Ahwahnee Dining Room
Category: Restaurants American (New) American (New) [Edit]
Ahwahnee Hotel9005 Ahwahnee Dr
Yosemite National Park, CA 95389
(209) 372-1489
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner, Brunch
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Romantic, Classy, Upscale
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
164 reviews for Ahwahnee Dining Room
Review Highlights
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"I'm so glad I was able to enjoy their Sunday brunch." In 19 reviews -
"...the brunch, especially the eggs Benedict + Florentine." In 10 reviews -
"...is beautiful inside, with large windows and great lighting." In 8 reviews
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164 reviews in English
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Review from Nicole A.
5/2/2012 Seated via OpenTable
Come here for Breakfast! (not Brunch, on Sunday). For ~$25, the buffett is a good deal as it also includes juice and coffee. We found the staff very friendly and helpful (except perhaps the hostess) and we thrilled with the food.
I mad reservations for 7 AM (when they open) and we were the first seated. This meant we were at the end of the dining room, next to a window FACING YOSEMITE FALLS. We got to watch the falls, our first morning in the park. Amazing! We stuffed ourselves with eggs benedict (awesome), smoked salmon, smoked trout, bacon, fruit, and pastries.
I wanted yogurt, but I ended up picking a banana pudding. Oops. When asking what it was, they offered to bring me a plain yogurt - they ended up bringing a huge bowl of delicious Greek yogurt!
If you want the high class and delicious food of the Ahwahnee, try breakfast for an affordable option with no dress code (-: -
Review from Last A.
San Diego, CA
4/30/2012
So, you're in Yosemite and you want a good meal because you've been eating freeze dried food, nuts, and the occasional accidental grub for weeks. While Degnan's has good pizza, and the bar has decent sandwiches, you realize you want an actual meal. In this respect, you need do the following: sneak into Housekeeping or Curry Village for a shower so you don't scare the other diners with your bear-like smell; and then head on over to the Ahwahnee. If you're really smart, you pre-planned and made a reservation, but if you didn't, you may get lucky like I did last time, and they'll find you a table anyways.
Once you're there, you can marvel at the great dining room, and the amazing views from within. As for the food, I've always been satisfied - the only downside being that I usually eat too much, but hey - if you've been hiking, climbing, or whatever, you need to carbo load, right? The staff is attentive and helpful; and the only dish I can think of that's always there that's a "must try" is the bosenberry/wild berry pie - delish! While the dress code has been relaxed in recent years, this is a "fancy" restaurant, so be prepared for it to put the hurt on your wallet - but all in all, its an experience of a lifetime, so its worth it! -
Review from Erin S.
Ah, the Ahwahnee. I love this hotel. I've never stayed here but I usually try to visit the hotel bar at some point during my visit to splurge on an El Captini cocktail. On our camping trip last weekend, my Mom wanted to treat me to Sunday brunch at the Ahwahnee. How could I say no?
We stopped by the night before to make a reservation. Good thing we did cuz they only had 2 reservation times left: 7:30am & 1:30pm. We opted for the earlier time so we could keep our afternoon open. So we woke up early, tried to de-stinkify & pretty ourselves up as much as possible, & headed over to the Ahwahnee.
Walking into the Ahwahnee always comes as sort of a culture shock. I'm always grubby & sweaty from hiking & I run into all kinds of clean, dressy folks. Can they smell me? I hope not! Luckily we were seated right at a window in our own little area of the restaurant so we had no close neighbors. We looked right up at Glacier Point from our cozy table. I sipped my delicious coffee & gazed outside...this sure beats cooking eggs & grits at the campsite!
On Sundays they serve an amazing brunch buffet ($39.95). They have everything you could want in a fancy buffet: pastries , eggs benedict, cheese blintzes, omelettes, carving stations, fresh oysters & mussels, salads, and more. I totally would have gone for it if it wasn't so darned early in the morning. I couldn't imagine having oysters for breakfast. Instead I ordered the raisin brioche french toast ($18). It was delicious! Not too sweet & not at all soggy. It also came with 5 (yes, 5!) slices of crisp, smoky bacon. My Mom ordered the Royal Arches breakfast ($13) which came with 2 eggs, hash browns, 2 fat sausage links, & a basket of fresh pastries. Those pastries were so yummy! I was full from my breakfast yet I couldn't stop snacking on the darned things.
All in all it was a wonderful experience. Our waitress was a bit flighty & would disappear when we needed her, but luckily there were others around to fill our coffee & water as needed. We also called her the "TMI" waitress...she was sure to tell us about anything that happened to not be working at that time, like "Oh, the toaster's on the fritz" or "Darn that cappuccino machine!"
Anyplace you eat in Yosemite is going to be expensive, so I'd say it's worth it to spend a few extra bucks to eat in a beautiful dining room where you will feel like the Queen of England. Breakfast is casual, but I hear that dinner service is much dressier so if you're camping, be sure to pack your suit & tie.Listed in: Yosemite, my love!
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Review from A W.
Pasadena, CA
5/24/2012 Seated via OpenTable
Food decent not great but you don't need to drive into Yosemite for great food do you? The reason to come is the setting and ambience. Service was very good. Reasonably priced for a truly unique experience... We had our toddler with us who is usually pretty good in restaurants and it was fine for dinner.
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Review from Ed N.
South San Francisco, CA
3/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
We have been dinning here for approximately thirty years. While I'm not a suit and tie person, it is nice to be dressed to go to dinner at a grand hotel and dinning room. They have a dress code which has recently changed to dress pants and collared shirt for men. The dress code used to require ties. It would be nice if they would enforce any dress code they state they have, or why bother to have one at all.
The food was as good as always and the hotel and suroundings great !
I don't know if it is the economy but the dinning room only had about ten tables with customers and three waiters and one or two other staff, and we received one of the last reservations being taken for this past thursday night.
The waiters and other staff were very friendly and were checking with us throughout the meal. -
Review from VenturaRossMan K.
Ventura, CA
4/5/2012
Treat yourself to a once in a lifetime Sunday brunch, bucket-list place. Be hungry! Staff lets you sit as long as you like, no rush, they want you to enjoy. Great place.
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Review from H J.
San Francisco, CA
5/9/2012
The worst dinner EVER. This is not an exaggeration. While the service was impeccable, the food was below poor. When you're asking customers to pay $34 for pasta or $28 for a vegetarian plate, you better deliver the goods. Sadly, this is not the case at the hugely over-priced Ahwahnee Dining Room. Rooms are $500/night (minimum), so the food should be stellar. Huge disappointment. To the restaurant's credit, they did try to rectify the situation by offering to take a meal off the bill or pay for a dessert. Additionally, the $25 mediocre breakfast buffet is nothing to write home about and extremely overpriced. Overall, you pay for the location, but get terrible food. (For reference, we ate there the first week of May 2012.)
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Review from Daisy S.
12/1/2011 Seated via OpenTable
I made my reservation for dinner back in August. All the Thanksgiving day reservations were booked but thankfully I was able to get a spot for black Friday dinner with mom.
This was my first trip to Yosemite and consequently, my first time at the Ahwahnee Dining Room. I was very excited.
The special that night was pan seared duck breast over a warm vegetable salad. It was my first time trying duck. My mom had the rotisserie chicken dinner.
We were served some bread while we waited. There was a crispy, flat, cheesy bread and some pieces of a french bread style bread. The crispy bread was great.
To start, my mom had the cheesy soup and I had the french onion soup. My french onion soup was perfect. It was warm and had plenty of onions and cheese and bread. It was one of the best I've had. The cheesy soup was good too but it didn't have the same depth of flavor as the french onion.
The duck was great. I like how it was cooked. It was tender and juicy, but it was still fully cooked. I loved the crispy and savory skin. The salad was great too. It was some kind of vegetable that was sliced into long, thin noodles. There were also mushrooms and a light sauce with nuts. I paired this with a glass of the Kenwood Russian River pinot noir. It went well together, in my opinion.
I tried my mom's chicken too. I loved it. It came with some sweet potato side that was good too.
My mom's dinner came with a desert and she chose the chocolate pecan pie a la mode. The pie was the second best ending the a delicious meal (I'll get to the best ending in a minute). Usually pecan pie is too sweet but somehow the chocolate mellows out the flavor while adding a richness that doesn't translate into more sweet. It was great with the ice vanilla ice cream.
As we wrapped up our fabulously fancy dinner while we sipped some coffee before heading out the cold, we were surprised with the news that someone had paid our bill! We could hardly believe it. We kept trying to guess who it could have been, but we didn't know anyone else camping up there so the mystery remains. It is quite an amazing feeling to know that some stranger thought kindly of us to give us that anonymous Thanksgiving meal. It was a truly magically perfect dinner.
I must also add that Larry, our server, was very kind and attentive. He was friendly and treated us great! -
Review from Melissa W.
Monterey, CA
4/2/2012
I celebrated my 45th birthday with a fantastic vegetarian dinner at the Ahwahnee! The staff was really nice, the ambiance was elegant & the piano player even played happy birthday to me as they brought me a complimentary cupcake with happy birthday drizzled on the plate in chocolate. I had ordered Red Velvet Fudge Cake for 2 for desert and so we ate that as well as the cupcake! ;) The Red Velvet cake was really good! It was rich and they did not skimp on the fudge. I'd order it again, but it truly does take 2 to eat this desert just like the name of the cake suggests.
I had Red Kuri Squash Flan which was really flavorful. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but not as much as I enjoyed their Onion Soup with vegetarian broth. It was to die for! I was thrilled to have vegetarian options that were more than just your typical salad/pasta fare. I also had a Butter Lettuce Salad that had homemade dressing and it too was really good. The bread that they brought to our table was also very good. They had 3 kinds of different flavors to choose from. It was hard not to over eat on this because it was that good.
I would gladly eat at the Ahwahnee again and I'm thankful that they had some special dishes on the menu for vegetarians like myself. I'm giving them 5 stars! Thank you for a special meal for my birthday! -
Review from Patricia R.
Rodeo, CA
3/20/2012
We spent our 3rd Wedding Anniversary up in Yosemite. It was absolutely beautiful!! We decided to splurge and have lunch at the Ahwahnee Dining Room. It was amazing!! The food was divine!! The staff treated you like royalty. We sat and ate our amazing meal while it was snowing outside. Could not have asked for a better time there!!
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Review from soraya s.
Pacifica, CA
3/4/2012 Seated via OpenTable
I've always wanted to eat at the Ahwahnee and Yosemite was one of our stops on our honeymoon. The morning we were leaving, we decided to have brunch in the Grand Dining Room. The buffet left little to be desired and defiantly was not work $40 a person. We opted to order off the menu. It took me asking three different servers for hot water for my tea and the service was just such a long wait. Was so disappointed and will for sure not be dining or staying there.
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Review from James S.
10/23/2011
Make a reservation. And then don't forget you made a reservation. We remembered just in time and had a great time. Yes, pricey, but call ahead and work out a deal through a concierge.
Beautiful enormous room. So woodsy and wide-open, you might not be surprised to see the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt at a table near by. This place filled the bill for a slightly weary group that had been exploring Yosemite and surviving the challenges of driving around with small children.
Loved the to-order stations, and we supped well.
Don't forget: Call ahead for a rezzy. And don't forget to show up.Listed in: Breakfast on the Road in…
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Review from Janet D.
Antioch, CA
12/28/2011
After many trips to Yosemite we were excited to finally have dinner at the Ahwahnee hotel. We had a large party and after being unable to get a reservation we're delighted to receive the call from reservations that they could get us in.
Our server Karen was excellent. She kept us well stocked with warm bread and drink refills. All 3 courses of our meal were good as well. Most of our party ordered the prime rib which all came cooked perfectly cooked to their order. For our final course we all shared a large slice of the red velvet fudge cake.
Overall we had a great experience. It is a pricey meal, but I would say worth it for the location and quality of the food and the experience. -
Review from Joseph H.
11/14/2011
If I'm being honest with myself, this place did not have great food. Not bad food, but you are going here for the building, not the food. So, let's start with the dining room...it's huge and ultra old school with a ton of old log cabin type wood. The hotel is smack dab in the middle of the valley, so you have unreal views if you are sitting near a window.
The food...$40 for brunch is steep no matter where you are. Now, if you are enjoying the smoked salmon, shrimp, and oysters, then I can understand the price tag. But, if you are planning on getting a standard breakfast, then just order off the menu.
So, my recommendation...stop by for a coffee (separate room) and just stop by the dining room for a quick viewing.
Last words...my girlfriend is set on staying here next time we come to yosemite. My wallet hurts already. -
Review from Nancy T.
San Jose, CA
11/4/2011
Very nice. My in-laws invited my parents, my husband, and I for brunch during our Yosemite trip in early summer. The hotel, itself, was rustic and beautiful. The views from the hotel were priceless.
The dining room was grand with large windows that allowed us to take in the natural beauty of the surrounding area. The tables were finely set with wait staff buzzing around ready to assist. I really enjoyed the brunch buffet, and am still thinking about it 5 months later. My husband especially enjoyed the raw oysters. i think he ate a least a dozen. They were clean and fresh tasting. I had about half a dozen. My in-laws had a few too. No one felt remotely ill afterward. My lox and bagel were also delicious. There was an array of seafood choices as well as more traditional breakfast options. They also had a nice assortment of fruits and pastries. I think I sampled almost everything and loved each bite. We also took advantage of the yummy offerings of Mimosa and Bloody Mary drinks.
Since my in-laws hosted, I'm not sure how much the cost was per person. I'm sure it was hefty, but I really appreciated the dining atmosphere and the extensive fresh buffet selections. Most of all, I'm glad my husband and I were able to share in this wonderful experience with both sets of parents....a wonderful family memory indeed! -
Review from Nancy L.
San Gabriel, CA
Stay away!!! The place looked really fancy pansy... You would think the food would taste excellent. Even after several days of camping food. Or maybe I just had super high expectation for this place?!? The view was spectacular but the food was awful! My pasta (Mary's free range chicken & tagliatelle pasta) tasted like throw up... (sorry...but it did) And for appetizer we ordered the sun-dried tomatoes with humus dip. Do not order that it was a waste of money and it was it didn't really WOW us. They basically scooped a tablespoonful of humus and slabbed it on the plate and 3 pieces of sun dried tomatoes & 3 slices of pita bread (btw, it was hard and cold). (cost $9.00). Even the Italian soda was disappointing. After my experiences with this place... i should've just stuck with camp food.. =(
I would've given this place a one star...but it had a nice view... Thus, 2 stars. -
Review from Richard B.
Laguna Hills, CA
2/20/2012
The perfect place to have breakfast. We ate here three times and each time was a perfect dining experience. The Sunday brunch rocks: when was the last time you had ruby smoked trout and fresh oysters on a buffet? The quality of all the items are top shelf and worthy of a tapas size taste, especially the miniature baked goods. The regular menu items also are fantastic: my cheese and ham omelet looked like it was made of ostrich eggs--it was the size of half a large dinner plate.
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Review from Seth W.
Culver City, CA
10/22/2011
Nice, brutally expensive.
Might be a better option to go hang out by the massive fire places and take in the amazing building for free. -
Review from Matthew C.
Palo Alto, CA
9/23/2011 3 Check-ins Here
Mediocre fine dining by San Francisco bay area or NYC standards, but you will not find better food anywhere else in the park. Large portions made for people who plan on burning lots of calories hiking. :)
The staff is a bit quirky. Most of them are old timers who have worked there for decades. It can be hit or miss in term of quality, but you are likely to get a character nonetheless... -
Review from Alicia L.
Aliso Viejo, CA
7/11/2011
I have to give 4 stars to a place that can make me gain 3 lbs over a long weekend filled with nonstop hiking and other outdoor activities. My bf and I stayed there recently and ate two dinners and three breakfasts in the Dining Room.
The ambiance is phenomenal, especially if you get a window seat. Huge ceilings and windows overlooking the grounds and the mountains, with interesting candlesticks, chandeliers, and curtains...and of course the requisite piano guy. Even if you're not eating here, sneak a peek if you can, I think it's definitely worth a visit for that alone.
The staff is great, very accommodating and very friendly. They really go out of their way to be helpful. One night service was slow, but it was obvious that the waitress had been seated all her tables at once, so she was doing the best she could.
As for dinner, the dishes we had were great, but considering that some people might be on extended stay, could maybe do with some expansion and/or diversity. Thank goodness there is a nightly special and the rotisserie chicken was prepared differently every night, though the first night was definitely a "wtf is he thinking" preparation. The vegetarian French onion soup was amazing - the best onion soup I've ever had, and no beef required. The housemade sorbets were all delicious, and the panne cotta with passionfruit was ridiculously awesome. Both dessert plates were overdressed with berries, but whatever. The braised beef was fork-cuttable, which I love, and the flavor was great, but a little too fatty. So overall the entrees both nights were pretty good. Crab cakes as a starter were also good.
Breakfast suffered the same problem as dinner - they could really benefit from an expanded menu with some more interesting selections. It basically was fare you could find anywhere. Well prepared, yes, but this is the Ahwahnee, I'm sure they could get a little more creative than an omelet. The buffet was decent, but I'm not big on buffets, I always feel life the food's been out too long, but there was an amazing selection and I had no problem finding something to eat. Sunday brunch featured an AMAZING banana cream parfait, great for dipping with berries, and their croissants are just perfect. I couldn't eat enough. Super flaky and crisp on the outside. The helpful staff even brought me a whole plate of them when they ran out in front. Just an example of the exceptional service here. Which is really why you're eating here and not at Curry Village, right? -
Review from Jason G.
Beautiful hotel and the Sunday brunch is wonderful.
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Review from Tracy S.
7/12/2011
We came to the Ahwanee Dining Room for Sunday Brunch, and it was a really great experience. However, there were a few things that prevented it from being a five-star experience. First, despite the fact that we had reservations made five months in advance, the table we were given was terrible. It was set between two different server stations away from the other tables. I'm not sure why such a table even exists, let alone why it is given to customers with reservations. Out server was friendly but slow, and there were several times that I had to stand up and look around for a server to try and get a coffee refill. (Of course, located where we were, it was tempting just to get up and get my own coffee, but I was trying to be classy.) I saw more than one server standing around chatting with other employees or texting while I had an empty coffee cup.
Other than those distractions, the brunch was wonderful. My favorite items were the oysters, the shrimp cocktail (I'm a sucker for good shrimp cocktail), the cheeses, the eggs benedict, and the cheese blintzes with warm berry compote. Seriously, Husband and I both went back to get a full plate of cheese blintzes...they were that good. Husband was a big fan of the prime rib.
Yes, it's expensive, but it really is a special place, and worth splurging on. -
Review from Tim B.
Media, PA
6/30/2011
This review is sort of Part I of a series (the next will be about the dining at Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park), with the real subject of both reviews being the miserable job that the Delaware North concession company is doing with managing hospitality and service in U.S. national parks.
I hadn't been to Yosemite in some time and I was unimpressed in general with the work of Delaware North employees throughout the park. I mean, yeah, Curry Village still works as well (or poorly) as it ever has, and same for Yosemite Village and Yosemite Lodge. But DN employees who have stepped into roles that the Park Service fulfilled thirty years ago often seem to have no particular training or interest in what they're doing.
Stick with me--this is relevant to the Ahwahnee Dining Room, because the service staff there have the same problem.
We decided to have one dinner during our stay over at the Ahwahnee, knowing that pizzas in Camp Curry were going to get a bit old.
At least when you arrive, the maitre'd plays the part of a slightly supercilious gatekeeper to a temple of dining well enough, but that's about all he does--look you up and down, check to see if you're wearing the right clothes, and allow you in. He doesn't appear to be supervising the waitstaff or carrying his hosting duties into the dining room itself.
The waiters are all fine people, pleasant enough, but honestly they have no idea what they're doing in the context of the room's ambiance and the tone the menu is trying to strike. They don't seem to know much of anything about the menu, or about the little mannerisms and norms that ought to be basic to a fine dining experience. I don't get the sense that the kitchen staff talk to the waiters, or that there is anyone in charge of training the waitstaff.
The result is an experience that already feels out of kilter before you ever place your order. You're in a genuinely dazzling room with an interesting history, and that counts for something, but unless you just gaze up and out and try not to focus on human interactions besides the people at your table, it's not going to add up right.
The food, for the dinner menu? It has the unusual characteristic of being both "tries too hard" and "doesn't try hard enough". The menu design is ok. I grant that anyone running this place is going to have to hold a middle ground even in a fine dining establishment--there is going to have to be meat-and-potatoes, some very basic dishes, given the broad diversity of people visiting Yosemite. But DN is trying to jump on the locavore bandwagon and is doing possibly one of the worst and most cynical jobs of it I've seen. Maybe they're sourcing some things locally but they don't seem to grasp what it means to design a menu to invoke a sense of place using local ingredients. Or for that matter to craft a distinctive dish of any kind. Nothing here is bad, it's all very competent, but it's also much less interesting that it could be, dish by dish.
I think you'd get the best part of dinner at the Ahwahnee if you made a reservation, walked in, looked around, pretended to get an urgent phone call and told them you had to leave. -
Review from a z.
Granite Bay, CA
7/2/2011
VERY overpriced, $40 and up for a basic meal without sides. The dining room has interesting architecture. But the service was SLOOOOW and awful. Food was bland and tasteless. We had dining reservations 2 months in advance, and we were still seated AFTER people who walked up and asked to be put on the "No SHOW" list.
My wife accidently knocked over a glass of water on the table cloth, and the staff only came over and laid a napkin over the spill, and did not bother to clean up the mess. Water was dripping all over the chairs and the floor.
Save your money, eat at the food court one mile down the road at the Lodge at the Falls. Better food for one tenth the price. No reservations needed! -
Review from Eric B.
3/20/2011
The Ahwahnee Hotel was first opened in 1927. Its stone, concrete, wood, and glass construction is a premiere example of National Park Service Rustic architecture and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The building itself is designed to blend harmoniously with the nearby Yosemite Valley cliffs. Prices per night range from around $400-1000.
I have never stayed at the Ahwahnee, but I make it a point of stopping by every time I come to Yosemite. Sometimes just drinking in the main Lobby, Bar, and other common areas is enough. One year I treated my brother and his wife to the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner here and another time my ex-wife. It's great to dress up for Dinner, regardless of what others are doing. And of course I love the room, which almost makes up for any lapses in service or the cuisine. For me, experiencing the Ahwahnee is one of those "Bucket List" experiences that I'm glad I didn't miss. -
Review from Zachary R.
San Francisco, CA
5/9/2011
For dinner, 1 star. For breakfast, 3 stars.
My recommendation: Come here for breakfast if you want to enjoy the pomp and circumstance; skip dinner at all costs, and consider enjoying their lounge and not eating here at all.
First, the HUGE positive: This is the most gorgeous dining room, basically ever. It's an immense hall, with a sense of grandeur, a wonderful view, and a great feel. Totally worthy of it's location in a national park.
Dinner:
Everything is substantially overpriced for what you get, even by fine-dining standards, although that's acceptable in a National Park.
What's NOT acceptable?
Absolutely terrible service. The wait staff is unionized, and I am not exaggerating by saying the AVERAGE (not median, but real mean) number of years a waiter during dinner service on a weekend has been working there is more than twenty (20!) years. They seem to feel that they don't really have to do anything for 15% tip, and 20% is just not worth the trouble for them. Our water glasses stayed empty, our waiter disappeared from the floor for long stretches of time, asking for simple requests like the type of bourbon I wanted in my Manhattan was treated with hostility. Not only was the service bad by fine-dining standards, it was bad by cheap hole-in-the-wall restaurant standards.
The food was blah; nothing was send-back worthy, but nothing was truly "good". For example, the Cesar Salad's lettuce must have been damp when they added the dressing, so the whole thing felt watery. One of the Crème brûlée desserts wasn't set properly and was runny. And so on. For over $10 a dessert, I expect one of the American classics to be made properly.
Breakfast:
The food is much better, and the wait staff was at least tolerable, although it still took ten minutes after we sat down to get our coffee, for example. Nothing we ate would be considered great in San Francisco, but those are different standards. You still sit really pretty.
Note: I've been coming here for at least a decade; this review is based on my last two visits (this weekend, and last year). -
Review from Wendy F.
Long Beach, CA
1/8/2012
We had our Anniversary dinner here and it was nice. They did have a very strict dress code, but there was a nice old school vibe that we dig. We loved our server and especially loved the server's assistant. They could use an update on the menu, but that's about it. We will most likely be back!
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Review from Laura S.
5/31/2011 17 photos
Saturday night dinner... :D
NOTES:
* DRESS Code... dress proper. Girls - no jeans, flip flops or sweaters... men: no tshirts and sandals
SERVICE:
Excellent Service. We had Marty as our waiter and Kelley as our other guy who helps. They were great. Kelley looks like an older Zack Gallafinakis. Why do I mention that... because he seriously does. Does that have to do with his service? Nope. I just found it funny. Epic beard.
The food is kinda slow.
The awesome thing about service tho is they separate the checks for you. So you don't need to do this math (write which credit card charges this much, etc). It's pretty awesome.
FOOD:
You get free bread and crackers! Unlimited. Just ask.
I ordered the pork rack and sides of cream of spinach and mash potatoes.
* Pork was small for $26... I've had bigger (That's what she said) for the same price. It was cooked pretty well. It wasn't dry and came with a great Bearnaise sauce (The Demi sauce is veal sauce).
* Mash potatoes were good but nothing fantastic about it.
* Cream of Spinach... I asked for less creamy and it was still creamy... and kinda too rich for my liking.
My friends ordered:
* Prime Rib Eye - they said it was alright. Nothing too special.
* Caesar Salad - she said typical.
* Corn off the cob - this was good. She ate the whole thing.
* French fries on the side - I had some and it was good. Really good and seasoned well.
* Thai Curry Soup - pretty good. Not spicy at all but the curry taste reminded me of Japanese curry mixed with some thai spices.
* Asparagus Mille-Feuille - eh... could go without it.
* Free Range Chicken - he said he was good. not too dry.
* Beef Short Rib - he made no comments on it so I'm guessing a no.
* Pan Seared Trout - she said it was ok. eh.
Overall food: Eh... overpriced for what you get.
AMBIANCE:
Beautiful place. There was a guy playing the piano and he was amazing. He didn't have sheet music and played some know pieces - Forest Gump, Let it Be.. and even Tupac's Changes. Yeah, I tipped the guy.
When you enter the dining area - which everyone says is gorgeous and it's true - you look up and you feel like you're in Harry Potter's dining room. Candles in the air (fake lights) and wood area. Very pretty.
LOCATION:
There is valet and park yourself room.
This place is located deep inside the hotel because there are two dining areas in that hotel - one where you can wear whatever (the bar) and the nice clothes one (this one).
Ladies bathroom is upstairs (ugh)
Overall: You come here for the ambiance. -
Review from Kathy M.
Sacramento, CA
9/5/2011
RATING IS FOR THE BRUNCH ON SUNDAY
The price is about $50 (not sure if it changes on holidays)
...and it is worth it.
My family goes to Yosemite and hikes all day on Saturday and then gets in a short hike on Sunday, and then we go to the Ahwahnee brunch and feast on five start cuisine.
Two Reasons to do the Sunday Brunch:
1) FOOD: The variety and quality are the selling points.
2) DINING ROOM: 50 foot high ceiling and warm views through old glass.
I love this place. -
Review from Andy P.
San Francisco, CA
1/4/2012
Great attentive service in a spectacular setting with just so so food. If you're visiting Yosemite, you should go once to experience but I wouldn't go twice. Better yet, go for lunch. Safer choices and more to see. We had better food at the Yosemite Lodge Restaurant and the service is good there too.
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Review from Albert L.
San Francisco, CA
1/14/2011
This is suppose to "fine dinning" Yosemite style. I like the decor, old cabin feel to it. It also has one of the largest fire places I've ever seen. The dinner service was good. I had the fish and my partner had a steak. The food was mediocre, steak was a bit dry, (over done) . The portions were big. This was the first time I had to send a full bottle of their local wine, (Cab) back because it just tasted nasty. I also noticed it was local as in California, not in Yosemite itself. I ended up ordering another bottle Louis M (Sonoma). Overall service was excellent, the food could have been better for the price.
+ Service
- Food
- Price
- "Local" Wine
+ Atmosphere -
Review from Rebecca H.
Los Angeles, CA
12/29/2010
Don't worry about the price. You're in Yosemite, for Chrissakes. If you're looking for a bargain, stay in Oakhurst and go to Carl's Jr. Then go back to your bargain hotel, give it a wank, and go to sleep dreaming of the cat food in your bank account.
Now for the rest of us, the Ahwahnee dining room is a lovely place. I imagine Jay Gatsby would want to supper here if his business partners ever let him make it out to Yosemite. The space looks like a cross between a log cabin and the Hogwarts dining room. Done up with Christmas decorations representing some kind of 17th-century European pageantry, it's a loggy cathedral-like wonder, but bring a sweater at dinnertime because it's chilly.
Speaking of clothing, there is a dress code. Being a product of Catholic schools, my guilty, masochistic heart soars at this. No snow gear, shorts, T-shirts, or tank tops. Leave your "Fuck You" hat in the car. Men should wear collared shirts; women, dresses or blouses and slacks. P.S. Slacks is a funny word.
Out in the boonies as we were, I wasn't expecting too much in the way of food or service. I was impressed by both. Serenaded by live piano, served by an efficient, gentlemanly waiter who in the candlelight looked vaguely like Kenny Rogers, I was in a happy, happy place.
The caesar salad was just fresh and delicious with lovely mild anchovies. Wild boar with pappardelle pasta and broccoli rabe was very rich, just the sort of dish you would want to eat after a day of felling logs and nailing milkmaids. My arctic char was superb, crisp and delicate, served on a bed of herb spaetzle with sauteed brussels sprouts. The dessert sampler offered too much to remember: there was a hazelnut gelato, and a creme brulee with a sky-high tuile, and I think a passion fruit mousse. Some other stuff too. I was pretty drunk by that point, though, and may have been singing lines from "The Gambler." Whatever. Everything was good.
Listen. People are haters. I am a total hater. But my dining experience at the Ahwahnee was wonderful and I can't wait to do it again. -
Review from Keith R.
Davis, CA
12/5/2011
Have again: Sunday brunch is delicious and worth 4 stars. However, the waitress was very unattentive, never asked if I wanted more orange juice, had trouble providing the bill, and took too long processing the bill after being told we had to leave very soon. The brunch price was reduced from $50 three years ago to $40. Key information is to be sure to come before 10:30 for breakfast items and save room for the new items they bring out after 10:30. The brunch food is plentiful with many different items and very good, but not outstanding. But the dining room is worth it. Also, even during the brunch time, you can order off the menu and pay less.
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Review from Bob B.
Akron, OH
12/4/2011 1 Check-in Here
Very impressive room. Excellent food (but we're carnivores). Sorry, all Calif wine. Excellent service. Wonderful piano while dining. Not what you'd call "roughing it". GO!!!
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Review from Rita Y.
San Francisco, CA
10/28/2010
3 stars for the food. The service was good. Our waiter, George, was a kindly gent who's been there since he graduated with a teaching degree from Fresno State U. His assistant was OK but not the talkative type. The young man from Georgia who's spending his 3rd winter there (works all yr. long) was very animated, funny, friendly, talkative and complimentary to the customers. This is NOT a casual place for dinner, you have to semi-dress up, NO jeans.
I liked the crunchy, herbed flatbread. The other slices of regular bread were OK. I had read that they were known for their Caesar salad, $12. A very lge plate of Romaine lettuce which was mixed too early as the leaves started to soften, with lots of dressing and an extremely generous amt. of white anchovies (I counted no less than 6 of them). I've had better. Hubby tried the herbed polenta cake (wedges) and thought it was not fried long enough to get a crunchy exterior. He told me the ones I make are better.
I tried the duck breast which were slices over potatoes. Both were not memorable. A couple of bites of the duck meat was tough & I had to spit it out. There was a small amount of carrots (about 5 chunks) on the plate. Hubby tried the braised lamb, tender but "nothing to write home about" according to him. He tried one of the hotel's own red wine. It had a strong tanin taste. Overall, I thought the food was not as good as what we had at the Mountain Room at the Lodge. You wil easily pay double the price for the food at the Ahwahnee.
I would recommend coming for breakfast and lunch. I've tried both in the past and thought those meals were much better than their dinners. The atmosphere at the Ahwahnee dining room can't be beat anywhere else in the park. Only well behaved kids should eat here and reservations are a must. They do have a wait list which we added onto for the following nite if the food was good. We got a phone message at our lodge room the next AM but decided the food wasn't worth a 2nd visit. When we tried several times to call to cancel, we could not get thru their phone and were forwarded to be place on hold for over 10 mins. After several attempts, we gave up. -
Review from Noah C.
3/30/2011
This review is for Sunday Brunch!
Pros:
Shockingly gorgeous dining room (okay, some of the decor is slightly tacky, but on a beautiful day with snow falling, it's hard to beat the view out of those giant windows).
Excellent service.
Great slabs of meaty, juicy prime rib (I had 2 slices too many, but whatever).
Roasted potatoes and chicken dishes were a plus!
Cons:
Overpriced! (Like every other food related place in Yosemite)
Sushi was z-grade.
Hidden Valley Ranch-style salad dressings.
Obnoxious little kids screaming and running around.
But still. The prime rib along justifies me returning here again one day, even if we have to pay out of our asses for it. But damn them, I'll eat my weight in prime rib to cover that cost. -
Review from Fiona D.
10/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
I had really high expectations for this restaurant so I hate to say that the food was 'meh'.
The restaurant itself is simply beautiful. It's a big, long room with lots of tall windows and high ceilings which really make it look like a classic, fancy hotel dining room. Also nice chandeliers above a lot of round tables. Feels like you're stepping back in time, really.
They make great cocktails and their soups were wonderful but the main courses were just alright.
If you like gin and pineapple, definitely get the Park Avenue. Probably one of the best cocktails I've had, I would highly recommend it. Definitely started out on a high note!
Their soup of the day, ginger carrot, was amazing (even though I only had a little taste) and their vegetarian french onion was also delicious. So by this point, I was really looking forward to the entrees.
But like I said....meh.
I had the pappardelle with chicken in a creamy tomato sauce with pine nuts and spinach. The pasta was overcooked and there was hardly enough sauce for all of the noodles. The sauce was a little on the sweet side and overall quite bland. The chicken was also kind of shredded which made it really hard to distinguish as 'chicken'. I really wanted some crushed red pepper to spice things up but I didn't even think to ask for some...
While most of the food and drinks were good overall, it just was not as great as I thought it should have been. Especially when you're paying $20+ dollars for a dish of pasta. I was expecting it to be the best damn pasta I've ever had!
And it just wasn't :(
I would come back though if I ever had the chance, even if it does make me sound like a sucker. But I mean how often does one get to enjoy dining in such a beautiful room right in the middle of a national park? Not often enough, I tell you! Not often enough. -
Review from nicole k.
Oakland, CA
1/17/2012
The historic dining room is elegant, and was the perfect ending to a very special day that we shared with our best friends. The food and service was good - a bit leisurely (aka slow) toward the end, but when you are there, you just want to soak in the environment of being there. There was a pianist who played in the background and the lighting was dim to set the mood. Thankfully, they had free valet parking as there was no where to park in the small lot and they accommodated same-day reservations for our fairly large party.
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Review from A K.
Lutz, FL
6/6/2011
We ate here for dinner and it was a wonderful experience. The dining room is huge and beautifully decorated, with tall windows overlooking the valley. We searched through their extensive wine list and chose a 2007 Chateau Montelena Cab, which was the best wine I'd ever had.
For dinner, I ordered the lamb and it was very delicious. Everyone else enjoyed their entrees and we moved on to dessert. I got the three gelato dessert with pomegranate, coconut, and cappuccino gelato and it was amazing. It was visually stunning as well.
The prices are high but considering what you get and where you are, it makes sense. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. -
Review from Teisha M.
Oakland, CA
11/17/2011
We did not expect to get a table..we didnt have reservations. However, we went over to the host and asked to be seated (just in case) and he sat us immediately. The meat was cooked perfectly to each order. I had the lamb and it was incredible. The desserts were out of this world! I had this amazing dark chocolate and fresh raspberry dessert, and my hunny had the trio of creme brulee (vanilla bean, chocolate, and pistachio). Both were above and beyond expectation. The room itself is fantastic, and I found myself looking all around when my food wasnt in front of me.
