Restaurants
| Route 66 | Cities | Beaches |
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Restaurants |
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| Winterplace can’t match Snowshoe or Seven Springs with their full
scale slopeside restaurants, or Petoskey with its dozen award winners. But
it comes in a definite fourth in food, and if fireplaces, outdoor decks,
sweeping views and convenience matter, it beats even Snowshoe, Seven Springs
and Petoskey. You can ski right up to four Winterplace eateries, step out
of your bindings, and walk in. At The Mountain House you could even ski
up to the railing and buy your barbecue without stepping out of your skiis. |
At Seven Springs and Snowshoe, from the ski racks you're half a block from the restaurants (although at Seven Springs that's misleading since you're walking the half block down the hallway of the lodge). Timberline and Canaan restaurants are two miles or more from the slopes. Wisp and Perfect North have slopeside restaurants, but PN has only one and Wisp two plus a pizza counter. All things considered, your culinary situation at Winterplace is very enjoyable. |
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Mountain Mama’s Food Court in the Main Lodge offers the usual array of burgers, fries, soups, salads, tacos, pizza, desserts, veggies and beverages. Finding a seat between 11:30 – 1:30 is nearly impossible even though tables fill the whole second floor of a block long building. The photo at left was taken at 10 a.m. before the crush. Across the stairway is an adult lounge serving alcoholic beverages and typical bar munchies. |
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Pretty much the same menu is offered over at the Mountain House, which adds a little atmosphere with its big windows looking out on the eastern slopes and tubing hill and its music offerings on weekends. Saturday they wheel the grill out on the deck and serve charbroiled ribs. Even with the outdoor deck, seating is hard to find during the noon hour, so sometime after 1 pm is advisable. On bitter cold days, grabbing chairs near the large stone fireplace is a cheery way to warm up. On sunny days, the deck with its scenic views and camaraderie is pleasant. They offer a pretty decent menu, with hot soups and chile, pizza, chicken, pastas, hot vegetables, salads, tacos, desserts, and various items which change by the day.
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Adults usually prefer Mickey’s Mountain Café, a Mexican & Italian outlet at the bottom of Highland Run; or The Snowdrift Lounge, with alcoholic beverages and live entertainment. Mickey's is not a major restaurant with an eight page menu, but is a very good lunchtime stop, theoretically allowing you to ski in, eat and return quickly to the slopes. We say "theoretically" because if you hit it between noon and 1 pm you'll have quite a wait. We recommend either 11 am or right after 1 pm. |
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A fine family alternative is the Appalachian Lodge Dining Room at the foot of the hill. It is not nearly as crowded at lunchtime, so you could go down there, eat, and return to the slopes while Mountain House or Mama's patrons are still standing in line and looking for a table. The Appalachian is also a good arrival or departure point. If you stayed away from the slopes, you could drive in, stop there for breakfast, then come around the bend and park at the main lodge. Or you could come off the slopes, check in your equipment or fasten it into your rack, then stop for dinner before heading home. The restaurant is one convenience which persuades many skiiers to stay at the Appalachian, although it does close early (8 pm usually), because once the crowd comes off the slopes and eats, there aren't enough customers to justify staying open later. |
| However, the classiest restaurant in the area is 10 minutes away up Route 19 at Glade Springs, where Chef Robert Wong has been featured in Gourmet Magazine. This might be the best restaurant in West Virginia (although The Greenbiar would debate that). Glade Springs is a bit swanky for youth groups, but couples looking for a romantic weekend should seriously consider it. |  |
You can get chicken or various cuts of steak, but we always order the fish. Glade Springs does a fantastic job with their salmon, trout, swordfish or tuna. Their appetizers are also worth the drive over. There's a long list of them and all are good. We especially like the roast red peppers or whatever is their soup of the day. Their desserts are always delicious but we're too full and tired to take advantage. |
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