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Pine Hills Lodge Dining Room
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
3 reviews for Pine Hills Lodge Dining Room
My friend just got married here this weekend, and we dined in this room for the reception, and also the brunch the next morning.
Dinner was served buffet-style, and included beef, salmon, potatoes, green beans, dinner rolls and salad. The beef, I will say, was delicious - you could put some horseradish or port wine glaze on it, but I had it as-is. I'm not really a salmon fan, so I didn't try it, but everyone else seemed to rave about it. I also could not eat the potatoes and beans, due to the fact that they both had garlic, and I am allergic. But again, everyone else raved. Our salad was delicious - included nuts and dried cranberries, which I never thought I'd enjoy.
The service was good - it turns out one of my friend's friends is a server there on the weekend, so it was cool to see him. We had plenty of wine and champagne at our table.
The morning brunch was so yummy - I sampled a little bit of everything. Rolls, biscuits and gravy, bacon, potatoes, waffles, and a station with omelets made to order. Again, the food was delicious, and I think everyone was enjoying a post-celebration-hangover breakfast. For 2 of us, the total was about $35.
All in all, it was a pleasant experience dining here for both meals.
The guy in charge of the food is a quirky french guy. the kind of person who sneaks up behind you, taps one shoulder, then runs off on the opposite direction. He was in charge of the dinner for my friend's wedding. It was really tasty. they served steamed multi-colored green beans, some other beany thing, roast beef, and chicken marsala. Also, some delicious rolls and a decent salad.
The sunday buffet brunch is served from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm. It is huge, and delicious. There are about 5 steam trays, rolls, pastries, lots of fresh fruit, and a cook-to-order omelet bar. My only gripe is that the coffee and orange juice are charged separately than the food, but nowhere is the price listed. The buffet is $15, the juice is $2.75.
It was a tradition in my family while I was growing up to visit Julian the day after Thanksgiving.This was the 80s and while it was a good idea at the beginning of the 80s, by the end of the 80s we had to stop our tradition because Julian got taken over by tourists - especially Thanksgiving weekend. Early on in our trips we tried different restaurants (like Tom's Chicken Shack) each year. But by the mid-80s, my family rested upon a reliable favorite, the Pine Hills Lodge.
The dining room is the main building of the Lodge, and it's rustic and everything you hope a dining room in the middle of the woods would look like - roaring fires, antlers, probably a taxidermied bear or two. I'd guess it was built in the 30s, it has a certain WPA charm.
The Pine Hills Lodge is located in Pine Hills, a community a few miles outside Julian and located two miles down a road off the highway. It's easy to get lost here after you eat, because the streetlights are few and far between. I think that certain times of the year the lodge is closed, too, so check if you decide to make a visit. Oh yeah, don't get eaten by a mountain lion, because um, that can happen. Seriously, it did happen at the park on the outskirts of Pine Hills a couple months ago.
I returned to the Pine Hills Lodge with my parents a couple years ago in October. We were the only diners that night. And the food was expensive and really mediocre. I won't be back for dinner though I still love the charm of the place.
