Glacier Ridge Grill & General Store — Restaurant in Enterprise

Update: Dinner, Sunday August 25, 2024

Visiting the area again, this time with my husband and teen. Figured it we'd give it a try since it wasn't crowded and maybe the experience last year was not the norm? Unfortunately, we again waited an excessive amount of time (an hour) for 2 dinners: fish and chips with a side salad and popcorn chicken with fries ($44 with tip).

The servers are friendly and I'm sure the cooks are working hard. Maybe if you're happy visiting with your table mates and drinking several beers while waiting 60 or 90 minutes for your meal, then this will be a place you'll be happy with. For me, twice was enough and I think I'd rather go into Joseph or eat at the Thai food cart.

safety concern in the dining room with exposed/uncovered outlets and light switches in immediate proximity to the tables. Considering the outcome could be fatal to a kid who is curious and pokes a finger in there, the owner or manager really should address the situation immediately.

Dinner Thursday July 13. 2023 TL:DR- friendly staff, great sidewinders, exceedingly slow service, high prices, and extra charges for items like dipping sauce.

Not sure my review matters given the lack of choices in Wallowa Lake. My friend and I had limited choices in Wallowa Lake at 7pm and decided based on what we saw others eating to get dinner here. It was fairly full of customers inside and out but we weren't in a huge hurry. We ordered drinks that we received reasonably quickly (lemon drop $11, lemonade $2.75). We placed our order which consisted of the taco salad ($15) and the special, baby back ribs ($23 plus $2) with sidewinders as the side dish. When a table near us was served with "sincere thanks for your patience" we should have taken a clue and withdrawn our order and had ice cream and snacks in our room instead. It was almost an hour and 15 minutes to get our food.

The taco salad looked beautiful but unfortunately the pork was slightly salty. Paird with salted tortilla strips, cheese, and olives it made for an overly salted dish. The ribs were ok for flavor but didn't have much sauce and were tough. Unbeknownst to us (and our waitress, aparently) the sides for the ribs were Brussel sprouts and smashed fingerling potatos, both of which were excellent. We were also served the order of sidewinders, which were hot, crispy, and delicious. We enjoyed the spicy aoli on the Brussel sprouts so much we asked for additional to dip the sidewinders in.

We finished the veggies and both forms of potato, but not the taco salad (left at least half unfinished) or ribs.

When we went to pay our bill it came to over $60. Part of that was due to the fact that we were charged for a full basket of sidewinders ($7. 95) when we thought it was a side dish up charge of $2 (instead of shoestring fries or side salad). I pointed that out and once I explained they were willing to remove the full charge but spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to charge us the additional $2. We were also charged $0.75 for the dipping sauce. Our final bill was $54.75 (minus tip).

Note: our server appeared to be a teenager. She was friendly and the actual service itself by her was good.

Reflections: It would have been nice to have been warned about the long wait.

Given the hour plus wait, some sort of bread or offering to bring out the sidewinders would have been appreciated.

At the point that we were paying, either just comping the measly $2 or better yet, a discount, would have gone aong way towards making the best of a tiresome and unsatisfactory experience.

If I were to stay in the area again, I might give it another try, but only if it didn't appear...

We were seated right away. We ordered and were informed they were out of french fries that come with the meal but were offered to order an alternative side (sidewinders, which are on the menu and cost an additional $2 more), or potato chips. We were not happy that we were expected to pay an additional $2 for the fry alternative when they were out of what the regular meal came with and felt under the circumstances they should have just subbed the sidewinder fries for regular fries at regular cost. We wouldn't have even cared if they left the bbq sauce topping off. But they would not do that. We saw the table next to us was eating the chicken fried steak, which is only listed as a breakfast item, and suspected it was a special. The waitress did not offer any specials and i had to specifically ask if there were any. The waitress had come to take our order when my bf got up to use the restroom...that is when i tried to order his meal and found out about the fries being unavailable. I told her i could not make the substitute choice for him and she said she would be right back. She did not return for a whole half hour at which point we thought surely the food was cooking, anyway. The people next to us were done with their meal and simply waiting to pay. Another whole 30 minutes later the people next to us had finally gotten to pay so they could leave. Our drinks were empty and we still did not have any food. Other diners around us had cleared out. My daughter and i got up to use the restroom, which wraps around and back behind the kitchen where they sell some camping supply items. We perused what was there and while i stood there i heard the cook ask what was up next and it was our exact food order. So we had been waiting a whole hour and our food wasn't even being prepared yet. Bonkers!!! I went back to our table and waited another 10 minutes at which point we were making jokes about how we should have made our dinner order at lunch time, so it would be ready for dinner. Another 5 minutes later we had had enough and went up front to request our food to go. The waitress who was not ours...we hadn't seen her since over 30 minutes ago, informed me she wasn't our waitress so she did not want to help with our order. But she would let them know we wanted it boxed up. But she wouldn't let me pay. So i told my bf that, back at our table at which point he walked up to try and pay. The worker he spoke with (not sure which) tried to tell him our food was ready and did he really want it boxed up...yes, we sure did. Despite their claim that it was ready, we waited another 15 minutes for them to box our food. We got it back to our cabin, a 2 minute drive away, and it was cold/lukewarm. My side order of potatoes was mashed when the couple eating it next to us had some sort of roasted potato and that seemed odd. Bf had a tri tip dip sandwich. It all tasted great, but would have been better if served an hour earlier, and hot. That was the only positive of the whole experience, but was not worth the ridiculous wait time. My waitress didn't even bother to bring my salad out ahead of the meal. Which is probably ok since my bf and daughter would have been sitting there with no food anyhow. Can't believe how bad the...

I really wish I could like this place but the bottom line is, the food is just not good here. They were short staffed and we were understanding and our waitress was super nice, friendly, and apologetic and really made this the highlight of our dining experience. It took us an hour to get our food and my bbq pork burger was okay...nothing great but wasn't terrible either. However, i asked for a side of onion rings instead of fries and although that wasn't a listed option, the waitress said she could make that happen. I received a side of onion rings (they were fine...very A&W style) but was charged for an appetizer size. My wife got the French Dip and it was one of the worst French Dips we've had. The bun was hard as a rock and there wasn't much roast beef inside. The au jus was cold and by the time we got our food, it was 15 mins past their closing time and we just wanted to eat and go. They had a few good micro beers and some spirits and also have a small convenient store which is helpful and nice. There are very limited options at this side of the lake but this would be the last option I would make...even the Lodge is better (albeit more expensive) but it's worth just driving 5 mins to the north side and having a better meal at those Joseph restaurants; especially Embers Bar and Grille...excellent hamburgers grilled on a Traeger and food comes out...