The Gathering Place — Restaurant in Bonners Ferry

I was in yesterday June 17, 2025 and was extremely disappointed. I hardly ever write a review but had to on this occasion. First the whoopie pie was great as the food always is, the fresh Rainer cherries fabulous the problem was the deli. I was in around 9 am and I live near Coeur d’Alene and when I get up to Bonners I always stop in and get sweet bologna and usually hot Habenero cheese well I ask to get some Sweet Lebanon cut and the girl back there said it is in the meat case I looked at it and told her that was not Sweet Lebanon and she arrogantly/condescendingly said it is and I said I have been eating it a long time and it is not I told her it is usually a darker meat with white flecks in it and that was not it. She said it was. Well I bought it and as soon as I bit into it I knew it was not Sweet Lebanon. I finished work farther north and on the way back through I stopped back in same girl there another Mennonite girl and a non practicing Mennonite girl. First none of them greeted me I stood there and after 5 minutes the one who was there in the morning asked can I help you. I said yes and I told her well I bit in to it and it is not Sweet Lebanon she immediately got nasty it is I told you it was this morning and I said it isn’t. The other girl goes it is and it is the only Bologna we have ever served I said that is not true and she goes I have been here two years and that is all we ever have had. I said no it isn’t I brought mine back in to show her I didn’t ask for money back or anything and she went to deli case opened a pack labeled sweet and she opened it and sniffed it she goes that is sweet I said it isn’t then she sniffed mine in the bag she goes it is sweet I said taste it both girls rolled up their nose and I said have you ever eaten it and they said no. I said then you don’t know then. I ask where is the roll you cut from she condescendingly goes it is empty I said in the trash she pulled it out wrapper said Lebanon Bologna but did not say Sweet. I said it is not sweet and both of them said So I don’t know what to tell you. It is sweet whatever. I said manager they just looked at me and wouldn’t say anything and acting arrogant. I have never been treated this way here and for sure never at Yoder’s when it was still in town. They might as well loose the garb and get blue hair and a nose ring because that is how they acted, entitled to my money, gave no service, arrogant, condescending. I stop at your store because I don’t know anywhere else to get Sweet Lebanon and I always liked to get it because it reminded me of home near Lancaster, Pa, but I will be hesitant to ever stop here again. SO SAD. ...

The store is why my rating isn't a 2!☆☆DINER: So the bread is off the charts, hands down the best bread I've ever had! I forgot to stop on our way out of town ND I'm a bit bent about that bc I was gonna get a couple loafs to take home!😵‍💫 The reason for the lower rating unfortunately was a few issues I had this visit. Our family owns quit a bit of property right our of town, we visit at least 1x per year. This year was weird here. The girls working were extremely rude, for no reason? As we stood there waiting to order they were whispering me completely ignoring they had paying customers waiting. When she finally decided she was done with her conversation we ordered. I ordered a BLT and asked for well done bacon, she should of told me right away the bacon was cooked a long time prior and was extremely wimpy (I would consider raw) bacon, not only was it severely under cooked but it was a cold as the tomatoes!🤢 After mentioning this she walked in the back, I thought maybe too see what happened but she just went back to talking and giggling!! on top of having my order being completely neglected with no alternative offered, the bee's and flies were our of control!!!! You can't keep them off your food or yourself, Really makes me concerned about the contamination in the kitchen! It was gross! This was the first year this place wasn't welcoming and comfortable and that sucks as we were excited to have lunch there the day we arrived and it's just not what it used to be! ☆☆☆☆STORE: They have a very cute little store attached to the diner. You can get everything from deli meats and cheeses to spices, handmade rugs and amazing handmade wooden chairs! The prices are great on alot of stuff and average on the rest. The furniture is a bit spendy but I'm sure it's well worth it! It looks like amazing quality and the structure of the chairs looks like it will fill in your low back...

I was really excited to go here after researching and reading reviews. I am hoping to return again for a better experience next time as some days...well, just don't go well.

The whole little strip mall area offers quite a bit so there's more reason to go than just the restaurant but I'll stick to that.

Ok, so yes, they were busy and you walk up to the counter to order. The first thing that was evident was there was little to no communication between the counter and kitchen. We ordered 2 orders of biscuits and gravy. After we had paid for that and the rest of our order, someone came up from the back and informed us (around 9am) they were out, well, she said they had a half order left. So we were refunded the full order. We went in the seating area to wait. Piles of to go containers came and went. It was 20 minutes before we decided we better go check. After all the conversation of the order, they forgot to put it in! When we received it we had to ask several times for things that were missing and it was quite difficult getting anyone's attention at that.

I will say the little bit I did get to eat, the biscuits were awesome and the gravy was pretty food in my opinion, my partner thought there was a raw flour taste. We also bought a round tin of cinnamon rolls to go. They looked absolutely scrumptious! Although when we ate one later in the day, we found them to be quite dry despite their giant size. Perhaps day olds?

I do like the feel of the place and I can tell there is promise, but I'm going to have to give it another shot a different day because I left quite dissappointed, especially as far as we drove...