Clearman's North Woods Inn - San Gabriel — Restaurant in East San Gabriel

Old. School. That's the first thing to know here. From the atmosphere to the service to the food, there's an old-school vibe here that's hard to find anymore. Whether that's a good thing or not depends on YOU, not them, because this is old-school done well. If you're looking for the latest fad food or eating style, "fast casual" service, or a "stylish" environment, you're not going to like this place. If you're looking for solid classics, great personal service, and an atmosphere that reeks of 50's-60's nostalgia, you're probably going to be very happy.

THE FOOD: Reliably good "classics" - steak, baked potato, old-school cheese-bread to die for... I've never had a bad meal, they're consistently well-prepared and exactly what you'd expect from an old-school steakhouse (and the steaks in particular are quite nice). Prices are $30-40 per person once you figure in drinks and such, but there's equivalent value here. You're getting that worth for your money.

THE SERVICE: Generally solid, friendly, and competent. Can get a little apathetic on a really slow night, but overall good in the old-school sense: Not chatty, but still friendly; uniform dress, knows the menu, reliable. You get the sense that a lot of the staff have worked here a LONG time - and that's a compliment, not a shot.

THE ATMOSPHERE: Nothing like it, anywhere. You'll love it or hate it. The inside is just like the outside: the vibe is giant log-cabin somewhere north of the North. There are actual taxidermy animals in the lobby - bear, moose, depending on which of the three restaurants you're in. There's a stuffed grizzly in a glass case facing you down as you walk into this particular location. Sawdust on the floor throughout, and you are more than welcome to add to it with the shells from the peanuts on every table as a snack. You can view the atmosphere as either Disney-esque cheesy or '50's-retro classic, and either would be true. Take it as it is and enjoy a vibe you'll not find ANYWHERE else, and you'll likely find it a nostalgic, "homey" experience.

Overall, an easy four stars, pushes a five on a good night with a full house. So try and get there on a busier night and you'll probably have the best-possible experience, but the food is good any time. If you can accept a place for what it is rather than another chic, lastest-fad, clone, you should give them a try and you'll almost certainly have a nice...

It was a Friday night and we were starving after driving across town during rush hour. Listen, when you visit North Woods Inn, you know what you’re getting yourself into. Bring your stretchy pants and be prepared to stuff yourself. You can review the menu all you want, but what you should be coming here for is a medium rare steak, grilled scallops, and lobster tail. The restaurant was bustling and after that drive I didn’t feel like waiting for a seat before ordering a libation so I started off by quickly ordering a tall boy from Ashley at the bar, who did an excellent job of managing multiple parties sitting in the bar area.

Without even looking at the menu, we ordered our usual, steak, scallops, and lobster tail (duh). Within moments, out came the piping hot cheese bread wrapped in foil, and our personal favorite part, the cabbage and dinner salads. What you do is you mix 1/2 of the cabbage salad with 1/2 of the dinner salad and go to town. Occasionally dip the cheese bread into the salad or use it as a vessel by which you make a cheese bread/ salad flat bread, and you have yourself an exceptional first course. We had just enough salad to momentarily satisfy our appetite that way when the main course arrived we’d be ready to polish that plate off. A few minutes later, our main courses arrived. The steak was perfectly medium rare (as usual) and the grilled scallops had a wonderful charred, Smokey flavor. The lobster tail was bigger than my fist and the mushroom stuffing was a perfect compliment to the cheese potato and rice. Now let’s talk about how amazing this cheese potato is. When you mix the cheesy goodness together with the potato you get cheesy mashed potato goodness that perfectly marries itself with the steak and lobster. By the time we reached the end of our meals we needed a to go box and a wheelchair out of there. The service was amazing as usual. Considering we were in a large group, which the restaurant expertly handles, our meals arrived in a timely manner and were expertly prepared. I’m salivating thinking about our...

I would have it 5 🌟 but this restaurant is known for their salads green and red cabbage with special dressing, cheese bread but most of all their baked potato. We've been coming here the past 25yrs my mother and father-in-law been coming here over 40yrs. My in laws are both passed but we carry on their traditions every year on Christmas Eve we have dinner arrive at 7pm put in our name at 7:15pm knowing we are going to wait and mingle with our guest who are there with us for this great tradition my in laws started. We've had people fly in from as far as Hawaii, knowing this is very important to all who are involved with our tradition. We got called for our table at 8:45pm all while checking when our name will be called. People were called after we arrived (no reservations) and some who had reservations. We were told "All reservations will be called before walk-ins. That was fine because it gave us a chance to catch up. At 8:48pm our waiter Dave informed us "We are out of Bake Potatoes, we will substitute it with steak fries." It's the first time we waited over an hour and no bake potatoes. Needless to say our guest including my wife and I were not enjoying our meal. Before your restaurant started reservations (walk-ins only) we never waited over an hour. We had 6 people at our table, there were people who had more than us and got seated before us, not only did I see the names crossed off but so did my wife and a few of our guest when we checked when we were next. We were the 3rd one to be on the list to be called 6 names later our name was called. During the year we eat at the Covina location, I proposed to my wife 23yrs ago at the La Mirada location. Also when I worked for Coors and Miller I was the draft tech (company would use us to maintain all beer lines and clean them once a week) I did San Gabriel and La Mirada locations. This is just a disappointed review not having your...