich or a bowl of soup, but we've tried to find the best and recommend those for you.

As the Other Lodging page indicates, all the major lodges have restaurants, but not all of them justify a 30-60 minute drive.

It may seem redundant to list some lodges both as Other Lodging and again here as Restaurants, but people looking for restaurants may not check the Other Lodging page. The description here describe only their restaurants, not their lodging.

If you're not staying at the Lodge at Schroon Lake, you should drive over and eat at least one dinner at The Brown Swan Restaurant while you're in the Adirondacks. It's the best of the lodge restaurants and one of the best of all the other restaurants in the region.

Chef Ramiz Jasic and his sous chefs have produced a menu with several outstanding items. The photo at right shows their finest Dessert, the Tiramisu. We've eaten at restaurants all over the country and this is the best Tiramisu we've ever tasted. Their Bourbon Mac n Cheese is also the best we've had. Their Bison Chili, Maple Bourbon Chicken, Pork Schnitzel, Bolognese, and Rainbow Trout are award winners. The Seared Tuna, Black Angus Strip, and Alfredo Cavetelli are very good. The new Sarma, a Bosnian dish of cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, pork, ham and ground beef in a rich tomato sauce, and the Beef Stew are new additions for the Winter menu and ski season.

The Adirondack Hotel is the oldest facility in the park, having been in continuous operation since 1853. It has a beautiful location on Long Lake, roughly in the center of the park. The building itself is a treasure and its expansive veranda and two dining rooms are classics. The cafe is informal, while the Victorian Room is more upscale, but they both serve the same food. There's a French Onion Soup plus a Soup of the Day. Lunch includes seven salads, seven sandwiches (the best of which are the Haddock Fish Sandwich and the Reuben), and two Wraps. Dinner includes an Asian Medley, Chicken Piccata, Chicken Scampi, Chicken Parmegiana, Summer Greens, Filet Mignon, Ribeye, Pork Chop, and Salmon Siciliano. Prices range from $26 - 40. This is a beloved hotel where people drive in from Lake Placid, Lake George and Plattsburgh for dinner on weekends and tour buses often bring their crowds. This would be a fine lunch or dinner stop.,

Garnet Hill Lodge, south of Indian Lake, is a fine dinner option. The drive in and the scenery around the lodge is spectacular, looking across Thirteenth Lake and the Siamese Ponds Wilderness.

Chef Sebastian Martinez insists on fresh local ingredients, and Baker Mary Jane Freeburn, in her 30th year, is famous for her pies.

There's a Soup of the Day, Chili, Crab Cakes, Wings, a few Salads, and Veggie items like Broccoli and Street Corn Medley. We're Soup afficionados and these are made in house and excellent. The standard entree menu offers Salmon, Trout, Chicken, Elk, Pork Chop, Ribeye and Vegetable Risotto. Sometimes they offer Swordfish, Tuna, Tuekey and another kind of Steak. Pies are outstanding so save room. Prices range from $28 - 40. The menu is limited so the kitchen can focus all its attention on each item. If all you want is a sandwich, the Mariah Farm Elk Burger is outstanding. The Elk is locally raised, is grilled not fried, and comes with pickled onion, sweet potato hash and seasonal vegetable.

The Lake View Cafe is inside the Adirondack Experience Museum in Blue Lake Mountain. It's only open for lunch but it serves much better food than a typical lunch stop. The Soups and Chili are outstanding, and the Sandwiches, Wraps and Salads are very good. There are also several interesting beverages available. Desserts are very good.

You eat on the deck overlooking beautiful Blue Mountain Lake and the mountains in the distance. If it rains there's a dining area inside.

The Cafe is open from 10 - 2 pm daily during the Spring - Summer - Fall season. It closes in the Winter.

If you're anywhere in the south central part of the park, you should consider Chef Darrell's Mountain Diner in Blue Mountain Lake. We like diners and have eaten at them all over the country, and this is one of the very best. But no wonder. Chef Darrell Spencer trained at the Culinary Institute of America and cooked at resorts and restaurants in New York and Puerto Rico before falling in love with the Adirondacks, moving here and buying this diner. By definition, a diner serves breakfast all day and specializes in lunch and dinner comfort food. As lunch items the Quiche of the Day, Soup of the Day, Open Faced Hot Turkey Sandwich, Falafel Tzatziki Wrap, Turkey Cheese Panini and Two Fisted Reuben are all delicious. If you stop for dinner the Meat Loaf, Pot Roast, Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Glazed Salmon are outstanding. The Sunday Brunch menu includes specialties Beef Bourguignon, Baked Haddock and Lobster Ravioli. Many people combine a day at the Adirondack Experience Museum and dinner at the Mountain Diner. It's a very good restaurant.