Yavapai Lodge Dining Hall — Restaurant in Tuba City

During our road trip through Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California, we spent a day at the Grand Canyon. After a long hike, we arrived in the evening, famished and dreaming of a delicious dinner, only to have our hopes dashed. The food was abysmal. However, some items were worse than others. Allow me to paint a picture with my words:

Our "protein" consisted of smoked brisket cubes. Their hardness level: VIAGRA. One could only assume these cubes were prepared a week ago and then reheated every day since. The turkey clearly took inspiration from the June climate of the Grand Canyon: extremely dry. Wisely, there was a "cranberry sauce" served alongside, which at least moistened our throats enough to reduce the risk of choking.

The salad and vegetables were passable. The grand finale of this feast: the dessert – "Berry Crumble." As soon as our tongues met this red concoction, we experienced an intense déjà vu... the cranberry sauce from the turkey! Also included in this mix were sorrowful plums and pickled pears. This delicacy was topped with a delicate layer of oats.

Behind this culinary wonder lies a sophisticated stirring process. Each day, only the finest leftover ingredients are selected and combined with the existing mixture from the day before. Then, it's all about stirring and more stirring. To elevate the mixture that cries for release, it's dusted with oats.

The only reason we gave it five stars is that we laughed ourselves silly over the unique appearance and texture of this meal....

Food was surprisingly delicious. Especially the brisket. The place gets a little crazy and disorganized, but mostly from the patrons trying to rush through. Was crazy busy, but pretty efficient if you stay in line. People trying to hold a table and rush through the lines is what caused the confusion.

Process: 3 stars. place your order then get in cafeteria style line for main entrees and drinks. Then the salad bar and drink lines. Salad bar needed to get refreshed, but otherwise decent. Basic, but decent. Pet's were only allowed on one side of the dining hall. Wasn't clear until someone told us and wasn't very nice about it. At least they do have a section for pets. Would be nice if they had signs or were more friendly about it.

Food. 4.5 stars. Brisket, veggies, and pozole were all very tasty. Salad bar was basic, but fresh. Soda fountain had many options, which was nice.

Service: 4 stars. Some really nice people, especially at the food service line. Person who kicked us out of line because of our dog, not so much.

Given the options are limited in the park, it's nice to have a decent option.

Pro tip: only microwave on the property is in the dining hall. If you need to reheat some leftover or like us, our dog food, come to the...

Family of 5 here. My family and I loved the Dining Hall. I (Dad) am not big on breakfast food but my family constantly talked about how much they liked breakfast. Dinner was amazing (this is the meal that I pick for the family) we had every combination imaginable. We love our vegetables and the Maple Acorn Squash was divine and WHOEVER made that mac n cheese knows what they're doing. The pizza was very good, made with fresh ingredients and they had a gluten free option for us (we tried both they tasted the same). The vegetarian tacos were really good( I was surprised). Everything was SEASONED beautifully. The staff was always nice and helpful (we were told about all of the other amenities the area offered in Williams, it made the area much larger to explore). Even when we showed up a few minutes before closing our second night, we got the full hospitality treatment and the staff never seemed upset. Mark was the supervisor and he was always helpful and smiling. You could tell the staff respected his leadership and we loved his hospitality. He told us "I am going to make sure you remember us and this trip." It was the absolute truth. It was like being around family. Great people, great food will come again....